Anybody make their own shave soap?

[Trawlerman]

So ..... does anybody here ever make their own shaving soap? Or is that too girly a task for a manly forum like this?

I've seen lots of recipes on the 'Tinterweb for soaps and am thinking that it can't be too difficult to do?

 

[Cole19]

What alot of people do is take a soap, typically VDH, and melt it and add other ingredients.

Two of the most popular combinations are,

Van der Sprice (VDH+Old Spice)
Van der Menthe (VDH+Aqua Velve blue)

But you are able to mix and match anything you want, I really enjoy the Van der Menthe, even though I don't like Aqua Velve by itself.

 

[WastedResources]

You've got two methods*; melt-and-pour, and cold process. Neither one are terribly difficult if you're following a recipe, and pay attention to what you're doing. In fact with melt-and-pour, you buy pre-made soap base, and add colors and fragrances along with some clay for slip, and you're good to go. Cold Process is more involved, and takes a long time to set, but it's not impossible.

*There is another method called hot process, but I don't think it's very popular. I don't know anything about it.

I've made a couple batches of melt-and-pour with decent results, but nothing unique or fantastic enough to share with the world. It is fun. It also gave me a lot of respect for people who actually make high-quality soaps or develop original fragrances.

 

[Fortitudo Dei]

So ..... does anybody here ever make their own shaving soap?

Yes. Proper soap making its great fun (none of this melt-and-pour rubbish...). Don't expect to come out on top financially though...

Or is that too girly a task for a manly forum like this?

Hell no. Making soap involves the use of chemicals which are fatal if consumed and can cause serious chemical burns if splashed on the skin or blindness if it gets into your eyes - so no, not girly at all. There are risks involved but it needn’t be dangerous if you take proper precautions

I've seen lots of recipes on the 'Tinterweb for soaps...

There plenty of great bath-soap recipes out there, but I have yet to come across a shaving soap recipe on the internet worth a damn. Any recipe that has lots of olive oil (or other liquid-at-room-temperature fats) or no potassium hydroxide will be near-useless as a shaving soap

and am thinking that it can't be too difficult to do?

Bath soap is easy to do and I recommend you start with that before trying to make a shaving soap. The quality of home-made bath soap will blow-away anything you can buy at the supermarket.
Shaving soaps are more difficult but still doable. The properties are quite different from normal soap and getting the balance of different fatty acids right can be tricky.

See Krissy’s and my posts here

 

[WastedResources]

See Krissy’s and my posts here

I wish I would have found that thread before just now.

 

[jaykay10]

ha me too

 

[Go West Young Man]

More than one of our resident soapmakers here reported that they thought they had a great shave soap ready for sale..... until some B+Bers started real-world testing them. IIRC, one of the ladies mentioned that it took a year of back-and-forth testing and revising the formula until they reached an acceptable quality level.

 

[Fortitudo Dei]

There is another method called hot process, but I don't think it's very popular.

The hot process method is how soap is made commercially but you are right it is not as popular for D.I.Y soap makers. It can however still can be done (a slow-cooker / crock-pot is the preferred way of doing it but at a pinch you can use an oven on a low temperature or a double boiler).

The main advantages are (a) it speeds up the saponification process hugely so you can tell by the next day if the soap is any good (i.e. you don't have to wait for a six-week cure) and (b) you can add essential oils to scent a soap immediately after the soap has cooked but when it is still soft and has yet to set. The problem with trying to scent a soap using the cold-process method is that the lye and / or potash will saponify much of your essential oil along with all the other fats and simply turn your expensive EOs into soap (and kill the scent in the process). Hot process also makes working with high stearic-acid content soaps easier.

 

[wazazzle]

Some guys on here have had mixed results. From what i've read those that do get good results end up spending more making it vs. being cost effective and buying some. I can find good creams around my neighborhood toms maine mint (yes i can still find it here) and real shave co for about $3. Not worth the time making imo. But if someone is willing to give me some free samples, i'd be more than willing

 

[Augustiner]

Haven't done it, but I've thought about making some of my own shaving soap just for fun, not to sell.

I've researched cold process soap making a bit, I wouldn't do melt and pour. However, I've never gotten to the step of ordering the ingredients. Maybe someday...

 

[luvmysuper]

Whether you are adding stuff to Melt and Pour or doing cold process, it can hardly be considered girly.

C'mon - Pouring a lye solution into a vat of animal fat?
woof woof woof!

If you know what's good for you, don't tell these master soap makers that they are girly.

 

[silvertop]

Made it w/ a friend once but its hard to do w/ little kids around. It wasn't shaving soap.Ive used the melt and pour.I actually like the olive oil soap. lather is different but very slick. the melt and pour is nice because you can do it one little batch at a time and play w/ scents with out a lot of commitment A chunk of melt and pour is 9$ probaly get like 10-12 pucks worth.And you just do it in the mic one at a time real easy about 5 minutes work.

 

[silvertop]

Working with lye is not girly !!!!!!!!!
Think fight club
"The salt balance has to be just right, so the best fat for making soap comes from humans."
"This is lye - the crucial ingredient. The lye combined with the melted fat of the bodies, till a thick white soapy discharge crept into the river. May I see your hand, please?
"With enough soap, you could blow up the whole world."

 

[stubblefree]

Whether you are adding stuff to Melt and Pour or doing cold process, it can hardly be considered girly.

C'mon - Pouring a lye solution into a vat of animal fat?
woof woof woof!

If you know what's good for you, don't tell these master soap makers that they are girly.

These two masters look like real pro's........who are they Phil ?

 

[luvmysuper]

These two masters look like real pro's........who are they Phil ?

For the life of me I can't remember what organizations they work with.
I was doing some checking on moderate sized soap companies, and these two guys came up on websites.
The top guy is named Chris, and the bottom scruffy guy is Bruce, but that's all I can remember.
Man I hate getting old, forgetting stuff is just the first sign. Next I'll be repeating trivial facts and uninteresting stories.

or even worse, forgetting stuff and repeating trivial facts and uninteresting stories.

 

[Trawlerman]

Thanks for the info guys.

I had been looking at doing a melt-and-pour soap with some Bentonite Clay or Fullers Earth added for a bit of slip and a few drops of Essential Oils for the smellum.

I realise that I'm not gonna come out on top financially but thought it might be an interesting project to do.

Will have to get permission form SWMBO first as i'm not normally allowed to do stuff in the kitchen without adult supervision. Soemthing to do with nearly have the place on fire once or twice

 

[luvmysuper]

Thanks for the info guys.

I had been looking at doing a melt-and-pour soap with some Bentonite Clay or Fullers Earth added for a bit of slip and a few drops of Essential Oils for the smellum.

I realise that I'm not gonna come out on top financially but thought it might be an interesting project to do.

Will have to get permission form SWMBO first as i'm not normally allowed to do stuff in the kitchen without adult supervision. Soemthing to do with nearly have the place on fire once or twice

Go ahead with it, it is actually pretty neat to come up with your own private soap!

Read this for my run;

http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showthread.php?t=143911

 

[hideyhogoodneighbor]

I know this thread is quite old, and sorry to revive it, but I was doing a Google search and came across this, and had a few questions. I would like to do a cold process shave soap, and have a blend that I think would work quite well for my skin. first though I want to do a sort of melt and pour to test the waters of this recipe.

Question is, has anyone thought about using pure glycerin as a base?

Lately I've been using dial pure glycerin soap mixed with some other ingredients in my mug, and must say that it gives an amazing shave. I would like just a touch more slip, but for the most part it is satisfactory, and quite cheap.

I've heard that cat litter (unscented) is pure bentonite clay, so would you all think grinding some of that up would do the trick?

What are the best oils for a smooth, nourishing shave?

 

[Cash_Stronomer]

I've said this many times before, but if anything should be mixed...

 

[DCRIII]

I make my own using the soap base melts mixing in bentonite clay, activated charcoal, and various aftershaves or essential oils for custom scents. No plans to sell any of it. Just for my own use. My favorite so far is only scented with lime essential oil.