Shaving soap recipe question

[Skatergirl46]

I got this recipe from Soap Making Resource for shaving soap. I ran it through soap calc and the recipe looks like it will work ok, but I am concerned about the hardness rating of 28.


% oz.
Olive Oil 45 23.85
Coconut Oil, 76 deg 20 10.6
Castor Oil 20 10.6
Palm Oil 8 4.24
Almond Oil, sweet 7 3.71

Distilled water 20 ounces
Lye 7.269 ounces

The recipe also contains colloidal oatmeal and Bentonite Clay. Is 28 ok, or should I do something to harden it? Since I'm a newb. at this, the numbers for hardness ratings are still pretty abstract for me. :crazy:

 

[Skatergirl46]

My no touch thermometer arrived today. That was the last thing I was waiting for that I needed. I am making the shaving soap above right now. Just waiting for my lye water to cool. I sat my hard oils next to my stove. Since it's always on I figured that they would melt on their own just sitting there, and they did. So my oils are at 80°F. When the Lye water gets within 10° of my oils I will mix them together. I have Pringle's cans lined with a thick plastic sheet that overlaps slightly so hopefully there will be no contact with the aluminum interior of the cans. I'll let you know how it goes.

 

[chicklet]

Good luck with your shaving soap. I've been trying to formulate a good shaving soap as well. There are tons of posts on the forum about shaving soap you might read when you have time. In fact, there's a recent thread about shaving soap over in the recipe feedback section you might be interested in. As far as your recipe - I wouldn't be too concerned with the hardness, but I do think it probably has too much olive oil in it (from my research). It might turn out great though, who knows? And if it doesn't work well as a shaving soap, you can always use it as a bath soap. Good luck - I would love to hear how it turns out.

 

[Kersten]

If you have some steric acid I would reccomend adding that. I would also drop the olive oil down considerably and replace it with some butters. Also, if you are looking for a professional quality shaving soap, you'll probably want to hot process using both potassium and sodium hydroxide. Just some ideas.

 

[Skatergirl46]

Good luck with your shaving soap. I've been trying to formulate a good shaving soap as well. There are tons of posts on the forum about shaving soap you might read when you have time. In fact, there's a recent thread about shaving soap over in the recipe feedback section you might be interested in. As far as your recipe - I wouldn't be too concerned with the hardness, but I do think it probably has too much olive oil in it (from my research). It might turn out great though, who knows? And if it doesn't work well as a shaving soap, you can always use it as a bath soap. Good luck - I would love to hear how it turns out.

I have been reading a lot of them while anxiously awaiting the rest of my tools to arrive. Today I decided to do the recipe exactly as stated, and then go from there to make changes once I have that baseline to start from. I bought the kit from Soap Making Resource for this first batch. I did that to mostly make sure that I had the right oils. I ordered weeks ago when I decided that I wanted to try soap making. Next time I'll gather my own oils.
Everything seemed to go well with the process. The oils and Lye water were within 10° of each other when I began mixing. The oil was 80°, and the lye water was 87°. I stirred slowly with my spoon until I saw that the color was uniform and it had gotten cloudy. I mixed a little with the stick blender and then I put some (a few ounces) of the mixture into another container and mixed in my bentonite clay. All of that went back into the batch and then I blended in my ground oatmeal. I stick blended until I had a nice pudding consistency and I could see the little trails on top after I dribbled some there with my blender. It was easy to tell that trace had occurred from the pictures I have seen and descriptions I have read. I was using a SS pot that I wasn't too confident about pouring from, so I ladled out the soap mixture into a plastic measuring cup and used that to pour it into my molds. I put a piece of plastic wrap over the end of the cans and then the cap. I immediately put them into my refrigerator. My mixture stayed at a fairly low temperature. I'm hoping that my soap won't gel this time. Maybe next time I'll gel it and see what the differences are and which one I like the best. I'm not sure that I know how to tell when I should remove the logs from the molds. Do I just need to wait until they are firm enough to do it without damaging them? I think the plastic liners are going to be a good thing for getting the soap out. Now I wait. I hate waiting! :thumbdown: Maybe I'll just make some more soap. :-D

 

[Sapwn]

Olive oil will destroy the lather and has no place in a shaving soap. This is my opinion.

 

[Candybee]

Skatergirl-- I made the exact same recipe for shaving soap using the one at soapmakingresource.com. I was very disappointed in the lather. Not good enough for a shaving soap IMO.

I am still researching for better shaving soap recipes and ingredients. I did find a great cream shaving soap recipe somewhere on the Internet and didn't bookmark it. Sigh. If anyone thinks they know the one I am looking for please post a link. I know it was on a popular forum or soaping website but can't remember which one.

 

[Skatergirl46]

Skatergirl-- I made the exact same recipe for shaving soap using the one at soapmakingresource.com. I was very disappointed in the lather. Not good enough for a shaving soap IMO.

I am still researching for better shaving soap recipes and ingredients. I did find a great cream shaving soap recipe somewhere on the Internet and didn't bookmark it. Sigh. If anyone thinks they know the one I am looking for please post a link. I know it was on a popular forum or soaping website but can't remember which one.

Thank you. I figure that this batch will be a baseline for me to work from. I unmolded one of the logs today. The plastic liner that I used worked like a charm. I sat the Pringle's can in my hand to warm the bottom (the only part not lined). Then I reached in and grabbed the edge of the liner and pulled straight out of the can. The bottom released well and did not leave soap behind or break. The outside is still a bit soft so I rolled it back up in the plastic liner and rolled that up in butcher paper. It didn't lose it's shape or come off on my gloves. I put it into my freezer until tomorrow. I'll check it then and see if I can cut it. The other two logs are still in the molds in my frig. I'm hoping that the soap is at least slippery. If it is then I can use it for shaving. I don't need a lot of lather for that.

 

[Relle]

Quoted from Judymoody - Shaving soap purists don't use OO at all.

 

[Skatergirl46]

Quoted from Judymoody - Shaving soap purists don't use OO at all.

The next batch will have no or little OO. For my first batch I wanted to try something that I thought was a tested and proven recipe. I'll be looking for an OO free recipe to try.

 

[Skatergirl46]

Here they are unmolded. They are a bit sticky on the outside and inside still. I cut one piece off the end of one of them to see the inside. It did not gel and the inside looks identical to the outside. The little specks that you see in the soap are the oatmeal and bentonite clay. The little bit of reddish stuff that you can see on the end edge of the log is a bit of the BBQ seasoning from the Pringle's can I used. (I'll be shaving that off when the soap is harder.) The ends of the cans were the only parts that weren't lined. The plastic liners that I used were a total success! When I unmolded these today I put the open end of the can on my gloved hand and tapped it down into my hand slightly and the soap log slid out a few inches, then I held it and guided it out of the can. This is too soft to cut still so I rolled it back up in the plastic liner and then in butcher paper and put it back into the frig. I'l check on it tomorrow and see how it is then. It's a bit zappy right now. The good news is that there are no lye pockets or spots and no oil pockets or oil on the outside. Going to get some litmus paper later today.

 

[chicklet]

It looks great - very smooth.

 

[bodhi]

Probably will make a better leg shaving soap than face, but either way, it looks great. Just the facts that you are in CA and made an oatmeal soap in June that didnt gel is impressive in my book.

 

[Candybee]

Skatergirl it looks lovely! I love round soaps.

 

[Skatergirl46]

Probably will make a better leg shaving soap than face, but either way, it looks great. Just the facts that you are in CA and made an oatmeal soap in June that didnt gel is impressive in my book.

I did this at pretty much RT. I wanted to keep it from gelling. I let the lye water cool for about an hour before mixing. My oils were at RT also. I am new to this so I don't have a good knowledge base yet about the differences between how gelled soap vs. non-gelled soap feel and last.

I agree about the leg shaving vs. face shaving. I have read enough on here to learn that this is probably not going to have the greatest lather. As long as it is gentle enough on my skin and slippery enough I'll be happy with it for my shaving purposes. I do want to continue to look for a really nice shaving soap for men though. I have some friends who make a lot of homemade edible items that they have shared with me, and I'd like to reciprocate with some nice shaving soap.

The next batch I want to do HP and see the differences. I hate waiting!

 

[Mark the Box Guy]

Skatergirl: The KOH recipe in the "first shave soap is a success" thread is looking like a winner. My after-test had strong lathering Kung Fu, and should keep a leg-shaver smooth for a good long time. You wouldn't want that nice holster pulling hairs if you pack heat in shorts, would you?

 

[Skatergirl46]

Skatergirl: The KOH recipe in the "first shave soap is a success" thread is looking like a winner. My after-test had strong lathering Kung Fu, and should keep a leg-shaver smooth for a good long time. You wouldn't want that nice holster pulling hairs if you pack heat in shorts, would you?

Excellent! I'm glad it worked well. I think that recipe might be a bit advanced for me right now, but I certainly will keep it in mind to try in the future. I have never worked with KOH. Something for me to research further for sure.

Haha, good point!