Wax and pipes?

[Zing]

Soap Peeps,
For the first time, I recently made a batch with 3% beeswax. I love it -- it's super hard.
Here's my question for those of you who routinely use waxes. Does it cause any issues with clogging your pipes? My superfat is 2-3%.

 

[CreativeWeirdo]

Hey Zing! Did you find an answer yet?

To be honest, I had never heard of adding waxes to soaps before joining this forum, and who knew it was such a popular method?! Now I have all the questions and you have bravely asked want I've been thinking. Now are you asking about wax getting in pipes from daily use of the soap? Or from clean up from the soaping dishes? I'm excited to hear peoples' answers on this. <3

 

[DeeAnna]

I think a person runs the risk of increased scum anytime one uses a hydrophobic (water hating) ingredient that doesn't fully saponify into soap (beeswax for example) or when you make a relatively insoluble soap (aka soap high in palmitic and stearic acids) or if you use a high superfat or if you have to use hard water for bathing with soap.

While those factors can increase the risk, you also have to consider the condition of your sewer pipes as well. Older homes with rougher sewer piping might be more at risk than newer or remodeled homes with smoother sewer lines.

 

[Zing]

Thanks, @CreativeWeirdo , for bumping this up! I also had not heard of adding waxes either. I see @KiwiMoose goes as high as 20% soy wax -- so I decided to relax with my 3%. And as always, I am grateful whenever @DeeAnna weighs in with her knowledge! I feel better about using a superfat of 2-3%. Happy New Year!

 

[KiwiMoose]

Happy New Year! It's already 2023 here and has been for 9 hours already. Yes, I stayed up! I just wanted to chip in to say to (I think) soy wax wouldn't fit into the same category as bees wax for the mere fact that it does saponify - because it's not really a wax. I'm not sure of the science behind this so feel free to chip in with more info if you have any.

 

[DeeAnna]

Remember that soy "wax" isn't really wax like beeswax. It's really hydrogenated soybean oil.

Hydrogenation converts some or all of the unsaturated fats into saturated fats. You can see the difference. Take regular liquid soy oil and hydrogenate it and you'll end up with a solid fat instead. But both versions saponify into soap, unlike beeswax.

 

[Ephemerella]

@KiwiMoose Happy New Year! We're still several hours away.

So fun to *know* somebody in the fuuuuutre!

Interesting thread! Not just adding wax to soap, but I revel in all things plumbing! Thanks for asking @Zing