"Squeaky" Clean Feeling

[adoptapitbull]

I've tested a few of my soaps in the tub lately and I notice that they seem to make me feel "squeaky" clean. Like, if you wash your face with the soap, afterwards your hands almost make a squeaking sound when rubbing your face.

Is this normal? I've only used tried and true recipes on my first batches so I'm wondering if this is just how they are, or if I messed up? I mean, I don't hate the feeling at all. It's just different.

 

[kelleyaynn]

Real handcrafted soap will definitely feel different than the store bought soap you are probably used to. When you say "squeaky clean," do you mean it feels drying? Or just different? Without knowing what recipes you actually used, I can't tell you if you would expect the soap to be drying or not.

 

[adoptapitbull]

No, it's not drying. It just feels different...I suppose it's hard to explain. I use recipes of OO,CO,PO, GM and occasionally SB, CB, castor.

 

[ChristinaB]

I know the feeling you're talking about, I get that too with all of the different recipes I've tried. I don't love it, reminds me of fingers on a balloon (which makes my teeth hurt!!), and then after I dry off it takes a few minutes for the tacky/sticky feeling to go away, but once I'm totally dry my skin feels like silk. My husband keeps running his hands up and down my legs telling me he can't believe how soft my skin feels now using handmade soap!

 

[adoptapitbull]

Yes! Fingers on a balloon is a great analogy. Kinda makes the "errrrrrr" sound, too.

I've not noticed any drying on my skin, so I didn't think it was hurting anything...just wondering if that was how handmade soap was!

 

[ChristinaB]

You know what's so weird is just thinking about fingers on a balloon makes my teeth hurt, I don't actually have to hear it! I guess kind of like nails on a chalkboard for other people, but that doesn't bother me at all.....I'm a little different... :wink:

 

[krissy]

for me that feeling went away when i up'ed my SF and went down a bit on my cleansing numbers.

 

[Araseth]

That squeaky feeling is awesome to me, I love the feel hehe. Nails on a blackboard I hate though Different strokes for different folks. There is somebody (I think on the forum but I can't remember) who looked at her skin after washing under a microscope. With the commercial soaps it left a film on her skin, with handmade soaps there was no film.

Edit: I think the film is what determines the squeaky or not squeaky feel.

 

[adoptapitbull]

I try to keep my SF at 8% for all my soaps...not sure what the cleansing value is since I use a different soap calc. Now I figured out how to use the one you guys use, and I'm sure I'll use it more often!

 

[LisaNY]

for me that feeling went away when i up'ed my SF and went down a bit on my cleansing numbers.

Same here. )

 

[TJ]

My soap is the same way. Everything that was described is how my soap feels on my hands. The rest of my family says it doesn't do that to their skin when they use it though.
I don't like the feeling at all. I'll try superfatting my soaps more next time.
Thanks for making this thread! I was going to ask about it, but I kept forgetting. I'm glad I'm not the only one who has experienced this. I thought I was going crazy because no one else in my family says the soap does this to their skin. I kept thinking: My skin must be weird... lol.

 

[krissy]

My soap is the same way. Everything that was described is how my soap feels on my hands. The rest of my family says it doesn't do that to their skin when they use it though.
I don't like the feeling at all. I'll try superfatting my soaps more next time.
Thanks for making this thread! I was going to ask about it, but I kept forgetting. I'm glad I'm not the only one who has experienced this. I thought I was going crazy because no one else in my family says the soap does this to their skin. I kept thinking: My skin must be weird... lol.

i may be wrong but the way my brain thought it out was that with commercial soaps when i would get that feeling it was because they were cleansing me and removing the natural oil that is supposed to be on my skin. then i thought well if it is a cleansing issue maybe my cleansing #'s were too high, so i lowered them and up'd my SF. no more squeaky clean, just clean and soft....

 

[littleminiginny]

I also got that 'squeaky clean' feeling after using new soap, but my cleansing numbers on the soap were already intentionally very low because of my sensitive skin, so I'm not entirely sure what it was. I will say that after a minute or so my skin still feels very soft, not dry. I have also known this squeakiness to sometimes be a product of interaction of hard water with soap, both of which are basic and thus oppose the naturally acidic human skin pH. That seems a likely possibility for me, as we have a very high water table and live on limestone sediment where I am, so I would maybe look into your water quality as well. My final suggestion if the problem continues is to just make some kind of lotion or body butter to use after your soap, you can even use a similar if not identical oil blend to the original soap that way it's just upping any benefits from those soap oils. This should bring back any moisture/oils lost in the process of getting that 'sqeaky clean' feel.

 

[NewlyCreative]

It seems to go away the longer the soap cures (for me if we’re talking about the same feeling).