This will be my first shaving soap and I still haven't added my dual lye to the melted oils yet because my son asked me to watch my favorite series installment with him. In the interim the oils overheated and I'm now waiting for them to cool down. The lye is now too cold. I don't regret it. Whatever happens, a sticky soap will be a prize!I masterbatched today with the full intention of making a batch of soap. However, my other obsession -- gardening -- occupied my day now that Spring has FINALLY sprung in the hinterlands here.
Wow, there is so much in this post! Thank you. The cultural reference around pork was fascinating. My parents were children of the Great Depression and I know it had a generational effect (tin foil and bread bags were used until they fell apart). I did not start soaping until after my grandparents died and I would have loved to talk to them about their homemade soap. My dad said his mother's homemade soap was pretty harsh and caustic. They couldn't afford to buy shampoo either and used dish soap or soap soap.
I do treasure every minute with my dad, I've totally let go of the fact that he doesn't use my soap. Life's too short. Thanks for posting, I appreciate it!
I've never used glycerin so can't be of much help, sorry. My scale only goes to whole grams. I round down to the nearest gram if it calls for 0.1 to 0.4 and round up if it calls for 0.5 to 0.9. Grams are so small, don't worry about it.
Also, if I might comment on your castor oil. I use 4-6%. Higher amounts can lead to a softer soap. Have you had success with 10%? Good luck.
Thanks for the reassurance on the rounding of the grams. It's what I've been doing all along with my regular soaping and haven't had an issue. But shaving soap is a new thing and I didn't want to put my foot into the ditch, so to speak.
I'll post how this batch goes.
Thank you! They were inspiring, I appreciated the morale boosting! I finally got my shave soaps done and it was a surprisingly good experience.I would look at the shave soap recipes posted by @Professor Bernardo and @Johnez. Some good stuff there.
Thank you, @AliOop and @Zing for the encouragement!
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