soapmaker-shavers, critique please!

[IanLMT]

This is my first directed attempt at making a shave soap, previously I used my regular cp (have been doing cp for 3 years now) but that was before i discovered wetshaving... soooo

Anyone made these (im talking the reeeeeal stuff thatll pass the 10min foam test) before and care to take a gander.....

here is the recipe I thought up:

How does that sound for a shave soap? (screencap from soapmaker3)









Thaaaanks

 

[kingfisher]

Too much olive oil.

 

[ouch]

Needs more lard.

 

[Crixus]

More cowbell!

 

[mmack66]

What does the sugar do?

 

[Altair]

It makes it sweet in case you get some in your mouth

 

[Swashbuckler]

I'll second the too much olive oil, but you have to start the trial and error. It would be good to get some feedback from other members, because I have found feedback from those you don't know can be the most honest.

 

[IanLMT]

Too much olive oil.

should i maybe drop the OO to like 3% and add either split it between lard/castor or do one or the other?


Yeah I would have no problem sending samples to people for honest rip-into-it critique

I may/may not develop it into a product at some point, but for now itd just be personal use

The sugar helps to add lather to cold processed soaps,

From what I ve heard you want to have a soap with a high stearic acid content, which helps produce a thick and stable lather...

Im definitely going to have to tweak it a bit, olive oil has loads of unsaponifiables, so I get what you are saying with the too much OO (kinda hard fighting it cause its the basis for most of my other recipes)... So if I drop the OO, what should I up? castor means more bubbles, but less hard bar, lard= more hard of a bar among other properties...

atm I dont have any beef tallow, though I ve heard it is great in shaving soaps...

Now also, I have heard that some people make it with a combination of KOH and NaOH.... whats the deal on that?
decisions decisions....

Its actually kind of funny, I am on another forum dedicated to soapmaking (as a moderator), and more than a few of the women over there know people over here! haha such a small world! I found this place from google, and never thought that people over at the soapmaking forum would know about this place lol!!! crazy small "internet world" lol


Thanks for the advice! And if you are interested in serving as a guinea pig, feel free to PM me...

 

[RichGem]

I'm not a soap maker, but I don't think any of us around here have discovered a shaving soap worth a damn that has even the slightest amount of olive oil in it. I's a real lather killer.




Oh, and more lard. Yummy yummy lard.

 

[IanLMT]

I'm not a soap maker, but I don't think any of us around here have discovered a shaving soap worth a damn that has even the slightest amount of olive oil in it. I's a real lather killer.




Oh, and more lard. Yummy yummy lard.

well thats a good insight

maybe I will take it out altogether, the avocado gives much of the same properties, maybe Ill up the lard, up the butters and thatll be that

 

[Sydney Guy]

This post might be useful. Basically he seems to be saying that you need a fair percentage of potassium soaps and stearic acid to make a good shaving soap, and that you have to add stearic acid to get the required %. I don't know whether that's correct or not, maybe our soapmakers will comment.

General consensus on the boards is that olive oil makes lousy shaving soap. Maybe that's why all the women soapmakers add clay? It's noticeable that none of the commercial shaving soaps use it.

 

[IanLMT]

This post might be useful. Basically he seems to be saying that you need a fair percentage of potassium soaps and stearic acid to make a good shaving soap, and that you have to add stearic acid to get the required %. I don't know whether that's correct or not, maybe our soapmakers will comment.

General consensus on the boards is that olive oil makes lousy shaving soap. Maybe that's why all the women soapmakers add clay? It's noticeable that none of the commercial shaving soaps use it.

What oils do you most commonly see used in commercial soaps?? alot of the ones I ve tried to check will only say one thing (like example, col. conks "contains avocado oil".... yeaaaahhh but what else!??!?! lol...I know its not full avocado cause I know what that soap would look/feel like and this aint it..)

Ive never really worked with KOH before, only been using NaOH but it may be time to start experimenting lol...

I like to tinker so its fun! Im gonna go check that post out now! thanks for the link!

 

[comat0se]

I've been doing some background research into making some shaving soap, and I'd say drop the OO altogether. Sliceoflife recommended to me stearic acid... like even as much as 30-40%. And the clay is probably next to useless. I would guess that your shea/cocoa butter percentages are fairly high as well. Castor seems to be the miracle oil so focus on that and the animal fats, and some palm might be useful, along with a bit of glycerin. Good luck and post back what you find.

 

[IanLMT]

I've been doing some background research into making some shaving soap, and I'd say drop the OO altogether. Sliceoflife recommended to me stearic acid... like even as much as 30-40%. And the clay is probably next to useless. I would guess that your shea/cocoa butter percentages are fairly high as well. Castor seems to be the miracle oil so focus on that and the animal fats, and some palm might be useful, along with a bit of glycerin. Good luck and post back what you find.

will do and thanks for the tips!!! Im going to do some more research and take everyones advice into account... OO=bye bye!!!

 

[IanLMT]

alright, newly revised... whatcha think?

 

[mmack66]

I would use beef tallow instead of lard, but that is just me.

 

[jakko]

Hard to find commercially available beef tallow.. unless you render it yourself

here's a page that describes the process
http://www.marksdailyapple.com/how-to-render-beef-tallow/

not my work

 

[IanLMT]

yeahhhh thats why i havent used it yet, I dont mind rendering my own fats, etc... buuuuuut... the stank=Ian in the doghouse, my girl would not like the house to smell like Ive heard it reeks lol...


so lard it is for now,

 

[RichGem]

yeahhhh thats why i havent used it yet, I dont mind rendering my own fats, etc... buuuuuut... the stank=Ian in the doghouse, my girl would not like the house to smell like Ive heard it reeks lol...


so lard it is for now,

Or... bacon grease.

 

[bradyarz]

if you ever plan on selling, you probably shouldn't post your cost per bar, especially at that price