It came out pretty well. It feels very good on the hands. The molds didn't work, though - I had to cut the bottom off.
Thanks. It was actually quite fun. I plan to make a shaving soap in the near future, possibly tonight.
Homemade Shaving Soap - An Illustrated Guide to a Test Batch - LONG POST
- Thread starter JBLA
- Start date
It came out pretty well. It feels very good on the hands. The molds didn't work, though - I had to cut the bottom off.
Thanks. It was actually quite fun. I plan to make a shaving soap in the near future, possibly tonight.
JBLA (and other participants)...This is a great thread and I've had a wonderful time reading along. I'd love to "borrow" somebody's perfected recipe some time and give it a go. Well done and thanks again for sharing.
Jason
Jason
- Thread starter
- #104
You're very welcome. The recipe for test batch 2 (provided on the previous page) is pretty solid.
I just did another test batch with some scents, and I'm really enjoying it.
View attachment 323845View attachment 323846
Warning though, if you thought RAD or SAD got expensive, wait until you try designing scents and buying pure essential oils. Good grief. That said, the Woody Lavender and Vanilla Eucalyptus Mint scents have come out pretty nicely.
(Protip for scentmaking - start with a very small test vial, and add essential oils drop by drop until you have a scent you like made up of 10-30 total drops, then scale up the recipe for a batch. Doing it on the fly by pouring oils right into the soap and hoping for the best is not an optimal plan.)
- Thread starter
- #105
I used as much water as was required to get a 30% lye solution for the amount of KOH necessary to saponify that amount of base oils, and that's how it turned out. Since you need more KOH than NaOH to saponify a given amount of fat, then you end up needing more water as well.
I just tried to make this soap using CP but it's practically impossible.
I am not sure at what temperature stearic acid solidifies, but there was no way to get to 100 degrees F without it solidifying.
Also, the moment I poured the lye into the mixture, it traced! I ended up mixing it for 2-3 minutes max. Not sure if it was mixed well enough.
It traced so quickly, I didn't have time to pour in the glycerine (but I think I will rebatch it).
In any case, thanks for the very interesting recipe!
I am not sure at what temperature stearic acid solidifies, but there was no way to get to 100 degrees F without it solidifying.
Also, the moment I poured the lye into the mixture, it traced! I ended up mixing it for 2-3 minutes max. Not sure if it was mixed well enough.
It traced so quickly, I didn't have time to pour in the glycerine (but I think I will rebatch it).
In any case, thanks for the very interesting recipe!
- Thread starter
- #107
Yes, it traces almost immediately with hot process as well, but with the heat it stays warm enough to stir it in.
Let me know how it turns out for you. (I highly recommend HP over CP, as it's nice to not have an extended curing time.)
Let me know how it turns out for you. (I highly recommend HP over CP, as it's nice to not have an extended curing time.)
Thanks, I don't have a crockpot for now (and can't find one easily here in Greece) but will certainly look into it for HP.
I just had a look at the soap and it's snow white! It seems to have saponified, I will take it out of its mold later today and see how it is.
I will of course let you know!
I just had a look at the soap and it's snow white! It seems to have saponified, I will take it out of its mold later today and see how it is.
I will of course let you know!
- Thread starter
- #109
@dimitris - Make sure you wait about a month for it to cure, as cold process soap is too harsh to use immediately, even though it looks nice. (It's very tempting to try it immediately, but as I found out a while back, it's awkward to find that your skin is burning and your fingerprints are disappearing.)
If crockpots aren't available, you can try a double boiler or using a stove for hot process soapmaking (google for instructions).
Good luck!
If crockpots aren't available, you can try a double boiler or using a stove for hot process soapmaking (google for instructions).
Good luck!
Im in.
USA here.
I'd say 65 days.
USA here.
I'd say 65 days.
JBLA sent me (completely free and at his instigation) a sample of his "woody lavender" and unscented soaps.
The current formulation works really nicely. I easily got a thick, slick lather with 15-20 seconds of loading. The shave was great.
My skin felt fine afterwards, but not actively great. I'd say soaps like RazoRock karite or Mike's Natural, with their addition emollients, have the edge there.
The current formulation works really nicely. I easily got a thick, slick lather with 15-20 seconds of loading. The shave was great.
My skin felt fine afterwards, but not actively great. I'd say soaps like RazoRock karite or Mike's Natural, with their addition emollients, have the edge there.
JBLA was kind and generous enough to send me (at his own expense) samples of his three soaps: Woody Lavender, Eucalyptus/Vanilla/Mint and Unscented. Here's an "unofficial" review (I don't believe I'm a proficient enough DE shaver to do an "official" review):
I tried the Eucalyptus/Vanilla/Mint sample and was pleasantly surprised. First of all, I have only been DE shaving for just over a year. Secondly, I used creams exclusively until a few months ago when I tried soaps and realized that soaps provided me with a more comfortable shave.
While showering, I made sure that my Duke 3 brush was soaking in hot water and I put a small amount of water on the soap sample which had been flattened out at the bottom of a container.
After my shower, I poured the water off of the soap and made sure to squeeze most of the water out of the brush, leaving it damp. I swirled on the soap and started seeing paste like consistency fairly fast so I dipped the tips of the brush in some water and went back to work on the soap. It lathered up fast and became yogurt-like in consistency quite quickly. It is a soft soap, similar to Proraso (which is my most reliable) and produced a lot of lather.
I face lather, so it was a pleasure to watch and feel this lather improve as I spread it around my face and neck. I noted that the scent was very pleasant and not too strong. I prefer light to moderate scented soaps and this soap was in that range.
I had more than enough lather to go well beyond my usual three passes and the lather was perfectly stable.
I used my Mergress with an Astra SP and had a GREAT shave. Honestly, it was as good a shave as I have ever had. The soap was slick, had nice glide and provided excellent cushion. I still struggle a bit with the hard triple-milled soaps, but for a person with my overall shaving proficiency, this softer soap rocked! If I had full pucks of this soap, I would use it regularly (...hint for John...) because it was a close, comfortable and irritation free shave.
I'm not providing a number rating because I won't be able to make an accurate and knowledgeable comparison as I have not used a vast selection of different shaving soaps.
I was fascinated with this thread from the beginning and was certainly excited to try some homemade shaving soap that was produced by a fellow B&B member. Thanks to John (JBLA) again for sending me the samples and congratulations on what I consider an excellent accomplishment. Very well done!
I tried the Eucalyptus/Vanilla/Mint sample and was pleasantly surprised. First of all, I have only been DE shaving for just over a year. Secondly, I used creams exclusively until a few months ago when I tried soaps and realized that soaps provided me with a more comfortable shave.
While showering, I made sure that my Duke 3 brush was soaking in hot water and I put a small amount of water on the soap sample which had been flattened out at the bottom of a container.
After my shower, I poured the water off of the soap and made sure to squeeze most of the water out of the brush, leaving it damp. I swirled on the soap and started seeing paste like consistency fairly fast so I dipped the tips of the brush in some water and went back to work on the soap. It lathered up fast and became yogurt-like in consistency quite quickly. It is a soft soap, similar to Proraso (which is my most reliable) and produced a lot of lather.
I face lather, so it was a pleasure to watch and feel this lather improve as I spread it around my face and neck. I noted that the scent was very pleasant and not too strong. I prefer light to moderate scented soaps and this soap was in that range.
I had more than enough lather to go well beyond my usual three passes and the lather was perfectly stable.
I used my Mergress with an Astra SP and had a GREAT shave. Honestly, it was as good a shave as I have ever had. The soap was slick, had nice glide and provided excellent cushion. I still struggle a bit with the hard triple-milled soaps, but for a person with my overall shaving proficiency, this softer soap rocked! If I had full pucks of this soap, I would use it regularly (...hint for John...) because it was a close, comfortable and irritation free shave.
I'm not providing a number rating because I won't be able to make an accurate and knowledgeable comparison as I have not used a vast selection of different shaving soaps.
I was fascinated with this thread from the beginning and was certainly excited to try some homemade shaving soap that was produced by a fellow B&B member. Thanks to John (JBLA) again for sending me the samples and congratulations on what I consider an excellent accomplishment. Very well done!
This weekend I made my first shaving soap, using your recipe.
I did a small batch (8 oz). I added 1/4 oz of essential oils: 2/3 lemon & bergamot, 1/3 rosemary.
The soap making went fine, with no surprises aside from the soap never becoming truly translucent like my olive oil soap did. It passed the zap test, though.
I used it to shave tonight, and it was lovely. Nice and slick, and there was no skin reaction to the EOs. My face feels very nice afterward.
The scent turned out too lemony, and the rosemary was lost underneath. Next time, more basenotes and less lemon.
Just after pouring:
After 24 hours to set:
Whipped up a great lather:
It was very stable. This is after sitting 15 minutes while I showered and brushed my teeth:
I did a small batch (8 oz). I added 1/4 oz of essential oils: 2/3 lemon & bergamot, 1/3 rosemary.
The soap making went fine, with no surprises aside from the soap never becoming truly translucent like my olive oil soap did. It passed the zap test, though.
I used it to shave tonight, and it was lovely. Nice and slick, and there was no skin reaction to the EOs. My face feels very nice afterward.
The scent turned out too lemony, and the rosemary was lost underneath. Next time, more basenotes and less lemon.
Just after pouring:
After 24 hours to set:
Whipped up a great lather:
It was very stable. This is after sitting 15 minutes while I showered and brushed my teeth:
That looks great! Nice work. Geez...I'm doing everything I can to stop myself from trying this. With all the other things around the house that need to get done, I'd have some explaining to do to SWMBO if I blew off my "honey-do" list to make soap.
- Thread starter
- #117
Well done! That lather looks amazing!
Very impressive! Did you go with the original recipe or the second recipe?
The first rule of Fight Club...
I've had a wild hair up my keester to try soap making for a while. My paramour deals with my hobbies very well. Her biggest concern is that I might lose interest and/or it ends up being a lot of stuff in need of too much space. I get it, though she has what she now calls YAD (yarn acquisition disorder) off and on, as she's been a long time knitter.
I mentioned the idea of giving shaving soap making a try a couple months back. Now, she works at Michael's (a craft store chain in the US) and has mentioned the melt & pour kits, to which I don't have much interest. She seems to have at least a passing interest as she tells me when they get new soap making supplies in. Maybe I can convince her it would be fun to make from more base ingredients since aside from essential oils, they're relatively cheap. Even a basic no frills brand new crock pot would be on the cheap side if we can't find one at a Goodwill or Thrift Store.
So yeah, you've renewed my interest in this, thanks =P Silly slightly off topic question, I was also pondering how easy "cropes" and creams would be to make. Any knowledge/advice on if I wanted to give those a whirl at some point? (I assume "cropes" just use more KoH than NaOH to make them soft + more superfat?). Also, what about inclusion of tallow? I've been a HUGE fan of tallow based soaps and since the site you listed for the ingredients also sells tallow (so much easier than rendering my own, though I've got a great butcher who I'm sure could hook me up big time) at a seemingly decent price I'd like to give it a shot.
I mentioned the idea of giving shaving soap making a try a couple months back. Now, she works at Michael's (a craft store chain in the US) and has mentioned the melt & pour kits, to which I don't have much interest. She seems to have at least a passing interest as she tells me when they get new soap making supplies in. Maybe I can convince her it would be fun to make from more base ingredients since aside from essential oils, they're relatively cheap. Even a basic no frills brand new crock pot would be on the cheap side if we can't find one at a Goodwill or Thrift Store.
So yeah, you've renewed my interest in this, thanks =P Silly slightly off topic question, I was also pondering how easy "cropes" and creams would be to make. Any knowledge/advice on if I wanted to give those a whirl at some point? (I assume "cropes" just use more KoH than NaOH to make them soft + more superfat?). Also, what about inclusion of tallow? I've been a HUGE fan of tallow based soaps and since the site you listed for the ingredients also sells tallow (so much easier than rendering my own, though I've got a great butcher who I'm sure could hook me up big time) at a seemingly decent price I'd like to give it a shot.
