Soaps with beeswax

[Crazy8]

Over the short period of time of being a soaper, I have come across recipes that have beeswax in them. I thought I had some that I saved but it seems I don't. So I of course did some online searching and as you would expect, I am just not finding what I had seen in the past. I guess now I am just asking if any of you may have (I know this is a huge faux pas) soap recipes that include the use of beeswax.

I am not asking for your secret recipes or even personal recipes, just perhaps something that involves the use of beeswax. Maybe some of you have links to a site that has a recipes that use beeswax? I'm not just looking for soaps but pretty much anything such as shampoo bars, soaps, body lotions, (not sure what all it can be used in), anything really. Any help with this would be greatly appreciated.

 

[judymoody]

Try the blog hosted by Majestic Mountain Sage. They have some great lip balm and solid lotion recipes.

In soap, some people use it to add hardness to their bars at 1-2% of oil weight. I find it very difficult to use because it has to be kept so hot to remain melted. I tried it a couple of times and haven't used it in soap in a long time.

 

[Crazy8]

Hmmmm. Does it add anything to the soap (other than hardness) worth putting into the soap in the first place?

 

[dagmar88]

Hmmmm. Does it add anything to the soap (other than hardness) worth putting into the soap in the first place?

Try adding some to your regular recipe to see the difference.
Personally, I really dislike beeswax in anything but balms.

 

[cmzaha]

I hp a honey soap and people love it. It absolutely will not cp since it is such an overheater. oo, co, sao, ako, castor with 1.6% beeswax, propolis, avocado honey, gm, hemp milk & yogurt. Orange EO and Clove. LOL, there is not much in this puppy that does not overheat! Ends up a nice amber color

 

[Crazy8]

I hp a honey soap and people love it. It absolutely will not cp since it is such an overheater. oo, co, sao, ako, castor with 1.6% beeswax, propolis, avocado honey, gm, hemp milk & yogurt. Orange EO and Clove. LOL, there is not much in this puppy that does not overheat! Ends up a nice amber color

HOLY COWS!!! You forgot to throw in your fridge and the sink in there too. Man there is a lot of stuff in that.

Thank you guys for the info.

 

[kazmi]

I tried it once in cp and won't do that again. Even at higher soaping temps than I do normally, I ended up having to try picking out the harden bits of beeswax out of my soap bowl.

 

[Crazy8]

Hmmmmm perhaps I will avoid the beeswax then, or at least until I have much more experience under my belt. Thank you guys for the help and advice on this.

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[karenbeth]

As a beekeeper my plan is to use honey beeswax or both in most of my soaps. I only use 1-2 % beeswax and melt it with my other hard oils. I try to soap cool as I don't like all my soap to be caramel coloured from the honey heating up. So far the beeswax has behaved itself and not become hard lumps - but that statement is probably asking for trouble in the next batch. I don't use palm oil or animal fats so I need something to add hardness

 

[squyars]

Karen, a friend gave me some beeswax, I would love to try it in my CP soap. She said I should heat it up over a double boiler. Could it also be melted in the microwave, or is that asking for trouble? What temp do you get your oils and beeswax to, to get it to work? I would do love to give my friend a bar of soap made with her bees honey and wax.
Thanks.

 

[CaraCara]

I have soap with beeswax in it and it's fine. I melted mine on the stove, added it to the oils and blended like crazy before and after adding the lye. I CP'd it so there are little flecks but it doesn't take away from the lather at all and does add hardness. I say make a small batch and give it a try.

 

[savonierre]

I tried it in soap and find it kills the lather, there are easier ways to get a harder bar of soap.

 

[Obsidian]

I only made once batch with bees wax and I really like it. It added a different feel and slip, its one of my favorites. I added the wax a bit different though, once I had it melted, I added some water and coconut oil at the same temp and blended it with the stick blender. It basically made a really thick lotion like mix that was easier to incorporate into the rest of the warm oils.

 

[karenbeth]

Beeswax melts at 145 F or 64C. I find when I melt it with coconut oil it disperses, but it really is a small amount of wax in a recipe. I melt beeswax in the microwave for candles and it's fine. Just don't use pyrex. My jug exploded. What a mess. It is quite flammable so if you melt it in a pot on the stove keep an eye on it.

 

[kazmi]

I only made once batch with bees wax and I really like it. It added a different feel and slip, its one of my favorites. I added the wax a bit different though, once I had it melted, I added some water and coconut oil at the same temp and blended it with the stick blender. It basically made a really thick lotion like mix that was easier to incorporate into the rest of the warm oils.

That sounds like a good solution! I think I'll try it this way since I'd like to use the beeswax I have and not have it go to waste.

 

[LanaBanana]

So, this is not for soap, but a great use for beeswax. I'm in south florida and I use beeswax to make surf wax. 4 parts beeswax and 1 part coconut oil melted and poured into 3oz molds. This makes wax for warm water. Cold water wax would include 1 part pine resin.

 

[Crazy8]

So, this is not for soap, but a great use for beeswax. I'm in south florida and I use beeswax to make surf wax. 4 parts beeswax and 1 part coconut oil melted and poured into 3oz molds. This makes wax for warm water. Cold water wax would include 1 part pine resin.

Very cool. Well if surfing ever get big up here in MN, I already have a recipe for board wax. lol

Thank you all for your help and even the conversation among yourselves is helpful. Maybe I will get a small batch of it and try it out and see what I think. I thought it might be cool to incorporate it into oats and honey recipe. Figured "well if its going to look like it has honey comb on top, and its going to use the oats and honey FO, maybe I should also add real honey/beeswax to it too"? Good idea? Bad idea? Sounds like if I don't want that dark yellow/brown color beeswax gives you, that you want to melt it cool. I do have an idea for doing this that will incorporate the use of three colors. So having some control over colors would be nice.

 

[loveit_latherit]

Great thread! thanks for posting I was considering beeswax too

 

[DottieF.]

I make an oats & honey soap with beeswax in it. I use a very small amount of beeswax--2 ounces with 12lbs. of oils and take a 9% lye discount. I also use 1 cup of finely ground oatmeal (or oat flour) and about 3 tbsp. of honey added at trace. I melt the beeswax with the hard oils. I don't discount my water and soap at 90F degrees. I also allow it to gel fully. I've never had a problem with this recipe and have made many, many batches of it. It's my favorite bar and has great lather even with my hard water. I also make this scented with lavender. HTH Dottie

 

[TVivian]

This post inspired me to try a beeswax and honey soap! Wow that moved CRAZY fast!!! What I rush, I think my heart is still pounding haha..



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