sticky feeling from soap

renaissancemom · May 10, 2009

i just started using my soaps that have cured for 3-4 weeks (i know they technincally need more time to become milder) my mother used a bar and said her hands felt sticky(i refer to the feeling as waxy) she said it went away her hands were completely dry. i do feel this myself but associated it with the emolient properties associated with handmade soap. does anyone else experience a sticky or waxy feel to their soap when wet?(once dry my skin feels soft) will the waxiness go away after the 6 week cure? I superfat around 10-15%, could this contribute to the feeling?

AshleyR · May 10, 2009

I'm not sure if this is the same thing you're experiencing, but I do notice that most of my handmade soaps kind of "drag" on my skin the first few times I use a new bar. After that they're fine! I don't know why it happens.

renaissancemom · May 10, 2009

i've used them more than a few times and i still feel this. when you rub your fingers together or run your finger over your leg or arm it does not run smooth as if there were lotion on your skin rather your finger "bounces" a little as if there were a layer of plastic or wax over your skin. is this very weird?

dagmar88 · May 10, 2009

Hi renaissancemom,
Could you please post your recipe, cause it's hard to tell what went wrong without that. I'd say 10-15% superfat is pretty high; but it also depends on which fats/oils you used :wink:
Dagmar

renaissancemom · May 10, 2009

i get this feeling with all of my soaps, regardless the receipe. i use olive oil, coconut oil, palm oil, and avacado. differenet amounts in different receipes - same result. i think it is the emolient properties of the soap on the skin, but i don't know.

Lindy · May 10, 2009

Hi there - the comments I have gotten from people using handmade soaps is that they feel so different than what they are used to with commercial soaps that at first they felt like their hands were "sticky" or that there was "something" left on their skin. Once they adjusted to the how the skin feels they understood that this is the difference between hand-made and commercial, Commercial soaps strip the skin so it feels squeaky clean instead of feeling moisturized. So yes you want that feeling of not being "squeaky" clean because you don't want the natural oils washed off just the dirt......I hope that makes sense? It's the best way that I can think of to explain what you may be feeling.

renaissancemom · May 10, 2009

thank you, that makes me feel a better.

surf girl · May 11, 2009

renaisssance, I don't know... I have been using handmade soap almost exclusively for the past ten or fifteen years, and I can't say I notice the stickiness or drag (either with my own or others, including Lindy's). Maybe it's just something I've gotten used to. However, I can't say that I've noticed less drag or stickiness when I do use commercial soaps at my dad's place or friend's places. Maybe some people are just more perceptive than I am.