Nice info about Arko. The smell is over powering to me, so adding oils just might do the trick. It is great soap and I want to make it work. Thanks guys
Having an overabundance of Avon Wild Country AS, I dribbled some in my lather bowl, and loaded Arko in a boar brush. Pleasant mix. Next step is to try that trick to reduce the natural lemony scent, though I don't mind it straight up. It's a whole new Arko world!
I've hear another way of infusing it too. Another member grated it and added boiling water to the Arko, then mashed it all together with the wanted scent. It was then transferred to the desired contained, and left open, until it dried and hardened. I might try this way next.
I have not yet succumbed to the siren call of Arko. However, my next order of whatever will probably have a stick added.
I just recently did this myself. I just used enough liquid to loosen it up and help everything blend. I added Orange EO, M-Bomb, and strong brewed green tea for the liquid. I am calling it Iced Orange Tea Arko. I only have 5 or 6 shaves out of it now but have been enjoying it.
If you can use Williams, you can grate it up and scent it with things like Old Spice, etc. B&B has a thread dedicated to nothing but modifying Williams to make it smell, which apparently also makes it a bit easier to lather. (Blue Willy is Aqua Velva Blue Ice soaked Williams)
Thanks for the heads up. I have read that thread but I like the scent of Williams so I reckon it's a non factor for me.
I like it too - but I've considered doing it with some of my extra pucks, just for a change. Nothing says you can't have Williams and still enjoy a different scent. I might even just grate up the Williams and soak with alcohol just to turn it into a bowl soap.
Williams used to make both Rose and Mentholated versions of the soap. It wasn't always just the one scent. ***Edit - I thought I remembered seeing a rose scented but I dont see much online about it.
It's time, again, to grate some Arko. I am almost out of my favorite blend, with Avon Spicy. Maybe I should do one with Shulton Old Spice. I'm kind of on the fence. Well, either way, I have a couple of weeks to decide. I just grated 4 sticks of Arko, and will be airing it out, until the scent dissipates.
Its been a little over 1 month, airing out 4 sticks of grated Arko. It took longer than expected, since it was all in one tub. Less air circulations around the grated soap. So, lets get to the nitty gritty. I put all the soap into a medium bowl, I will use a larger one next time. I then Boiled about 2 cups of water, and added it to the grated soap. I tried stirring it, at first. This didn't work well, so, I used a whisk. That did the trick, it chopped and mixed the mixture well, into the consistency of mashed potatoes. Next, I separated the mixture into two parts. Half got a generous amount of vintage Avon Spicy Aftershave. The other half got a few eyedroppers of Sandalwood Essential Oil. I like the P&J brand, because the scent is great, and the price isn't too high. Some Sandalwood scents smell like a cedar closet. This is not. It reminds me more like a concentrated Proraso Sandalwood Shave Cream scent. Anyhow, I mixed each up well, and put them into their respective containers. I will leave them open, until the water evaporates, and they harden. The Avon mixture foamed up a little, but should be fine.
Grated up 1.5 sticks. Mixed in a 1/3 of shot glass of menthol crystals along with a shot glass of boiling water. Pressed into a jar. Super cool
Wow this is one of the coolest threads I ever read. The possibilities are almost endless for creating Frankenstein soaps with Arko as a base (I imagine Derby would work the same way). But how do you guys know how much fragrance to add?
Recipes? Where we're going there aren't any instructions! You do stuff. If it's good you do it again. If not, PIF it so anyone that wants to try a semi-succesful experiment?
