Shaving soap for a straight razor

[Tinlee]

I have been searching through the forums for a good shaving soap. I am not really sure what qualities I am looking for, so I am hesitant to try and develop a recipe on my own. I do know that it needs to be slick and it needs to be creamy, and it needs to form a nice hard bar.

I will be using stearic in this recipe, which is a first for me. I have never had any trouble with trace, but I want to guarantee the hardness. I have seen pros and cons posted in relation to the use of stearic acid. I do know that I want to minimize the use, but I have definitely decided it is a must. I plan on using both shea and cocoa butters. I may, depending on what the calculator says, use castor oil. Probably not, though since I usually use that for bubbles. I don't expect to use clay. I expect to use avacado oil and possibly coconut oil. I am not experienced in dual lye soaps and I don't want to start now.
Does anyone have a successful recipe that uses only a single lye and that incorporates these or similar ingredients?
This will be a gift to my son who shaves with a straight razor.
Thanks all for your advice.

 

[shunt2011]

Here's a good place to start. It's a long but useful read. This subject comes up quite frequently.

https://www.soapmakingforum.com/threads/my-first-shaving-soap-is-a-success.34264/

 

[Tinlee]

Thanks shunt2011. Great read.

 

[IrishLass]

What type or brand of shave soap does your son use now?


IrishLass

 

[CatahoulaBubble]

I've not been able to get a really good slick soap without adding bentonite clay no matter what recipe I tried.

 

[Dumfrey]

I've not been able to get a really good slick soap without adding bentonite clay no matter what recipe I tried.

I ended up using 100% KOH, and 33% lye solution with hot process to get a firm(ish) soap that is quite slick. It does need a lot of water to get there, but it holds up well.

 

[beckster51]

I make my husband's shaving soap in the crock pot with stearic acid, I don't have the recipe at hand now, but it is so slick, I call it "snotty". It can be worked up into a creamy lather by hand or better yet, with a shaving brush. I find adding clays or shea butter do not contribute to the qualities required in a good shaving soap, but I realize that is personal experience. I originally got the recipe from the guys at Badger and Blade. Have you looked at their thread for DIY shaving soap?

 

[Tinlee]

What type or brand of shave soap does your son use now?


IrishLass

Irish Lass, he has said what he uses, but I don't remember. He has been asking me to make it for him for a while. It is a shame that his mother is a soaper and can't give her son what he wants... I can make a soap that is suitable for when he spends time in the woods and for when he is out on the lake, I can make deodorant and toothpaste, body wash, you name it. I make beard oil for his brother. I should be able to do this one simple thing for him. My next goal will be baby soap for the little one he and his wife are expecting. I'm not crazy about any of the castille recipes that exist, but I have made baby safe soaps in the past. Time to brush off the "old" recipes and make something special for this little one.

I've not been able to get a really good slick soap without adding bentonite clay no matter what recipe I tried.

From what I understand, bentonite clay is wonderful for slip but horrible for the blade?

I ended up using 100% KOH, and 33% lye solution with hot process to get a firm(ish) soap that is quite slick. It does need a lot of water to get there, but it holds up well.

You use potassium hydroxide? I really thought since I am making a bar that I should use the sodium hydroxide. How do you get it to be solid? I tend to lean towards KOH for my liquid soaps because it makes such soft paste and such soft bars when I use it for bar soap. I like the sound of a lather that holds up well. Tough bristles run in the family in the way of what the fellas call whiskers. A good stiff lather is important as well as a good slip.

Irish Lass, he has said what he uses, but I don't remember. He has been asking me to make it for him for a while. It is a shame that his mother is a soaper and can't give her son what he wants... I can make a soap that is suitable for when he spends time in the woods and for when he is out on the lake, I can make deodorant and toothpaste, body wash, you name it. I make beard oil for his brother. I should be able to do this one simple thing for him. My next goal will be baby soap for the little one he and his wife are expecting. I'm not crazy about any of the castille recipes that exist, but I have made baby safe soaps in the past. Time to brush off the "old" recipes and make something special for this little one.

"I'm not crazy about any of the castille soaps that exist" The recipes that I have found online that is. I have a few that i developed. The problem is that to truly be castille they would have to be all olive and olive as the only oil does not clean that well. I do appreciate the vitamin e from olive oil and its other qualities, I just don't like for it to be my main oil. I'm off subject now, though.

I make my husband's shaving soap in the crock pot with stearic acid, I don't have the recipe at hand now, but it is so slick, I call it "snotty". It can be worked up into a creamy lather by hand or better yet, with a shaving brush. I find adding clays or shea butter do not contribute to the qualities required in a good shaving soap, but I realize that is personal experience. I originally got the recipe from the guys at Badger and Blade. Have you looked at their thread for DIY shaving soap?

Not yet, but I made a note to look them up based on another post. Thanks for the tip.

 

[Dumfrey]

100% KOH for me. Some folks like 70/30 KOH/NaOH. KOH soaps are more water soluble than NaOH, and this makes a much slicker lather. I use a water discount, and cook for a bit to help it get more solid. Its not "solid" like a bar of soap, but I do have to push a bit to make a dent/impression. These types of shaving soap are often called croaps. Not a cream, not a soap.

 

[SideDoorSoaps]

My shave soap is done in the crockpot as well as being a dual lye recipe. The stearic acid thickens the batter so fast when I tried to cold process it that it just makes sense to just melt everything and HP. I use a smidge of bentonite clay and citric acid in the recipe and my husband loves it. I am pretty sure I posted my recipe in one of the threads.

And honestly the dulling of the razor is negligible to him because he use to spend $20 on those Mach 3 razors once a month for a pack of 10 and now he spends $8 for 100 blades for his safety razor that last about 6 months (However he also has a serious collection of vintage razors that seemed a bit excessive I was happy to spend the money on the Mach 3s - he prefers his 1980 Gillette Super Speed though)

 

[Dumfrey]

I would agree that dulling the blade is only a meaningful argument for straight razor users.
I have some older artisan shave soap with clay in, and I think it may be better than their current offering. (Label appeal and show boating is out of hand in the shave market.)
I do not use any clay in my current recipie, really because I do not have any

 

[Deb Walker]

I have been searching through the forums for a good shaving soap. I am not really sure what qualities I am looking for, so I am hesitant to try and develop a recipe on my own. I do know that it needs to be slick and it needs to be creamy, and it needs to form a nice hard bar.

I have tried a few different approaches to shaving soap in the past with moderate success.
Recently I made two batches with different recipes, one batch with mixed lye for a pot and another hard bar just with NAOH. I think they both worked out really well.
This is the recipe of the hard bar but I didn't use the butters. You could use the butters as the SF as I do my SF separately with Calendula Oil (Olive/Coconut 50/50). The stearic acid caused the batter to seize so I will increase the water next time. I hot processed it and it worked out well.

NaOH 72gm
Water 190gm (note mine seized so I will increase this next time)
Stearic Acid 25gm 5%
Castor Oil 125gm 25%
Coconut oil 75gm 15%
Beef Tallow 275gm 55%
Add SF 25gm for 5% SF

Soapcalc. characteristics
Hardness 49, Cleansing 14, Conditioning 28, Bubbly 37, Creamy 57.

I did add a little clay and turmeric for a coloured seam through it, even knowing about the dulling of blades but the people I plan to give it to as gifts use disposables and wont be concerned about that.
Anyway, this one achieved what I wanted.

 

[Tinlee]

Irish Lass, he has said what he uses, but I don't remember. He has been asking me to make it for him for a while. It is a shame that his mother is a soaper and can't give her son what he wants... I can make a soap that is suitable for when he spends time in the woods and for when he is out on the lake, I can make deodorant and toothpaste, body wash, you name it. I make beard oil for his brother. I should be able to do this one simple thing for him. My next goal will be baby soap for the little one he and his wife are expecting. I'm not crazy about any of the castille recipes that exist, but I have made baby safe soaps in the past. Time to brush off the "old" recipes and make something special for this little one.


From what I understand, bentonite clay is wonderful for slip but horrible for the blade?


You use potassium hydroxide? I really thought since I am making a bar that I should use the sodium hydroxide. How do you get it to be solid? I tend to lean towards KOH for my liquid soaps because it makes such soft paste and such soft bars when I use it for bar soap. I like the sound of a lather that holds up well. Tough bristles run in the family in the way of what the fellas call whiskers. A good stiff lather is important as well as a good slip.


"I'm not crazy about any of the castille soaps that exist" The recipes that I have found online that is. I have a few that i developed. The problem is that to truly be castille they would have to be all olive and olive as the only oil does not clean that well. I do appreciate the vitamin e from olive oil and its other qualities, I just don't like for it to be my main oil. I'm off subject now, though.


Not yet, but I made a note to look them up based on another post. Thanks for the tip.

I finally took the plunge after how long playing with the idea? The soap is in the process of becoming soap right now and so far, I think I did something wrong. It looks like clabbered milk. I have never had my soap look like this. I have stirred and beat and it just does not want to come together. This is an HP soap because it is the process I am most familiar with. I am letting it go for a bit in the crock pot. Maybe it will settle in together if I leave it alone.

 

[Becky1024]

I finally took the plunge after how long playing with the idea? The soap is in the process of becoming soap right now and so far, I think I did something wrong. It looks like clabbered milk. I have never had my soap look like this. I have stirred and beat and it just does not want to come together. This is an HP soap because it is the process I am most familiar with. I am letting it go for a bit in the crock pot. Maybe it will settle in together if I leave it alone.

My HP shaving soap formula behaves badly compared to regular soap when I make it. The oils seize immediately when I add the lye and the mess looks like clabbered milk in the crockpot. It never gets to the Vaseline stage and is so thick that it is difficult to get in the mold. The reason for behaving badly is the high stearic acid content. It makes very good shaving soap though. I bet yours will turn out fine.

 

[Tinlee]

Becky1024, you are correct. It did turn out fine. It is all "bumpy and lumpy" after molding, and there was a good bit of oil at the end that settled out. The settled oil was very lye heavy. The shave soap itself is amazing. It makes a great lather and has very good slip. I had my husband try it out (just a small piece even though the rest is still setting up) after 30 hours had passed and the pucks had passed a zap test just so I could be sure the qualities were there after such strange results. He is thrilled with how his skin feels afterward. I am looking forward to being able to present my son with this even though it is not the prettiest soap I have ever made.

 

[Tinlee]

"It is all "bumpy and lumpy" after molding, and there was a good bit of oil at the end that settled out. The settled oil was very lye heavy."

I have never had this experience with soap before. Does anyone have any thoughts on what may have caused this?

 

[Tinlee]

"It is all "bumpy and lumpy" after molding, and there was a good bit of oil at the end that settled out. The settled oil was very lye heavy."

I have never had this experience with soap before. Does anyone have any thoughts on what may have caused this?

I forgot to include .7 lactic

 

[IrishLass]

I use 28% stearic acid in my hubby's shave soap, which I HP, and believe it or not, I always have a very smooth pour. Normally, lumps/bumps are inevitable when working with stearic acid, but if you treat it in just the right manner, it will actually behave quite nicely....at least it does so for me. For what it's worth, my shave soap uses 80% KOH and 20% NaOH

Here's what I do:

Because stearic takes so long to melt, I melt it on it's own separately in a small pot in my oven set to 250 degreesF, and once melted I turn the temp down to 200F to keep it melted while I go about getting everything else fro my batch ready.

When all has been prepped, I melt the rest of my fats in my stainless soap pot on on med-low (#4) on my stovetop burner and bring them to 200F, the same temp as the stearic. Then, and only then do I add the stearic to my soap pot. I hand stir it in with a whisk while my soap pot is still on the burner, which I now switch to a lower heat (#2).

Then I add my lye solution, which oftentimes will cause some ricing to occur upon addition depending upon the difference in temp, but experience has taught me to pay no mind to that.....just keep whisking on the heat and it will come back to smoothness in about a minute or so (and it always does).

I do not use my stickblender for this....I just hand stir with a whisk. The last time I used a stickblender for this, it caused separation, so I stick to the whisk, which happily has never yet done me wrong, i.e., my batter stays smooth and cohesive.

When it looks like it's getting a little thicker, I cover my pot and place it in my oven at (still @ 200F). I keep it in there, covered and check on it every 30 minutes for zap. It is normal for my batter to stay smooth and fluid for me throughout the cook, which takes about an hour to an hour and a half to reach zaplessness, whereupon I fragrance and pour smoothly into my mold.


IrioshLass

 

[Tinlee]

I use 28% stearic acid in my hubby's shave soap, which I HP, and believe it or not, I always have a very smooth pour. Normally, lumps/bumps are inevitable when working with stearic acid, but if you treat it in just the right manner, it will actually behave quite nicely....at least it does so for me. For what it's worth, my shave soap uses 80% KOH and 20% NaOH

Here's what I do:

Because stearic takes so long to melt, I melt it on it's own separately in a small pot in my oven set to 250 degreesF, and once melted I turn the temp down to 200F to keep it melted while I go about getting everything else fro my batch ready.

When all has been prepped, I melt the rest of my fats in my stainless soap pot on on med-low (#4) on my stovetop burner and bring them to 200F, the same temp as the stearic. Then, and only then do I add the stearic to my soap pot. I hand stir it in with a whisk while my soap pot is still on the burner, which I now switch to a lower heat (#2).

Then I add my lye solution, which oftentimes will cause some ricing to occur upon addition depending upon the difference in temp, but experience has taught me to pay no mind to that.....just keep whisking on the heat and it will come back to smoothness in about a minute or so (and it always does).

I do not use my stickblender for this....I just hand stir with a whisk. The last time I used a stickblender for this, it caused separation, so I stick to the whisk, which happily has never yet done me wrong, i.e., my batter stays smooth and cohesive.

When it looks like it's getting a little thicker, I cover my pot and place it in my oven at (still @ 200F). I keep it in there, covered and check on it every 30 minutes for zap. It is normal for my batter to stay smooth and fluid for me throughout the cook, which takes about an hour to an hour and a half to reach zaplessness, whereupon I fragrance and pour smoothly into my mold.


IrioshLass

Irish Lass, thank you for the details! I cannot wait to try again. I can see where I should have done some things differently. I am new to using stearic and you nailed my problem. I do plan to rebatch the whole batch just so it won't be so ugly. I will certainly try this again and follow your method. I don't have a stickblender, so I use a spoon, whisk, or if I need to add extra speed, I will use a hand mixer with the batter beaters on instead of the whisk using low speed. As long as my batter is blending, I don't like adding too much air. The heat from the chemical reaction and from the crockpot or stove does the rest.

 

[The Efficacious Gentleman]

I wouldn't worry too much about how it looks - when he runs a brush around it the first couple of times it will start to get smooth by itself. Rebatching it just for the looks might cause more issues than it solves.

As you will have read in the other shaving soap threads, I am not a fan of a clay for shaving soaps because I use a straight razor and a great soap can be made with no clay, so from my side it is an ingredient with only cons and no pros.

Before you do anything to it (if you haven't already) let it sit for a couple of days and let him see what he thinks of it.