Will this 100% KOH recipe be a cream or a soap?

[Flyrod77]

I wanted to make a shaving cream rather than a hard soap. My favorite shaving cream that I buy is about the consistency of spreadable butter or margarine, and with a shaving brush it loads easy on the brush and makes great lather. My goal is to get something soft like that and with good conditioning.

The recipe uses 100% KOH, but the SoapCalc gives this recipe a hardness number of 66. Does this mean it will be a hard soap? The SoapCalc gives a desired hardness range of 29-54 and my recipe is higher than that range.

What can I expect this soap to be like, a creme or a hard soap - or something in between? Thanks in advance for helping me.

 

[Susie]

The KOH recipe above will make a liquid soap, not a shaving soap.

Here is a rather longish thread about making shaving soap: http://www.soapmakingforum.com/showthread.php?t=34264&highlight=shaving+soap

 

[Flyrod77]

The KOH recipe above will make a liquid soap, not a shaving soap.

Here is a rather longish thread about making shaving soap: http://www.soapmakingforum.com/showthread.php?t=34264&highlight=shaving+soap

Thank you for the link. I went there and am now in the process of reading that thread (it is epic long). But the original poster says he used 100% KOH. It sounds like it made a creamy shaving cream, just what I am wanting to make. But I don't know if my recipe will do that... I hope so. Here's the quote I copied from that thread:

Yep. This recipe is an attempt to reverse engineer the shaving soap from Martin de Candre in France, which many wet shavers feel is the creme de la creme. Potassium only in that, so the guy that worked out this recipe only used KOH. It creates a very soft soap that's easy to load, but is still solid.

What I am looking for is a creamy texture like the commercial shaving creme I have been using, that is the consistency of a spreadable butter. The one I am currently using is Taylor of Old Bond Street Sandalwood. It makes wonderful creamy shaving lather. I'd like to make something like that but with good conditioning oils - and have the fun of making my own shaving cream (not hard soap, but shaving cream like the Taylor cream).

Maybe I just need to make the recipe and see what happens. I can report back what I find out.

 

[Obsidian]

I suspect it will be more of a soft moldable texture. Not as soft s play doh but still easy to squish.

 

[Flyrod77]

I know I am not explaining this very well. Here's a brief video of the Taylor shaving creme consistency... and it shows how it lathers. This is what I am looking for:

https://youtu.be/31V6SmLaXWA

 

[Obsidian]

You explained yourself fine, I knew what you meant.
I don't think you'll get soap that soft. The couple times I used 100% Koh, my soap was more like cream cheese.
I'm not sure how to get cream like that. Wish I did, it looks great.

 

[Flyrod77]

I suspect it will be more of a soft moldable texture. Not as soft s play doh but still easy to squish.

That would be fantastic. I'd be fine if it turned out like that. I'm just going to try and make the recipe later this week, and I will report back how it all works out. I really appreciate your feedback!!!

 

[Saranac]

Based on the ingredient list:

Aqua (Water), Stearic Acid, Myristic Acid, Potassium Hydroxide, Coconut Fatty Acid, Glycerin, Parfum (Fragrance), Triethanolamine, Sodium Hydroxide, Benzyl Alcohol, Methylchloroisothiazolinone, Methylisothiazolinone, (Parfum Contains: Linalool, Geraniol, Benzyl Salicylate, Citronellol, Eugenol, Benzyl Benzoate, Benzyl Cinnamate, Evernia Furfuracea Extract, Evernia Prunastri Extract, Limonene, Coumarin).

it looks like a cream soap.

 

[Obsidian]

Looks like it should be a good recipe, I'd save out a little of the shea (5%) to use as superfat. Don't forget the glycerin, I did that with my last batch of shave soap and it was pretty bad.

Now you have me wondering about making cream. I bet if I took some of my softest soap and whipped it with some water, I could get it to a creamy texture. That would mean adding a preservative but I'm ok with that.

 

[Flyrod77]

Based on the ingredient list:


it looks like a cream soap.

Looks like it has KOH and also Sodium Hydroxide. Should I try a combination of both?

 

[Obsidian]

If you want it soft as possible, use KOH only. I use a combo of both and my soap if fairly firm.

 

[Saranac]

Cream soaps typically have more water to them which will help to soften the soap. There are posts on the forum; I haven't tried 1 in a long time.