Shaving Soap

[MilfordNJGuy]

Hey Folks!

I am a soapmaker and have a company called Stone Cottage Soapworks. I am currently developing a shaving soap and would like some input from you guys.

I currently make soaps that are all vegetable but my research which includes books and manuals from the last couple of centuries indicate that tallow makes quite a nice shaving soap! What are your feelings about a tallow based product vs. a vegetable based one? (I can make both!)

I would also like input on scents. Keep in mind, that there are quite a few scents that are normally found in shaving soap but I am not limited to using those and can make any scent you suggest!

The soap is based on old formulas that include oils like tallow, palm and coconut and fatty acids like stearic acid and coconut fatty acid all of which combined make quite a nice soap for shaving with long lasting, creamy lather. Natural emollients like glycerin will be included as well as other additives like clays in these cold process soaps. My next project is what you guys refer to as "English" creams. Interestly, my research includes many American soapmaking book authors showing that these creams were indeed made here as well but as we know the English (wisely) continue to make these.

I hope I am posting in the correct section as this is only an inquiry not a sale and I will be posting in the vendors section when the soaps are perfected and ready for sale in my store and on my website. Thanks in advance for any input and suggestions you can provide!

David B. Powers, Pres.
Stone Cottage Soapworks Inc.

 

[bandit82ta]

I don't mind what base provided it lathers well and provides good glyde and coushin.

I can't say that I've used a strictly vegtable based soap but would be curious as to how it works, smells and compares to glycerin and tallow.

My scent preference would be maybe an Irish springs sorta scent, something old world barbershop and Sandalwood Rose (combined).

This is a great forum and I'm sure myself and many others would be interested in trial runs.

 

[Sue]

Hi David,

Welcome to Badger and Blade! You will find all of the help you need here.

Recently 'Krissy', (Prairie Creations) was guided by members here to perfect a tallow-based shaving soap. It appears the addition of SLSa was a turning point. The reviews so far are excellant. If your soap passes muster here, you can be assured it is "good to go".

Ask away and request volunteers

Best of luck!
Sue

 

[Jim]

Welcome David!

 

[krissy]

Welcome To B&B and good luck on your venture.

Recently 'Krissy', (Prairie Creations) was guided by members here to perfect a tallow-based shaving soap. It appears the addition of SLSa was a turning point. The reviews so far are excellant. If your soap passes muster here, you can be assured it is "good to go".

Sue

I would like to clarify that I do not use SLS or SLSa or any other lathering or foaming enhancing ingredients in my shaving soaps.

 

[Sue]

I must have misunderstood, my apology. You had posted about it's addition here, (post #55) http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showthread.php?t=99834&page=3

(SLSa is not a bad word)
Sue

 

[Emmett]

Hi David! Welcome to B&B. If you have a website where you sell your creations, please PM so I can include it in my project to update our vendor wiki page.

 

[krissy]

I must have misunderstood, my apology. You had posted about it's addition here, (post #55) http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showthread.php?t=99834&page=3

(SLSa is not a bad word)
Sue

Yes I had once thought about it as I did state, but after I tweaked the recipe found I could manage a better product without it. So that idea was discarded. I just wanted to clarify that if someone read that statement thinking I used foaming enhancers.



Now back on topic.......
Have you started making test batches yet? Or are you just in the researching phase of the project?

 

[Seraphim]

My advice:

Create a luxurious, rich and creamy tallow based soap. Some sort of simple and rich aroma.




Then after you have created legions of loyal fans.....










You can reformulate to a palm oil based soap

 

[cymric]

I currently make soaps that are all vegetable but my research which includes books and manuals from the last couple of centuries indicate that tallow makes quite a nice shaving soap! What are your feelings about a tallow based product vs. a vegetable based one? (I can make both!)

My feelings I've outlined in my Wiki-page here. Tallow makes good soaps, without doubt, but I think it's more of a challenge to create a good vegetal soap with matching characteristics. So it's 'easy and likely successful' versus 'difficult but more rewarding if done right'.

I would also like input on scents. Keep in mind, that there are quite a few scents that are normally found in shaving soap but I am not limited to using those and can make any scent you wish!

I'd welcome light herbal or grassy scents. Lime, lilac, lavender, ...: all favourites of course, but it's all been done before. Try doing something unusual: think Musgo Real cream, Pré de Provence soap, and the like. Don't overdo on the scent, either---keep it nice and low profile.

 

[Confilo]

Hey Folks!

I am a soapmaker and have a company called Stone Cottage Soapworks. I am currently developing a shaving soap and would like some input from you guys.

I currently make soaps that are all vegetable but my research which includes books and manuals from the last couple of centuries indicate that tallow makes quite a nice shaving soap! What are your feelings about a tallow based product vs. a vegetable based one? (I can make both!)

I would also like input on scents. Keep in mind, that there are quite a few scents that are normally found in shaving soap but I am not limited to using those and can make any scent you wish!

The soap is based on old formulas that include oils like tallow, palm and coconut and fatty acids like stearic acid and coconut fatty acid all of which combined make quite a nice soap for shaving with long lasting, creamy lather. Natural emollients like glycerin will be included as well as other additives like clays in these cold process soaps. My next project is what you guys refer to as "English" creams. Interestly, my research includes many American soapmaking book authors showing that these creams were indeed made here as well but as we know the English (wisely) continue to make these.

I hope I am posting in the correct section as this is only an inquiry not a sale and I will be posting in the vendors section when the soaps are perfected and ready for sale in my store and on my website. Thanks in advance for any input and suggestions you can provide!

David B. Powers, Pres.
Stone Cottage Soapworks Inc.

Welcome,
If is tallow based I'll be interested

 

[Cuttingboard]

Welcome,
If is tallow based I'll be interested

Me too, especially if it smell anything close to Musgo Real!! A nice lightly scented Vetiver would be nice.

 

[Sabre]

I have tried Tabac and I am satisfied with it, but Palm oil and Shea Butter is winning me over as I really enjoy French Shaving Soaps.

 

[luvmysuper]

I'd buy any soap with a Lilac Vegetal scent.

NOT a LILAC scent, but a Lilac Vegetal scent.

 

[Whitmore]

I'd pay a fortune to have a soap that smells like - well, grass. You know, Saturday afternoon, you mow the lawn and it's that fresh, green scent of grass. Like that GAP fragrance called - oh, surprise - Grass.

 

[gollum83]

If you need testers just ask.

 

[mbrooks]

Oh boy, more soaps!

 

[DSB]

I think you will find that a well made tallow-based soap can be very popular around here.

I prefer simple scents, as opposed to cologne-based scents. I think the suggestion for "grass" is excellent. Rose, lavender, rosemary, basil -- they all sound good.

If you are looking for testers, I'm sure you will find plenty of volunteers around these parts.

 

[jesta2817]

Just wanted to say that I quickly browsed through your website and noticed that you had a ton of very uniquely scented bath soaps. I haven't tried any of your soaps yet but I think you should use the same unique take on shaving soaps as you do for your bath soaps.

I mean, where else can we find a Cola, Pear Basil, or Coconut Mint shaving soap?

 

[MilfordNJGuy]

Thank you, Bandit, Sue, Jim, Krissy, Seraphim, Cymric, Confilo, Cuttingboard, Sabre, luvmysuper, Whitmore, gollum, mbrooks, DSB and jesta for your replies, words of greetings and suggestions! I actually have been a member of this board since March of 2008 but haven't posted until now!

I am a wet shaver of about 25 years so I am quite familiar with all aspects and have a little extra knowledge about shaving soaps, creams and the like from my years of study and my decade of being a soapmaker! Krissy would know how difficult it is to come up with a formula for the special needs of the wet shaver so I appreciate reading her posts about it in the "Shaving Soap" section. For all those offering to test, thanks! As always, I do lots of research before I attempt a product and the first two batches came pretty close to what I am looking for and in my own tests I couldn't really see too much of a difference between my soaps and the lather of the "British shaving creams" I have been using for quite a number of years. Science was never my thing but have a strong desire to reach my goal of making the "perfect" shaving soap and being a stubborn Taurus made me work even harder to get where I want to go! Cymric, I appreciate your post, your observations and reading your Wiki-page as every bit of information I can collect is helpful! Knowing the fatty acid structure of both Tallow and what they used to call "Vegetable Tallow" makes a project like this less difficult!

Sabre, thanks for your reply! Which French soaps are you referring to? Do you have an ingredient list? That would be very helpful! Thanks to everyone for your replies so far! I will probably be doing BOTH the vegetable and tallow versions to fill both needs and I always need suggestions for scents! SCENTS SELL SOAPS! jesta, thanks for your observations about my soap scents! I work very hard on coming up with new and different scents that you can't find elsewhere and I feel great when someone notices and appreciates them! I will be writing about this project and sharing some pictures in my blog. (and on here, if I am allowed to do that)

I'll be making another batch of shaving soap today and will keep you posted!

Thanks again to all for your input and I look forward to more suggestions from you all!