DIY Shaving Soap Recipe: Transforming Bar Soap into Shaving

[smartpc]

Here's a method for turning ordinary bar soap into shaving soap. Why would you want to do this? I'm not sure… maybe just for fun, as in my case.

To ensure the soap produces a thick, long-lasting lather, you'll need to add sugar, glycerin, and olive oil.

I bought a mixed tallowate/palmitate soap (140g) with a neutral scent (ingredients listed on the packaging: Sodium Tallowate, Sodium Palmate, Sodium Palm Kernelate, Aqua, Glycerin, Parfum, Titanium Dioxide, Disodium EDTA, Etidronic Act, Citric Acid, Disodium, Distyrylbiphenyl Disulfonate, BHT, Hexyl Cinamal) and liquid glycerin from the nearest pharmacy. It cost me about $2.5.

Here's the process:

1. Grate the soap using a grater and place it in a heated bath.
2. Pour hot water into the mixture and stir constantly over a heated bath.
3. Once the mixture is smooth, add 1 tablespoon of olive oil and ½ teaspoon of glycerin, stirring well.
4. Add 1 teaspoon of sugar and mix thoroughly.
The mixture will become thicker. You can then transfer the soap into containers. I used a cut-up bottle covered with plastic wrap.
I got two full-sized soap pucks about the size of Williams Mug Soap and another roughly half-sized portion pressed into a mug, which I usually use for lathering.
The final outcome is a rather decent shaving soap that performs well for face lathering.

 

[nemo]

a method for turning ordinary bar soap into shaving soap. Why would you want to do this?

Yes, good question ... ummm ... well, yeah.

I'll stick with the classic shaving soaps, thanks for the tutorial though.

 

[cranewarrior]

This is exactly the kind of tinkering I enjoy. Thanks for the tutorial. It would be interesting to see if I can get Ivory soap to perform well as a shaving soap while also adding a new scent to it. Maybe lavender.

 

[blethenstrom]

Here's a method for turning ordinary bar soap into shaving soap. Why would you want to do this? I'm not sure… maybe just for fun, as in my case.

To ensure the soap produces a thick, long-lasting lather, you'll need to add sugar, glycerin, and olive oil.

I bought a mixed tallowate/palmitate soap (140g) with a neutral scent (ingredients listed on the packaging: Sodium Tallowate, Sodium Palmate, Sodium Palm Kernelate, Aqua, Glycerin, Parfum, Titanium Dioxide, Disodium EDTA, Etidronic Act, Citric Acid, Disodium, Distyrylbiphenyl Disulfonate, BHT, Hexyl Cinamal) and liquid glycerin from the nearest pharmacy. It cost me about $2.5.

Here's the process:

1. Grate the soap using a grater and place it in a heated bath.
2. Pour hot water into the mixture and stir constantly over a heated bath.
3. Once the mixture is smooth, add 1 tablespoon of olive oil and ½ teaspoon of glycerin, stirring well.
4. Add 1 teaspoon of sugar and mix thoroughly.
The mixture will become thicker. You can then transfer the soap into containers. I used a cut-up bottle covered with plastic wrap.
I got two full-sized soap pucks about the size of Williams Mug Soap and another roughly half-sized portion pressed into a mug, which I usually use for lathering.
The final outcome is a rather decent shaving soap that performs well for face lathering.

Experimenting is always fun. It looks like pretty good lather.

Can you perform a test for me? Lather up a brush with nice lather. Snap a picture of that brush and then wait about 10 minutes and snap another picture of the same lather. Compare the two. Did the lather stay the same or? What I am after is how stable the lather is. This is one of the challenges with lather made from bar soap. How quickly does it dissipate?

 

[smartpc]

Experimenting is always fun. It looks like pretty good lather.

Can you perform a test for me? Lather up a brush with nice lather. Snap a picture of that brush and then wait about 10 minutes and snap another picture of the same lather. Compare the two. Did the lather stay the same or? What I am after is how stable the lather is. This is one of the challenges with lather made from bar soap. How quickly does it dissipate?

5 min:


10 min:




I must note one unpleasant surprise: despite the large amount of olive oil and glycerin, my facial skin feels as dry as it does after using shaving foam from a canister...

 

[blethenstrom]

View attachment 1799441

5 min:
View attachment 1799442

10 min:
View attachment 1799443



I must note one unpleasant surprise: despite the large amount of olive oil and glycerin, my facial skin feels as dry as it does after using shaving foam from a canister...

Very good lather stability. Very nice indeed. Olive oil you have to be careful with, because it can kill your lather, but may want to add a bit more glycerin. Just add some when you make your lather and see if the dryness get any better. I am sure there is a limit to how much glycerin that you can add without it having adverse effects as well, but you would find that out when you make your lather.

After my shave I usually add after shave and then a little bit of Jojoba oil to my face. Shave soaps in general are not the most conditioning soaps and tend to be on the drying side. However, a little post shave lotion or just oil helps with that. The bonus with that is that the after shave scent seem to last longer.

 

[Beefdrippings]

Dove Men seems to make great lather as a shower bar so maybe it would be good for this. Heavily scented though.

 

[Quaznoid]

I shave with bath soap everyday. Here’s what I do: Nothing. There’s nothing to do. When soap pieces get too small to use just throw them in your shaving soap bowl. Make lather as usual. It’s simple and free

 

[mcee_sharp]

I shave with bath soap everyday. Here’s what I do: Nothing. There’s nothing to do. When soap pieces get too small to use just throw them in your shaving soap bowl. Make lather as usual. It’s simple and free

Any particular brands of soap that are your favourites as a lather?

 

[brucered]

If I ever run out of soap/cream and the world stops selling lather products and I have all these proudcts on hand, I'll try it.

 

[jaro 101969]

You can also add some of this.....

Bentonite Clay | Hobby Lobby | 2275022

Wash away your worries with this Bentonite Clay. This light gray clay improves the appearance of pores and tightens and tones the skin. It's great to use for oily skin, so it would be perfect to use in soaps as well as face masks. It's vegan and made with all natural ingredients, such as aged...

www.hobbylobby.com

And

Bentonite clay unclogs pores, draws out toxins and softens skin naturally and It helps add more slickness.....And those are some of the reasons as to why it is used in shaving soaps.

 

[Frito Ray]

Pardon my ignorance but why add sugar? Wouldn’t it encourage mold growth.

 

[smartpc]

Pardon my ignorance but why add sugar? Wouldn’t it encourage mold growth.

Sugar makes the lather more stable, and right after its addition, the soap mixture becomes firmer. This is noticeable in the photo.

I read this tip on a hobbyist soap-making forum. Anyway, the result is quite mixed: stable , but a really unpleasant feeling of dryness on the skin. I doubt I'll continue using this soap in the future.

 

[Goblin]

Pardon my ignorance but why add sugar? Wouldn’t it encourage mold growth.

That's exactly what I was thinking.

I don't understand what purpose it serves in the formula.

 

[mcee_sharp]

That's exactly what I was thinking.

I don't understand what purpose it serves in the formula.

Me too!

Apparently helps with latherability though, per the Googles:

Sugar also makes soap molecules more attractive to water after production, which increases the rate at which soap is dissolved during use. By increasing the solubility of soap, it decreases the amount of work energy and rubbing necessary to create lather.

 

[smartpc]

Sugar does not promote mold formation; quite the opposite - it acts as a preservative. Just think about jams or condensed milk. Mold thrives in moisture, so it is not advisable to seal the container tightly with soap after using it.

(Sorry for my not-so-great English).

 

[mcee_sharp]

Sugar does not promote mold formation; quite the opposite - it acts as a preservative. Just think about jams or condensed milk. Mold thrives in moisture, so it is not advisable to seal the container tightly with soap after using it.

(Sorry for my not-so-great English).

Your English is great.

 

[blethenstrom]

You can also add some of this.....

Bentonite Clay | Hobby Lobby | 2275022

Wash away your worries with this Bentonite Clay. This light gray clay improves the appearance of pores and tightens and tones the skin. It's great to use for oily skin, so it would be perfect to use in soaps as well as face masks. It's vegan and made with all natural ingredients, such as aged...

www.hobbylobby.com

And

Bentonite clay unclogs pores, draws out toxins and softens skin naturally and It helps add more slickness.....And those are some of the reasons as to why it is used in shaving soaps.

Be careful with bentonite clay because it also dry your skin, but yes it can also be helpful for other reasons.

 

[blethenstrom]

Sugar does not promote mold formation; quite the opposite - it acts as a preservative. Just think about jams or condensed milk. Mold thrives in moisture, so it is not advisable to seal the container tightly with soap after using it.

(Sorry for my not-so-great English).

Should not seal any soap that isn't fully dried.

 

[Quaznoid]

Any particular brands of soap that are your favourites as a lather?

I only use what is laying around the house: Dial, Dove, Irish Spring and Zest. They all work well; Irish Spring might have a slight edge. Usually they’re all blended together.

And no, I’m not blending in some bizarre clay substance. These guys don’t get it. I USE SOAP SCRAPS BECAUSE THEY ARE FREE AND THEY WORK WELL. So many shavers have been brainwashed by B&B and other sites that shaving requires exotic and expensive products and equipment and unique and obscure techniques that the idea that this is a SIMPLE and EASY activity that anyone one can do with little or nothing is a controversial, even subversive idea. AAAAGGGHHHH!! STOP IT ! STOP IT !

Part of the problem is that an entire industry has been built on this idea. There is money in dem soaps and razors and pre-shaves and brushes and aftershaves etc, etc and a mythic subculture to support it.

Part of what I want to do here is to explode these myths and free our minds from the consumer culture that depend on them. FREE YOUR MIND !!!