My Soap Making Adventure

[rockclimber]

 

[rockclimber]

You know, bubbly is OK for bath soaps. In fact, some people might argue that bubbly is important for a bath soap. Creamy is not as important as it is in shave soaps.

Your bath soap should certainly be more cleansing than your shave soap, and more bubbly (probably). Hardness is a good thing in a bath soap (at least to a certain extent) and usually a bad thing in a shave soap.

Agreed, that is why the hardness in this recipe is pretty high and bubbly and cleansing are right in the middle where they should be. I thought about upping the castor oil to create more bubbles at the expense of olive oil but decided against it for beta 1.0 because castor oil adds 0 hardness and 0 cleansing

 

[MilfordNJGuy]

SOY WAX is hydrogenated soybean oil, not really a "wax" at all! The hydrogenation "creates" more high chain fatty acids like stearic. Not exactly considered "natural"!

I actually have seen soy wax in formulas. It's supposed to add a lot of slickness. I think it has a high stearic acid content.

Sent from the Danger Phone

 

[dangerousdon]

SOY WAX is hydrogenated soybean oil, not really a "wax" at all! The hydrogenation "creates" more high chain fatty acids like stearic. Not exactly considered "natural"!

Good to know. I haven't actually made soap yet, but I am hoping to soon. Thanks for the clarification.

Sent from the Danger Phone

 

[rockclimber]

I decided against using the square molds because these are for my 5 and 8 year old boys and I thought they would like their own individual pucks of...

Fruit Loops flavored soap! This really does smell like Fruit Loops, I would give this a 10/10 on authentic smell.

 

[dabrock]

SOY WAX is hydrogenated soybean oil, not really a "wax" at all! The hydrogenation "creates" more high chain fatty acids like stearic. Not exactly considered "natural"!

Interesting, and isn't soy wax normally seen in the M&P bases? I believe I've read that here that it's an indication of a M&P soap but I might be misremembering it.

 

[dabrock]

I decided against using the square molds because these are for my 5 and 8 year old boys and I thought they would like their own individual pucks of...

Fruit Loops flavored soap! This really does smell like Fruit Loops, I would give this a 10/10 on authentic smell.
View attachment 661152

Nice, I wonder how it compares to CB Saturday Morning.

 

[rockclimber]

My boys actually helped me make the soap today since they are home sick. When I'm forced to take a day off work I'm going to spend as much time with them as I can, they are growing up so quickly, it's just a blink of an eye and they are a year older.

Today I cooked the soap a perfect amount I think, it barely passed the zap test but was liquid enough to go into the Molds easily.

 

[dabrock]

My boys actually helped me make the soap today since they are home sick. When I'm forced to take a day off work I'm going to spend as much time with them as I can, they are growing up so quickly, it's just a blink of an eye and they are a year older.

Yeah, I know what you mean, I turn around and my oldest daughter is almost 30 and I realize I could be a grandfather anytime now!

 

[paintflinger]

Okay I have to ask...I see it all the time...what is the big deal with palm oil or other palm sourced products. Forgive my ignorance, I just don't know.

Sent from the Danger Phone

This is a pretty quick quote

What is the impact of palm oil farming on the environment?In some regions, oil palm cultivation has caused – and continues to cause – deforestation. This means that land, which was once predominantly covered by primary forest (forest that has never been touched by man) or which housed protected species and biodiversity, was cleared in order to be converted into palm oil plantations.
Likewise, some palm oil plantations were developed without consulting local communities over the use of their land. Some have even been responsible for forcibly displacing people from their land. Violations of workers’ rights to fair payment and safe working conditions and other malpractices have also occurred.
Despite widely-reported malpractices in the industry, a growing number of players in the palm oil industry have committed to adopting more sustainable practices. The result of this gradual transition is an increasing amount of palm oil in our products that has been produced and sourced in a sustainable manner.

Why can't we simply replace palm oil?

Although using other vegetable oils seems like a practical solution, it would actually create similar - if not even larger - environmental and social problems. Therefore, the best solution is to ensure you buy products that contain sustainable palm oil.
There is a misconception that these concerns can be addressed when companies simply stop using palm oil in their products. However, this is not as easy as it sounds for a number of reasons:

• Replacing palm oil with other types of vegetable oil (such as sunflower, soybean or rapeseed oil) would mean that much larger amounts of land would need to be used, since palm trees produce 4-10 times more oil than other crops per unit of cultivated land. This would result in serious environmental damage, with the risk that more forests would need to be converted into agricultural land.
• In producing countries, millions of farmers and their families work in the palm oil sector. Palm oil plays an important role in the reduction of poverty in these areas. In Indonesia and Malaysia, a total of 4.5 million people earn their living from palm oil production. Stopping the production of palm oil altogether would create significant problems for these people who support their families by working in this industry.
• Replacing palm oil with other types of oil is not always feasible due to palm oil’s unique properties as food ingredient. Using other oils would not give the products the same texture and taste that palm oil offers.

 

[paintflinger]

SOY WAX is hydrogenated soybean oil, not really a "wax" at all! The hydrogenation "creates" more high chain fatty acids like stearic. Not exactly considered "natural"!

Dave, I think it would still technically be vegan though. Terrible is all regards, but still technically vegan.

 

[MilfordNJGuy]

Dave, I think it would still technically be vegan though. Terrible is all regards, but still technically vegan.

Just wanted you to know that it isn't something that is considered "natural". But since you brought it up, a vegan I know would be concerned about that! Here are a couple of links which concern this matter:

http://www.veghealthguide.com/oils-fats/

http://vegetarian.about.com/od/glossary/g/transfat.htm

David

 

[MilfordNJGuy]

Benjamin!

Congratulations are in order! Not because you are making a nice soap rather that you are doing your best to be the best DAD you know how to be! Keep up the good work!

My boys actually helped me make the soap today since they are home sick. When I'm forced to take a day off work I'm going to spend as much time with them as I can, they are growing up so quickly, it's just a blink of an eye and they are a year older.

Today I cooked the soap a perfect amount I think, it barely passed the zap test but was liquid enough to go into the Molds easily.

 

[rockclimber]

Tallow v1.0 is done curing. It lost a total of 0.15oz of weight. I wish I had scented it but the first batch was unscented as I was just learning. I have given away some to other shavers in my office as I really like the scented version (v1.1) better.

V1.0



V 1.1



I'm focusing on the graininess of V1.1 for everyone to see. I took a puck and smashed it down into a bowl and all the graininess disappeared but that still doesn't take away from the fact that this batch was not perfect. I am really focused on pointing out the imperfections of every batch because I think that is the only way I will continue to grow at this Hobby. While so much of the soap making Adventure has been a resounding success I can't comment on those successes but I think everyone here knows what successful soap feels like and thus the imperfections can be concentrated on and overcome with time and experience. This is a fantastic Hobby!

 

[rockclimber]

Benjamin!

Congratulations are in order! Not because you are making a nice soap rather that you are doing your best to be the best DAD you know how to be! Keep up the good work!

Thank you David I appreciate the kind words. Being a dad it's such a blessing, I'm just fortunate to have been born in a first-world country, we are all truly very blessed!

Thanks for popping in and keeping us all informed on ingredients and methods. It is super nice to have an experienced soap maker participating on these forms!

 

[rockclimber]

Nice, I wonder how it compares to CB Saturday Morning.

I looked up the scent online and apparently they both are identical. I had no idea other soap makers were using Fruit Loops as an actual sent, I did it just for the novelty of it for my five-year-old LOL
While admittedly it is a very fun flavor I would never shave with this!

 

[dfoulk]

I looked up the scent online and apparently they both are identical. I had no idea other soap makers were using Fruit Loops as an actual sent, I did it just for the novelty of it for my five-year-old LOL
While admittedly it is a very fun flavor I would never shave with this!

I was told by a soap maker long ago that many makers get their scents from the same three or four vendors or off of ebay. So, there are some duplicates.

For example, Mike's barbershop smells the same to me as Strop Shoppe's barbershop which is also very similar to the barbershop scent that Reef Point uses for their soap.

I've shaved with a sample of the CB Fruit Loops soap and it's kinda fun but I'm not sure I'd want to use it every day. I also have a Soap Commander soap called Gusto that smells like Raspberry Lemonade. It really smells outstanding and perfectly nails the scent of home made raspberry lemonade with lots of sugar. Not very manly but it smells great and is nice in the summertime.

 

[dabrock]

Well, you inspired me to try making my own after shave. Unfortunately, the first batch didn't turn out too well, but I'll try again later lol.

 

[rockclimber]

Well, you inspired me to try making my own after shave. Unfortunately, the first batch didn't turn out too well, but I'll try again later lol.

You should have posted your ingredients and method in here so we could follow! It's not too late ya know.

 

[dabrock]

You should have posted your ingredients and method in here so we could follow! It's not too late ya know.

It's child's play to make an aftershave base when compared to soap making, but making a good aftershave with decent frag, from scratch, is another story and I have a ton of new respect for the artisans that do this successfully. I think I'll just order some pre-mixed frags next time lol.

Ingredients were:
100ml Brandy
50ml witch hazel
table spoon of glycerin
5 drops of tobacco EO
2 drops of Cade EO (need to exclude this next time)
3 drops of Vetiver EO

The cade EO was too strong and I was warned by the supply shop that it was really strong. I think I'll go with cedar wood next time and some black pepper with the tobacco and vetiver. Fortunately, when it dries it actually is decent but not very strong. Very earthy woody notes if you like those. I think I'll also either go with rubbing alcohol or vodka as a base next time just for a more neutral tone.

ETA I have some liquid lanolin and might give that a good instead of the glycerin and I might add some alum as well. There's a lot of art in this too!