Syndopour: kaolin for slip?

[artemis]

I have been using the syndopour on my hair for a while now and been pretty happy with it. Recently, a friend gifted me a traditional syndet bar. The main difference I noticed is how easily this new bar slides over my hair. The syndopour drags more as I rub it over my hair.

I was wondering: is there anything that can be added to the syndopour to make it more slippy? Would kaolin be a good additive for that?

I'm willing to be the guinea pig-- how much do you think I should try?

 

[Obsidian]

I personally despise clay on my hair, it sucks every bit of moisture out of it. What about dimethicone?

 

[Mobjack Bay]

I’m pretty sure that Syndopour will take both oil and water soluble ingredients, which opens up the options. When I typed “slip” into the search bar at Lotioncrafter, dimethicone-type products came up, and also Daikon Seed oil, which is a natural replacement. There’s a product described on the HunbleBee & Me site called LuxGlide/LexFeel 350 that looks promising, but the only places I see it for sale are on Etsy and in Canada. I put a tiny bit of clay into one of my Syndopour bars for color and it got a bit chalky. I recently read somewhere that Syndopour can dry out really quickly and should be covered when melting to reduce water loss, and also not re-heated. Based on the tendency of the base to dry out, maybe adding clay isn’t a good idea? Whatever you decide to try, I hope you will report back!

 

[AliOop]

You might also consider broccoli seed oil. It's often a recommended replacement for silicones in solid hair conditioner bars.

 

[artemis]

Ok. So, dimethicone, daikon seed oil, luxglide and broccoli seed oil. I'll start looking into those. Thanks, guys!

 

[soapmaker]

You might also consider broccoli seed oil. It's often a recommended replacement for silicones in solid hair conditioner bars.

Would any ordinary soapmaking oils work?

 

[soapmaker]

Ok. So, dimethicone, daikon seed oil, luxglide and broccoli seed oil. I'll start looking into those. Thanks, guys!

Please reply back!

 

[AliOop]

Would any ordinary soapmaking oils work?

I would say no. Some oils absorb more easily into the hair than others. For instance, olive oil and coconut oil make my hair a greasy mess. Argan, jojoba, meadowfoam seed, and broccoli seed leave it moisturized and shiny without weighing it down. But everyone is different, so it takes some experimentation.

 

[Mobjack Bay]

@AliOop does Broccoli seed oil smell weird to you? They mentioned the odor of the Lotioncrafter website.

@artemis I was thinking about trying an additive in my bars but then I made another batch that turned out quite well. Based on what I uncovered in the research I mentioned in post #3, I kept the base covered while it heated in a water bath and made sure to heat it to exactly 180 F before pouring. I didn’t add anything except a tiny bit of blue ultramarine in a little alcohol and 1% lavender EO. The bars are just a wee bit softer then my earlier bars where I heated the base uncovered in the microwave. The one I’m using now leaves a little of the product on my hair as I slide it across my head and then I can build a lather on my head. yay! The previous bars were either too soft and a bit crumbly (base not heated enough?, additive I used?) or too hard to leave product during a swipe across my head (dried out a little while heating?). With that bar I had to rub hard to make lather in my hands and then use that lather to wash my hair.

If I can repeat my success a couple more times i will be happy with what I have without any additives.

 

[AliOop]

My little bottle of BSE doesn't smell weird to me at all. I have read that it can very from batch to batch. But honestly, at 1-2% in the recipe, it would have to smell pretty strong to affect the entire batch.

I do add a wee bit of FO and EO since BTMS 50 (or 25, if that's what you use) apparently can smell fishy after heating. Again, I haven't smelled any fishy odor in my conditioner bars, but I've read about it enough that I figured it was best to be proactive in case it did smell.

 

[soapmaker]

I would say no. Some oils absorb more easily into the hair than others. For instance, olive oil and coconut oil make my hair a greasy mess. Argan, jojoba, meadowfoam seed, and broccoli seed leave it moisturized and shiny without weighing it down. But everyone is different, so it takes some experimentation.

@AliOop do CO 76 and FCO act the same in your hair?

 

[AliOop]

@AliOop do CO 76 and FCO act the same in your hair?

Great question to ask! FCO isn’t as bad as regular CO on my hair or skin. It still isn’t a favorite for me, but it is passable. And sometimes the lower cost of it makes more sense, too.