I'm a hobbyist soapmaker, and in the process of developing a solid shaving soap recipe. Before I get into developing my own and incorporating a wide variety of possibly controversial oils and scents and whatnot, I decided it might be best to start with my take on a solid existing product to get a baseline soap.
Given that you all seem to enjoy soap at least as much if not more than I do, I thought you all might enjoy watching the process. (If not, please click back at this point, I don't want to waste anybody's time.)
My first step was to find a soap that seems to be well regarded.
Next, google it and note that the unscented version has only 5 ingredients, in the following order:
Stearic Acid
Aqua
Coconut Acid
Potassium Hydroxide
Glycerin
Then you buy the ingredients. In this case, I'm swapping coconut oil for coconut acid, a) because I already have a pretty substantial supply, and b) I'm not a huge fan of overly refined oils.
View attachment 306537
(Since I am, in essence, reverse engineering an existing soap, it'd be a little tacky to claim any proprietary rights over this recipe, so the full instructions / recipe I came up with will follow.)
You pull up soapcalc.net and see what you need to do to make a recipe with the ingredients in that order.
With soapcalc.net's help, plus a few educated guesses, for this starter recipe I'll be using 52% stearic acid and 48% coconut oil, as that keeps the oils reasonably balanced, and 52% stearic acid is pretty high already. I'm using a 3% superfat as you don't need too much extra oil for a shaving bar, but I wanted a little superfatting as I haven't worked with potassium hydroxide lye before.
Since this is a test batch, I'm only going to use about a pound of oil, and the general rule of thumb for adding glycerin is to use about a tablespoon per pound of oils (in terms of added glycerin, there is also glycerin created as part of the soapmaking process, and it is not generally processed out in small batch soapmaking, which is one of the reasons why handmade / artisanal soap tends to be so nice.)
With that in mind, once you punch the numbers into soapcalc.net, you get the following recipe.
Stearic Acid - 8 1/3 oz.
Aqua - 8 oz.
Coconut Oil - 7 2/3 oz.
Potassium Hydroxide - 3 1/2 oz
Glycerin - 1 tbsp.
Then you try to avoid getting distracted by "A Practical Treatise on the Manufacture of Soap and Candles" from 1888, which you found on google books.
You flip on your trusty crockpot,
View attachment 306542
make sure your safety gloves and goggles are close at hand (keep a bottle of vinegar handy, also, as it helps to neutralize the caustic bases in the lye if you spill it),
View attachment 306543
and you're ready to get started.
Using a postal scale or a food scale, measure the stearic acid and coconut oil and dump them into the crockpot
View attachment 306545
Stearic acid is almost like wax at room temperature, and coconut oil is also solid, so these will take a little while to melt down. Let them melt for a little bit, and when they're about 2/3 melted, and if you haven't done so already, don your goggles and gloves, then go ahead and measure out your water in a jug, and in a separate container, measure out your potassium hydrdoxide lye. Then carry the lye and water under the exhaust fan in your stove hood, or outside, and exercising a reasonable amount of caution, slowly pour the lye into the water. (Don't be careless here, as lye mixed with water becomes caustic and can cause chemical burns, but don't be paranoid either, as boiling water can cause serious burns as well, but that probably doesn't make you panic when heating up pasta.) Pour the lye into the water (not vice versa, as apparently this can create an unpleasant "volcano effect"l which is best avoided), and swirl / stir gently, until the lye is completely dissolved. (You may want to use a container with a handle, as the reaction of lye and water causes the liquid to get very hot.)
To be continued in the next post, as I've maxed this one out.
Given that you all seem to enjoy soap at least as much if not more than I do, I thought you all might enjoy watching the process. (If not, please click back at this point, I don't want to waste anybody's time.)
My first step was to find a soap that seems to be well regarded.
Next, google it and note that the unscented version has only 5 ingredients, in the following order:
Stearic Acid
Aqua
Coconut Acid
Potassium Hydroxide
Glycerin
Then you buy the ingredients. In this case, I'm swapping coconut oil for coconut acid, a) because I already have a pretty substantial supply, and b) I'm not a huge fan of overly refined oils.
View attachment 306537
(Since I am, in essence, reverse engineering an existing soap, it'd be a little tacky to claim any proprietary rights over this recipe, so the full instructions / recipe I came up with will follow.)
You pull up soapcalc.net and see what you need to do to make a recipe with the ingredients in that order.
With soapcalc.net's help, plus a few educated guesses, for this starter recipe I'll be using 52% stearic acid and 48% coconut oil, as that keeps the oils reasonably balanced, and 52% stearic acid is pretty high already. I'm using a 3% superfat as you don't need too much extra oil for a shaving bar, but I wanted a little superfatting as I haven't worked with potassium hydroxide lye before.
Since this is a test batch, I'm only going to use about a pound of oil, and the general rule of thumb for adding glycerin is to use about a tablespoon per pound of oils (in terms of added glycerin, there is also glycerin created as part of the soapmaking process, and it is not generally processed out in small batch soapmaking, which is one of the reasons why handmade / artisanal soap tends to be so nice.)
With that in mind, once you punch the numbers into soapcalc.net, you get the following recipe.
Stearic Acid - 8 1/3 oz.
Aqua - 8 oz.
Coconut Oil - 7 2/3 oz.
Potassium Hydroxide - 3 1/2 oz
Glycerin - 1 tbsp.
Then you try to avoid getting distracted by "A Practical Treatise on the Manufacture of Soap and Candles" from 1888, which you found on google books.
You flip on your trusty crockpot,
View attachment 306542
make sure your safety gloves and goggles are close at hand (keep a bottle of vinegar handy, also, as it helps to neutralize the caustic bases in the lye if you spill it),
View attachment 306543
and you're ready to get started.
Using a postal scale or a food scale, measure the stearic acid and coconut oil and dump them into the crockpot
View attachment 306545
Stearic acid is almost like wax at room temperature, and coconut oil is also solid, so these will take a little while to melt down. Let them melt for a little bit, and when they're about 2/3 melted, and if you haven't done so already, don your goggles and gloves, then go ahead and measure out your water in a jug, and in a separate container, measure out your potassium hydrdoxide lye. Then carry the lye and water under the exhaust fan in your stove hood, or outside, and exercising a reasonable amount of caution, slowly pour the lye into the water. (Don't be careless here, as lye mixed with water becomes caustic and can cause chemical burns, but don't be paranoid either, as boiling water can cause serious burns as well, but that probably doesn't make you panic when heating up pasta.) Pour the lye into the water (not vice versa, as apparently this can create an unpleasant "volcano effect"l which is best avoided), and swirl / stir gently, until the lye is completely dissolved. (You may want to use a container with a handle, as the reaction of lye and water causes the liquid to get very hot.)
To be continued in the next post, as I've maxed this one out.
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