It has valuable life lessons your children should learn, like don't use hydrofluoric acid in porcelain. Though they did gloss over the fact that it would have made more sense to use a base like Sodium Hydroxide in the first place. So maybe it is best to wait until they're old enough to explain this to them.
Homemade Shaving Soap Discussion Club
- Thread starter AndroiDad75
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And also that murder, drugs, and get rich quick schemes aren't worth it. Oh, and Lawyers are bad. Also don't "tattle tale"
Ok, Gents, I just batched my first shave soap today! Everything went very well in terms of safety and general preparation.
As I was drinking a cup of coffee this morning and looking at my supplies, I noticed that I didn't buy ~99% pure NaOH, but my KOH grade was ~90% pure which is good for soaping. Oh well, so I decided to use only KOH for my first batch.
I will update tomorrow evening with pictures I took during the experiment. Also, I will post pictures of the soap and the lather.
Kyle
As I was drinking a cup of coffee this morning and looking at my supplies, I noticed that I didn't buy ~99% pure NaOH, but my KOH grade was ~90% pure which is good for soaping. Oh well, so I decided to use only KOH for my first batch.
I will update tomorrow evening with pictures I took during the experiment. Also, I will post pictures of the soap and the lather.
Kyle
All that means is that you're going to get a thicker creamier lather, with a slightly softer soap.
Congratulations!
All that means is that you're going to get a thicker creamier lather, with a slightly softer soap.
Congratulations!
Yup, after three hours curing, it is definitely a croap. I don't think I will use any NaOH if it turns out nice since I love soft soaps.
Awesome! I'm glad it turned out great for you! Can't wait to hear how it shaves. I've also used the ~90% koh. Mine turned out to be somewhere between a croap and a hard soap, leaning towards soap. Shaves so great though! It's my preferred go to, but with so many other great soaps in my repertoire, I have to almost force myself to try other things.
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Great job Kyle.
Throw up some pics when you can. Also, once you try it and if you like it, and feel like sharing, throw up your recipe and we'll link to it.
Thanks for participating.
Throw up some pics when you can. Also, once you try it and if you like it, and feel like sharing, throw up your recipe and we'll link to it.
Thanks for participating.
I have been working on my glycerin method shave soap. Here are a couple pics from the test puck. I lathered on puck using a cheap boar brush. It was a tad slow to lather up; however, the lather was extremely slick and thick. I am not working on the recipe just the technique. So, I used an easy recipe:
25% palm kernal oil flakes
25% palm oil
25% shea butter
25% stearic acid
.3% BHT
.5% EDTA
100% KOH 90% 5% superfat
100% Distilled water
I dissolved the lye in glycerin with a tad of water to help the lye dissolve faster. The whole thing was hot processed in a stainless steel pot on a hot plate. The lather is VERY slick and very dense; however, I haven't shaved with it yet. The photos are are after a 4 day cure. I need to consider that time in my evaluation. But it looks and feels promising. After the lather pic my hand felt soft and moisturized. I think there is a hope in the gylcerin method with the right recipe. I'll work on that in my next test batches.
25% palm kernal oil flakes
25% palm oil
25% shea butter
25% stearic acid
.3% BHT
.5% EDTA
100% KOH 90% 5% superfat
100% Distilled water
I dissolved the lye in glycerin with a tad of water to help the lye dissolve faster. The whole thing was hot processed in a stainless steel pot on a hot plate. The lather is VERY slick and very dense; however, I haven't shaved with it yet. The photos are are after a 4 day cure. I need to consider that time in my evaluation. But it looks and feels promising. After the lather pic my hand felt soft and moisturized. I think there is a hope in the gylcerin method with the right recipe. I'll work on that in my next test batches.
That's a lot of percents.
I can always count on you to correct me
! The BHT & EDTA are percents based on oil weight. Therefore, the four oils make up 100% and the additives (BHT & EDTA) are on top of the oil. But, I figure you already knew that. Anyway, thanks to you, I replaced that busted crock pot with a stainless steel pot so I don't ever have to worry about the aluminum content of glazing material again. It's working out great and I am making sure I don't have multiple recipe tabs open while cooking up a batch as well.I can always count on you to correct me
Nice. Hows the steel pot work compared to the ceramic? I expect the heatup time would be a bit better, but is the heating as even? I've been curious to get one for cooking in. Is the insert on yours useable directly on a burner?
I had trouble finding a stainless steel crock pot insert; so, I bought a stainless steel, one quart, pot and a heating plate. I can control the temperature with a dial on the heating plate and the pot has an aluminum base plate which works as a heat sink distributing the heat pretty evenly over the bottom. The lye doesn't contact the aluminum heat sink. So to answer your question, yes, the heat up time is quicker and more even across the bottom and it can be used on a burner. I only have a couple batches on this new system; however it seems to be working out fine. Additionally, I monitor the temps with an infrared thermometer and adjust the heat plate accordingly.
Can't go wrong with a steel pot. About the most versatile thing in the world. Make sure you mix while taking the IR reading.
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Barto, you mentioned "glycerine method", I believe. Could you explain what that means? Specifically, I do not care for soaps like Mama Bear (sorry, Mama Bear). There is something about the transparency of the soap that I just do not care for. It makes no sense, but there it is!
You can melt her soaps and add titanium dioxide to them to make them white? Or even suggest to her to make a formulation using a non-clear base?
I believe this is what "glycerin method" refers to
I'm unsure how it would specifically affect saponification as I believe Lye must be aqueous to react with the fats, but I'm not positive on that. Edit: a few soaping forums say it works, it seems a common method of making liquid soaps. I'm not crazy though, it seems NaOH must be in solution (or at least in the presence of moisture), but KOH can react out of it.
I believe this is what "glycerin method" refers to
I'm unsure how it would specifically affect saponification as I believe Lye must be aqueous to react with the fats, but I'm not positive on that. Edit: a few soaping forums say it works, it seems a common method of making liquid soaps. I'm not crazy though, it seems NaOH must be in solution (or at least in the presence of moisture), but KOH can react out of it.
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When I talk about glycerin method, what I am doing is modifying the liquid soap making method with my own recipes for shave soap and stopping short of the process to make it a liquid.
What I am experimenting with is dissolving the KOH in glycerin instead of distilled water and hot processing the soap as you would with a normal recipe. I got the idea from users adding glycerin to their soap and I thought why not put it in the "cook" process and see what happens?
I do end up with a golden semi clear product when I do it. However, the different recipes make for a different look.
This soap was made on 2-15-14
This is a test lather (I haven't shaved with it yet; but, it feels great on the hand)
The above formula is
50g Mango Butter
20g Shea Butter
25g Palm Kernal Oil
25g Stearic Acid
100% KOH dissolved in glycerin
This is exactly where my experimentation is taking place and why I added a "tad" of water. When I simply replace the water with glycerin on a gram for gram basis as called for by soapcalc, the KOH doesn't dissolve as thorough as I would like. However, if I add extra glycerin it will dissolve more completely; yet, I don't like the soap I end up with having that much extra glycerin. So I added a tad of water instead of extra glycerin to help the KOH dissolve in that one batch. I also need to experiment more with temperatures as they pertain to the glycerin. I have been keeping it around 200f before I add KOH. When I increase the temperature I risk burning the glycerin and I don't want that; but, the increased temperature helps the KOH dissolve. OK, I am getting a head ache now ha-ha!
Yeah, that seems about what I'm reading on other forums. Seems some do a 50/50 mix of glycerin and water and some do pure glycerin but have to heat it pretty high to dissolve all the KOH. I imagine you'll have to find the right balance of water and heat for your mix. The one thing I'd be cautious of is that when KOH become aqueous it produces heat, so if your mix has both sufficient water and is at a sufficiently high temperature (near 212), this could cause a boil when you add the KOH. It could be risky (I don't have experience trying this, so unsure of how violently it may react) and it could leave crystalized KOH in suspension which you'd then have to adjust for (more heat or more water once the solution cooled below boiling). Keep your eyes on your temps and this shouldn't be an issue.
Also, the yellow/amber color seems a pretty common occurrence, may have to ask a chemist what's going on there, but most of the liquid soapers seem fond of it, "Clear and amber" to them means the batch succeeded.
Also, the yellow/amber color seems a pretty common occurrence, may have to ask a chemist what's going on there, but most of the liquid soapers seem fond of it, "Clear and amber" to them means the batch succeeded.
Question to all you soapers: if you wanted to make a soap smell like whatever scent you want - let's use Old Spice as an example, would you just pour some Old Spice into an unscented tub of soap?
I got a sample of Old Spice from Larry at Whipped Dog and I love the scent. I don't know if anyone makes an Old Spice scented soap, I was thinking of buying some unscented soap and mixing in some old spice aftershave. Not sure if it would work.
I got a sample of Old Spice from Larry at Whipped Dog and I love the scent. I don't know if anyone makes an Old Spice scented soap, I was thinking of buying some unscented soap and mixing in some old spice aftershave. Not sure if it would work.
I think old spice sells bath soap. Probably easier to just buy the bath soap. As for the shave soap I think I read somewhere that Mana Bears makes an Old Spice scent, called aged spice.
I've never even considered adding aftershave to a batch of soap so I can't speak to whether it would work or not.
I've never even considered adding aftershave to a batch of soap so I can't speak to whether it would work or not.
