Exactly. I‘d recommend the same. Only put fats, water (liquid) and lye in the cooking pot for saponification. All extras should be added after that at ambient/warm temperature.
Soap Makers And Users Group (SMAUG)
- Thread starter Old Hippie
- Start date
You know what the biggest problem with making your own shaving soap is?
You make a "test batch" of 500g shave soap, like what I did for my first soap and then it was working great and then it lasts me a loooong time. I got 4 ~120g tubs and 2 ~60g sticks of the stuff (yes I know it doesn't add up to 500g). I gave away one tub to a friend who likes it and I am still working on the first one, 7-8 months into it! I still have two big tubs and then 2 soap sticks left, but I want to make more soap. And you @Goofy_Bee make an 1800g batch, according to your recipe! That is almost 2 1kg Cella blocks worth of soap. That's a few years worth. I guess we will have to give away some at some point so we can make more.
At least with bath soap bar making I make a couple of batches per year. Still.......
I guess the moral of the story is. Make your test batches SMALL. You will end up with a lot and not being able to use it all up. 150g, 250g batches I would recommend in the beginning until the you worked out your recipe. Also if it is a bad batch it is not as big loss on ingredients. Maybe even run an unscented run the very first time until you get the oil/fat ratios correct and the lather right so you do not potentially waste fragrance oils.
You make a "test batch" of 500g shave soap, like what I did for my first soap and then it was working great and then it lasts me a loooong time. I got 4 ~120g tubs and 2 ~60g sticks of the stuff (yes I know it doesn't add up to 500g). I gave away one tub to a friend who likes it and I am still working on the first one, 7-8 months into it! I still have two big tubs and then 2 soap sticks left, but I want to make more soap. And you @Goofy_Bee make an 1800g batch, according to your recipe! That is almost 2 1kg Cella blocks worth of soap. That's a few years worth. I guess we will have to give away some at some point so we can make more.
At least with bath soap bar making I make a couple of batches per year. Still.......
I guess the moral of the story is. Make your test batches SMALL. You will end up with a lot and not being able to use it all up. 150g, 250g batches I would recommend in the beginning until the you worked out your recipe. Also if it is a bad batch it is not as big loss on ingredients. Maybe even run an unscented run the very first time until you get the oil/fat ratios correct and the lather right so you do not potentially waste fragrance oils.
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Indeed. I gave a lot to people from a German forum.
But my last batch have been almost 3 kg (water, ley, extras)
I use my own mostly for head and body shaving. More surface leads to more soap usage
There is still 0.5 kg left. And I still buy commercial soaps.
My goodness! That is a bunch of soap. I will grant you that lots of surface area to cover will use more, but that is still a lot. Giving it away is certainly a way.Indeed. I gave a lot to people from a German forum.
But my last batch have been almost 3 kg (water, ley, extras)
I use my own mostly for head and body shaving. More surface leads to more soap usage
There is still 0.5 kg left. And I still buy commercial soaps.
And big badger brushes helping too. Synthetics are too efficient. 
But does it really matters how much soap we have? This is hobby, it‘s not about what you „need“. I guess a lot of people here at B&B, own more then 100 soaps. Each at 125 g. 12 kg lasting two shaving lives.
But does it really matters how much soap we have? This is hobby, it‘s not about what you „need“. I guess a lot of people here at B&B, own more then 100 soaps. Each at 125 g. 12 kg lasting two shaving lives.
That is very true. Yes I am a synthetic brush guy so I guess it lasts even longer then.And big badger brushes helping too. Synthetics are too efficient.
But does it really matters how much soap we have? This is hobby, it‘s not about what you „need“. I guess a lot of people here at B&B, own more then 100 soaps. Each at 125 g. 12 kg lasting two shaving lives.
Can you add the fragrance to the molding step so you can have different fragrances in the batch? It would take a few years to use up a 500gm batch I'd think. I like variety in the scents of my shave soaps.
You can always divide it after the cook and mix in different fragrances into each smaller batch. Just make sure it gets well mixed in. Also you have to be quick because splitting them might cool the soap quicker and make it firm up faster. However I think you can do it though.
I usually cook my batch without any scent.
Basically, you can add all the extras (lanolin, vitamin scent) after the cooking process, any time you want. Just reheat/rewarm the soap and add what you'd like.
Basically, you can add all the extras (lanolin, vitamin scent) after the cooking process, any time you want. Just reheat/rewarm the soap and add what you'd like.
I do like the idea of having a plain soap base that can be used later to make several different varieties.
Is the reheating done in a double boiler apparatus? What if you have cured the soap so it has lost a lot of moisture? I'm guessing you would need to grate it and then add some water to it in the double boiler.
No, I put it in a microwave for about 30 sek (@ 750 W), because using a waterbath takes too long (at least for me
). You don't need to melt the soap completley, just make it softer.By now it wasn't necessary to add water (for my own soaps).
But, melting soaps can be different, depending which ingredents you used (tallow based ect.). You may have to experiment a little bit what workes best.
My dear lady of the house is in contact with a local butcher regarding getting beef from them. I asked her if she could find out, if we can get some beef fat also, so we can render out some tallow. We will see how much it is per pound. If it is reasonably I may have secured myself a source for tallow. That would be exciting.
We have rendered lots of lard from pork fat before, but I have never rendered tallow. I assume it is very similar process. It does take some time to render and we do it in a crock pot. It seems to be very little hands on doing it that way. Makes the house smell nice as well. When we render lard we try to do so at a fairly low temperature so that it does not get hydrogenated on us. That way it is healthier for cooking. Lard that you find in the store is shelf stable and has therefore been rendered at a much higher temperature and is hydrogenated. I guess for soap making, it does not matter too much.
Lard is my favorite fat to use for bath soap bar making. By itself it makes a serviceable soap, but it will not lather well. Now if you add a bit of coconut oil to the lard you have yourself a very nice bath soap. Soap making does not have to get more complicated than that. Lard, Coconut Oil, Water and Sodium Hydroxide and you will make some fine bath soap.
We will see how much it is per pound. If it is reasonably I may have secured myself a source for tallow. That would be exciting.We have rendered lots of lard from pork fat before, but I have never rendered tallow. I assume it is very similar process. It does take some time to render and we do it in a crock pot. It seems to be very little hands on doing it that way. Makes the house smell nice as well. When we render lard we try to do so at a fairly low temperature so that it does not get hydrogenated on us. That way it is healthier for cooking. Lard that you find in the store is shelf stable and has therefore been rendered at a much higher temperature and is hydrogenated. I guess for soap making, it does not matter too much.
Lard is my favorite fat to use for bath soap bar making. By itself it makes a serviceable soap, but it will not lather well. Now if you add a bit of coconut oil to the lard you have yourself a very nice bath soap. Soap making does not have to get more complicated than that. Lard, Coconut Oil, Water and Sodium Hydroxide and you will make some fine bath soap.
I don’t mind the low latherability of lard soap. Agree that it doesn’t many ingredients to make a decent bar of soap. Personally I like adding some fragrance to it and luckily there’s a shop that sells and lets you blend your own fragrances in my town
Absolutely! Yeah we have gotten so used to that lather is what shows us how well a soap cleans and that is just frankly false. A lard only soap will clean you very well. No doubt about that. Also, to your point a bit of fragrance, essential oil certainly help to mask the potential pork smell from the unsaponified portion of the lard. Although I have to say that low temperature rendered lard does not smell nearly as "porky" as high temp rendered one.
My dear lady of the house is in contact with a local butcher regarding getting beef from them. I asked her if she could find out, if we can get some beef fat also, so we can render out some tallow.
What you want to render is a specific type of beef fat called suet. It comes from around the kidneys of beef cattle.
I think for beef that is where the bulk of the fat comes from or am I mistaken?
Will the tallow I rendered from my last brisket trimmings not be ok for soap?
Where I live, I don't have access to animal fats.
However, through my own R&D, I've come to make a veggie base that in super pleased with. To the point where I don't feel I'm missing tallow/animal fats!
I've got the base exactly to where I like and also have a heavier base for the harsh winter months.
However, through my own R&D, I've come to make a veggie base that in super pleased with. To the point where I don't feel I'm missing tallow/animal fats!
I've got the base exactly to where I like and also have a heavier base for the harsh winter months.
This is what I use instead of stearic acid.
I like that it's a triglyceride so it will liberate glycerine into the soap.
Q: did you find beeswax added a perceivable improvement?
Does it reduce the lather body given beeswax is very thick and unsaponifiable?
Most beef fat is from trimmings, like you would cut away from a roast or steak.
Suet is visceral fat, from around the internal organs like the kidneys. There might be only a few pounds of suet in a 1000+ pound cow, so a fairly small amount of the total fat.
In addition to the suet and trimmings, there is fat in the muscle tissue itself, like the marbling in a cut of beef.
Rendered suet is tallow, properly speaking. Rendered beef fat is just rendered fat. Tallow at room temperature is a solid, waxy substance. Rendered fat is softer with a texture more like pudding.
Historically, tallow had the right properties for long term storage without refrigeration. It had a more neutral scent and taste. It was used for things like cooking fat, soaps and candles.
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