Soap leaves waxy feeling after washing hands. NEED HELP!!

[ghengis151]

Hi everyone. Your forum is awesome! I'm a beginning soapmaker. I love creating soap. Swirled soap is my favorite. Soap making is more art than science.
I've run into a problem though. My soap leaves me with a waxy feeling after washing my hands. Is this normal? Am I not using enough lye? I'm looking for a neutral feeling after washing my hands like with commercial soap. Please help!!! I would greatly appreciate all feedback. Thank you.

-Rick
My recipe is set at 5% superfatting:
48 oz Crisco
21 oz Canola oil
18 0z coconut oil
28 oz distilled water
12 Red Bull Lye.
1-2 oz lemon eo
1-tbsp ultramarine blue powder
1 and a 1/2-tbsp titanium dioxide

 

[Guest]

Waxy feeling? :? hmmm thats a new one on my.. your recipe looks fine to me

 

[Martin]

Handmade soap feels different than store brands. You are getting all the good stuff on your skin that the commercial brands take out.

Sonja

 

[ghengis151]

Perhaps I'm not taking into account the EO into the lye calculator. Thank you all for your input. I'm also looking for swirling techniques and ideas. btw, Sonja, your cocoa and white swirls are breath-taking. I wish I had your talent. Thanks for the sqeeze-bottle idea.

 

[Martin]

Thanks. I know the first time I used the soap I made it felt like I did not wash all the soap off, then I realized that is what it was suppose to do. As far as the swirling just keep your batch thin. Have fun with it.


Sonja

 

[GrumpyOldWoman]

I don't think you need to factor your EO/FO into the lye calc.

How long did you let the soap cure? I find that my soap can leave somewhat of an oily feeling if it's too young.... :?:

 

[cdwinsby]

I noticed that your recipe is extremely high on the conditioning side which is probably why you get that waxy feeling.

If you increase the coconut oil by about 10% and lower the crisco by the same it should make your bar a little harder and more cleansing while still maintaining a decent level of conditioning qualities. You'll also get some more of those lovely bubbles we all seem to like so much.

Run your recipe through the http://www.soapcalc.com/calc/soapcalcWP.asp and play with the percentages. It's a great tool.

Buy the way....very, very nice swirl pattern. You've definately got the asthetic appeal part of soap making down pat!!!

Cathy

 

[ghengis151]

thanks

When I tried out the soap, it cured only for about 1 week. I will also play with the percentages. Thanks everyone!!!
-Rick

 

[Guest]

The amount of TD you used is low - but I find that it does make the soap feel different if I over do it.

 

[digit]

My, my...............those are some purdy soaps. Great swirls!

Do you have soft water? There is a place I go that has very soft water and it seems like I can never really rinse the soap off. Perhaps soft water combined with the high conditioning oils it leaves that feeling.

Digit

 

[NEASoapWorks]

Waxy?

All handmade soap has that feeling, on my skin — mine and others' I've tried. I think that's just the way CP/HP handmade soap feels. The feeling only lasts for some seconds, and usually comes with towel drying. Once the skin completely dries, and that good glycerin gets down in the skin, the "tackiness" or "drag" (which is how I describe it) disappears. Maybe we're not talking about the same thing.

It doesn't mean your soap was made "wrong" or you need to do something to fix it. Handmade soap is full of natural glycerin, and that's what protects the skin and keeps it from drying out. I was worried about that feeling too, but I also discovered that different skins "feel" soap differently. I also know it has to do with the combo of oils — which don't have to be good or bad, just maybe not for your skin type, if that feeling bothers you.

 

[Guest]

Re: Waxy?

All handmade soap has that feeling, on my skin — mine and others' I've tried. I think that's just the way CP/HP handmade soap feels. The feeling only lasts for some seconds, and usually comes with towel drying. Once the skin completely dries, and that good glycerin gets down in the skin, the "tackiness" or "drag" (which is how I describe it) disappears. Maybe we're not talking about the same thing.

It doesn't mean your soap was made "wrong" or you need to do something to fix it. Handmade soap is full of natural glycerin, and that's what protects the skin and keeps it from drying out. I was worried about that feeling too, but I also discovered that different skins "feel" soap differently. I also know it has to do with the combo of oils — which don't have to be good or bad, just maybe not for your skin type, if that feeling bothers you.

I agree. I think maybe we all had gotten use to the way commercial soap felt.. we grew accustomed to it. But using handmade soap for now 8 years now. I dont notice a drag or anything.. just feels right.

 

[ghengis151]

Re: Waxy?

All handmade soap has that feeling, on my skin — mine and others' I've tried. I think that's just the way CP/HP handmade soap feels. The feeling only lasts for some seconds, and usually comes with towel drying. Once the skin completely dries, and that good glycerin gets" down in the skin, the "tackiness" or "drag" (which is how I describe it) disappears. Maybe we're not talking about the same thing.

That's exactly how it feels. Great description of how I wanted to phrase that "feeling". After switching to home-made soaps, I do notice that commercial soaps leaves my skin a bit drier. Thanks to everybody for their valuable input.
-Rick
p.s.-my next batch will be green/white swirl scented with grean tea FO.
also, taking a page from CiCi, I hope to incorporate black/green/ocre swirls into a creme colored base. Pics coming soon!!!

 

[GrumpyOldWoman]

looks like you cp'd, so 1 week is way to early to use your soapies!
And as others have mentioned, homemade soaps doe tend to feel different than the commercial stuff.

 

[pink-north]

Definately wait longer than a 1 week to try soap. Gorgeous swirl though :wink: . I used to get a waxy feeling on my skin too. We found that it was caused by the hard water in our well (rural life :roll: ). We have a water softener now and I don't notice that waxiness as much.