Made a hot process soap, going to let it cure but couldn't help but try a dollop. The lather was fantastic. It was dense, slick and weighty. Had a three pass shave (wtg, xtg, xtg) and no feedback from the alum or aftershave. My recipe was Stearic acid - 150 grams Lard - 150 grams Coconut oil - 100 grams Castor oil - 35 grams Shea butter - 10 grams Cocoa butter - 10 grams Sesame oil - 5 grams Bentonite clay - 2 tsp 60% NaOH / 40% KOH / 10% superfat I'm thinking maybe more castor oil and less coconut oil next time. The one thing I'm unhappy with is the scent but this was about practicing the soap making process. I used cedar and lavender oils. It was hard to figure out how much to use and when. The next batch I'm going to research scent before I go at it or just use the cedar alone. Any suggestions or advice is always appreciated!
Looks to be pretty solid as far as ingredients go. The use of clay in soaps tends to get people riled up, but if it works for you it's all good. Can I ask what the sesame oil provides?
I feel like clay gets a bad rap because of some horrible recipes that include it that are floating around. As far as the sesame oil, according to soapcalc it increases the skin conditioning properties of the soap while helping to keep the bubbliness of the lather down. There's also another very good reason I used it..... I have way too much of it.
I too think clay gets a bad rep. Too many artisan bath soap makers out there that have just added clay to bath soaps and call it shave soap and then won't lather. If used in a true shave soap formula then it can be a great addition for adding slickness. As far as scent goes, maybe try a method I saw recently where a guy took some MWF and packed pipe tobacco around it and vacuum packed it for 90 days. He said that it took to the scent really well. I am sure it would do the same on yours. I would be curious to try the same principle with Black or Green Tea. Anyways, just a thought. One of these days I would love to delve into shave soap making. Seems very interesting, I just don't have the finances for it at the moment.
I read several how to's including this page and this one. Then I found this soap calculator that works with a mixture of lyes but I used soapcalc.net to determine the soap's properties. Then I bought the supplies and procrastinated for several months then made soap last night. I found this page afterward, wish I had seen it before hand. It's actually easier than all the guides make it sound. Measure your ingredients as determined on the soap calculator, melt the oils in a crock pot on high, meanwhile mix the lye and water (carefully!), after everything melts stir in the lye (carefully!), let it cook on low for about 90 minutes then start touching the soap to your tongue occasionally until it doesn't tingle like a 9-volt, then move it to a mold. Now let it sit for a week or two. Biggest issue is that I have to go through over a pound of soap before I try again. Next time will be a much much smaller batch.
One thing to watch out for on smaller batches is your margin of error. Example: If you are making a five pound batch of soap and accidentally add an extra ounce of lye chances are everything would be fine and the superfatt would take care of it. However if you are making a 1/2 pound batch then you have very little, if any margin for error in any of your ingredients. I highly recommend using a digital scale that measures in grams. Many of the soap calculators will give measurements in grams or ounces.
Good that you are delving into the alchemy that is soap making. If you need to move some excess along to hasten you desire to make the next batch... PIF! Or recover your investment by offering for sale or trade.
Using the same bit left over from last night, shave 2 was not as nice but as expected. I went heavy on the water to see how it would do. The lather held up well and remained somewhat slick but lost its cushion. Some feedback with the alum and aftershave but not terrible. At least half of this sample is left so tomorrow I'll try again. Have been using a week old feather blade so it's past time to change that and give it a good go.
Hello! First and foremost - While I've been making my own shaving soaps for a few years now, I find it to be almost more of a "YMMV" situation than blades. Second disclaimer - These suggestions come from my experience and the experience of my testers (I'm not selling yet, I'm going for 5 years of R&D before hitting the market) Third disclaimer - You're the boss of your shave and anything I say is simply secondary to your experiences. Now, 1. I've never found Castor oil to be particularly beneficial to a shaving soap, in fact I simply leave it out entirely. 2. Since Stearic Acid is SO GOOD at making lather creamy (not necessarily a creamy lather) the challenge in a stearic heavy shaving soap is getting it to lather in the first place which is why so many rely so heavily on coconut oil which lathers like a champ. While coconut oil is known for its drying effect, when paired with stearic acid it seems to be just fine. 3. Also remember that since you're Hot Processing your soap, you can choose your superfat. Meaning that if you wait until after it is done zapping (post cook), whatever you add is simply there in the soap. Personally I've found that the best oils are Shea and Jojoba but admittedly I've never tried sesame. Finally, the unfortunate reality of lye is that the giant crystalline structures that KOH produces that make it easy to lather also make it a soft soap (Croap?) while the smaller crystalline structures that NaOH produces make harder but tougher to lather soap (williams) Hope this helps! If not please ignore...
Great write up and some great points. A lot of soap makers seem to not understand #3. The only aspect of HP I don't like is the effort required to scoop the finished (and darn hot) semi molten soap into the containers.
Thanks so much for the advice. I'm hoping to make several smaller batches this weekend so I can compare soaps with this and without that etc.
Just wanted to chime in with something I forgot to mention last night. While many people (and trusted sources) claim that HP (hot process) soaps don't need to cure, they do benefit from some time. Unlike CP (cold process) soap which needs to cure a few days to be safe HP is safe at once. That said, most people will cure their CP soaps for at least a month and up to a year in some cases so as to allow the soap to "get better". I have found that the same is true for HP soaps. Do yourself a favor and set some aside for a month and try it, it will be even better! Better how? Well, YMMV but, I've found my soaps to be not nearly as thirsty, more stable lather and generally kinder to my admittedly sensitive skin. Hope this helps!
People are fretting about clay in shaving soaps now? Seriously? As if the whole tallow vs. non-tallow silliness wasn't bad enough. I think you hit the nail on the head: It is the bottom line that counts. If it works well, then it's all good. -ow-my-balls-, best of luck in your soapmaking endeavors!
http://www.soap-making-resource.com/shaving-soap-recipe.html They also sell a soapmaking kit http://wellnessmama.com/2628/shaving-soap-recipes/ Any chick named "Wellness Mama" must know what she is talking about http://blog.diynetwork.com/maderemade/how-to/how-to-make-your-own-shaving-soap/ Wow, even dudes can make shaving soap http://www.modernsoapmaking.com/the-best-wet-shaving-soap-recipe/ Egads! Does she use that for making soap? Even on YouTube? I guess so... Here is another. That is a start. A ton more information is only a Google search away. If all those people - and about a million more - can learn to do it, so can you.
