Visited the butcher the other day and picked up some beef fat and rendered it. Made my first hot process batch today. I used tallow, stearic acid, coconut oil, shea butter, hemp seed oil and castor oil, potassium hydroxide and sodium hydroxide. Cooked it than added some glycerine and fragrance. Will unmold and cut tomottow. How does this recipe sound?
Tomato, tomah-toe, tomattow. Sorry, tee it up and I swing away. I'm contantly on the lookout for a source of suet for rendering. Tallows make for excellent CP or HP soaps. I've not made any shave soaps myself. But I really like to have tallow in a large proportion in my bar soaps.
Are you keeping the percentages secret? Some do and some don't. If you feel like sharing, I wouldn't mind seeing your recipe. At any rate, please post a review! I've made a few shave soaps and flunked more than I passed. Have you tried an "Ian de Candre" recipe?
From my sig: DIY soap (the "IdC" recipe) >here< You can follow the links (which have other links) to read a lot about IdC. Some opinions from the internet rate it as a bit drying. I didn't notice any drying, but it was not a "leaves a little something" kind of soap, either. Know what I mean? I've tweaked the recipe a bit, adding a little cocoa butter. I didn't notice a whole lot of difference, but I may not have added enough to matter (and have lost my notes on that batch!). However, I've shared with some TSDers to generally positive reviews. I like it quite well and heartily recommend!
Here is my recipe: Stearic 30% Tallow 25% Hemp oil 15% Coconut oil 12% Shea butter 10% Castor oil 8% KOH / NaOH. 60% / 40% 3 Tbsp glycerine
To clarify, this was your first HP batch? I'm a CP soaper myself and haven't delved into HP. I'm Told it's a bit more attention intensive.
When you use a very high percentage of stearic acid the soap saponifies instantly. Shave soap needs stable lather and low cleansing, therefore high palmitic and stearic acid and low oleic acid is the goal. KOH is therefore necessary in the lye. I hand mill some of my soaps also which requires the crock pot. Hot process is time consuming but lets you do other hobbies while you wait. Sorta like smoking a pork butt.
Older thread, but curious what you think about your recipe by now? I also make an hp shaving soap (plus cp bath soap and sea salt soap). Love chatting with other soapers!
Yes i have. The vegatable base soap lathers quite well, but must be soaked with hot water while showering. The tallow / stearic acid soap has been calling out but i have not given in. The wait Is driving me nuts.
