You're welcome, Lindy.
Well, the preliminary results from my latest experiment are in and they are very encouraging!
To recap- this experiment was conducted to see whether or not increasing the overall stearic amount in my formula would provide enough protection and glide in my soap to allow me to be able to completely eliminate my clay amount. I used my normal shaving formula that I've been making since 2008 that my hubby thinks is awesome, but I tweaked it like so:
-I subbed in 28% pure stearic acid for most (but not all) of my tallow amount to greatly boost my overall stearic %.
-I completely omitted the kaolin clay (I normally use 2 teaspoons ppo).
-I used 60% KOH/40% NaOH instead of 100% NaOH.
-I increased my superfat level as well as my added glycerin amount to compensate for the lower conditioning number and lower glycerin content due to subbing stearic acid for most of my tallow.
-I used the HP method instead of my usual CP method
-I saponified the stearic and hard fats with the KOH, and saponified the soft oils with the NaOH, and then I combined them both together while still molten.
All of my other ingredients remained the same as always.
......End of re-cap.........
Okay! First, I conducted a simple lather test on my day-old croap this afternoon by whipping up a beautifully creamy/dense merengue-like lather (took about 3 minutes from start to finish), and then hubby and I each tested it out by rubbing small dollops of it between our fingers. It felt wonderfully cushiony and slick to us both.
I then let the rest of the whipped-up lather sit undisturbed in a pillowy clump to see how it would hold up over time, and I'm happy to report that it did very well indeed! It held both it's shape
and moist consistency well past the required 10-20 minutes. I tested out the pillowy clump again at the 1-hour mark and was surprised to find that it still felt like new.
Then I left it alone and forgot about it for the next 4 and a half hours as I busied myself with housework. When I checked on it again at what turned out to be the 5-hour mark, it had not lost it's shape, but the outer skin was now firm and a bit gummy to the touch. The inside was still moist and foamy, but the foam had grown airier and it readily collapsed when I touched it, much like the way cotton candy reacts when touched.
Next, I asked hubby if he wouldn't mind shaving with it, and he good-naturedly obliged.
Results? He loved it! Unlike my previous clay-less batch that was made using my original, 100% NaOH normal-in-every-other-way-except-for-the-omission-of-clay-formula, hubby said that this batch had lots of cushion/protection and glide, and his skin felt great and wonderfully hydrated afterwards- absolutely no dryness or tightness or uncomfortableness of any sort. And he was also able to get a close BBS shave without any nicks or cuts in spite of the croap being only a day old.
I then asked him to rate it against my original 100% NaOH
with-clay version of the formula and also the 60 KOH/40 NaOH version of the original (also with clay) that I made 2 weeks ago, and he said it rated on the same par with them in terms of cushion/protection, glide, and the wonderful after-feel, but that he really likes 60% KOH/40% NaOH versions over the 100% NaOH version because of the increased ease of lather factor.
Well, what this seems to be telling me is that a higher stearic amount can indeed completely replace the clay amount in my formula without harming any of the positive qualities that my hubby loves about my formula. So....it looks like the trouble-making wet-shaver dudes were right.....at least as far as my formula is concerned at any rate. Thank you trouble-making wet-shaver dudes!
My next experiment (after the 100% KOH experiment that I'm going to make next week without any castor, clay or bubbly oils), will consist of making the same exact tweak of my formula as I made yesterday, but
with the addition of clay this time. I want to see if it makes it even better (or not).
IrishLass
