Shaving soap recipe feedback

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kerzuke

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Hi!

I want to do shaving soap and ja have read about it a lot. I just want some advice from experienced soapmakers, who already have made really good shaving soap.

I though about this recipe (i made it by myself):
Palm oil 150g (30%)
Castor oil 120g (24%)
Shea butter 30g (6%)
Olive oil 40g (8%)
Cocoa butter 100g (20%)
Stearic acid 35g (7%)
Coconut oil 25g (5%)

I though about adding at trace about 50 grams of glycerin and some white clay.

I would use half of water and half of coconut milk.

Superfat: 5%
Water as % of oils 38%

What do you think of that recipe? Is that good enough for shaving soap. At soapcalc.net the cleansing number is only 4, but i think thats not important or what? Creamy lather number is 60, thats pretty good i guess, because i have read that shaving soap is good when the lather is fine and creamy, not so bubbly.

I really want your advice about this recipe (A)

Thanks a lot!!!

:)
 
In my opinion, that recipe looks excellent. :) It's actually somewhat similar to mine with a few individual differences here and there, and I get raves for mine.

I say go for it, and let us know how it came out!


IrishLass :)
 
carebear said:
With the added stearic acid, will it have to be HPed?

It shouldn't...I have CP'ed with Stearic- though 7% is high.

The recipe looks excellent to me too.

A lot of guys on Badger and Blade though love Tallow in their shaving soap so that might be something to think about if you aren't opposed to animal fats.
 
carebear said:
With the added stearic acid, will it have to be HPed?

Why it have to be HP? I am planning to do CP. Should i lower the % of stearic acid? If yes, then how much?
 
Stinkydancer said:
carebear said:
With the added stearic acid, will it have to be HPed?

It shouldn't...I have CP'ed with Stearic- though 7% is high.

The recipe looks excellent to me too.

A lot of guys on Badger and Blade though love Tallow in their shaving soap so that might be something to think about if you aren't opposed to animal fats.

Is lard okay to use? I have used only palm oil because i donkt know where i could get lard. I have to go to the local shop, maybe there is. I dont know prices also, maybe its more expensive than palm oil.
 
Lard is amazing in soap. I haven't heard tallow but I have heard good things. You can render your own lard or tallow. However, I use lard I buy at the grocery store. Tenderflake or a generic. It does have some preservatives in it, but my soap is for personal use and they don't seem to affect the quality of the soap.
 
kerzuke said:
Stinkydancer said:
carebear said:
With the added stearic acid, will it have to be HPed?

It shouldn't...I have CP'ed with Stearic- though 7% is high.

The recipe looks excellent to me too.

A lot of guys on Badger and Blade though love Tallow in their shaving soap so that might be something to think about if you aren't opposed to animal fats.

Is lard okay to use? I have used only palm oil because i donkt know where i could get lard. I have to go to the local shop, maybe there is. I dont know prices also, maybe its more expensive than palm oil.

Usually lard is cheaper than palm oil at least around here it is.

I have seen lard mentioned a few times but not as much as tallow. I think it would be ok to use- it makes good soap. Tallow is creamier I guess but I think Lard makes a harder bar.

I used 1 Tbs. PPO of stearic but that was just to harden HP soap a little. It wasn't for shaving soap which should be a little harder.

The Stearic might make your batch move fast maybe that's why Carebear asked if you were going to HP.
 
kerzuke said:
carebear said:
With the added stearic acid, will it have to be HPed?

Why it have to be HP? I am planning to do CP. Should i lower the % of stearic acid? If yes, then how much?
I don't know that you need to lower it. I'm just asking. High levels of stearic can cause the soap to seize.
 
I do not HP mine but I do work at slightly higher temps. And it does trace faster.


Mike
 
I have lard in my shaving soap and the guys like it. Based on what others have posted, you may not need to use stearic acid itself if you play with your butters to insure a stearic value of at least 20 on soapcalc.

I've never soaped with stearic up at 7% but if it's anything like lower amounts, I'd use a hand wisk to avoid reaching a heavy trace too quickly (again, I don't know if 7% would make it seize).
 
chibilightangel said:
I have lard in my shaving soap and the guys like it. Based on what others have posted, you may not need to use stearic acid itself if you play with your butters to insure a stearic value of at least 20 on soapcalc.

Can I assume that the higher the stearic value is, the more lather it gives?
 
pure&simple said:
Can I assume that the higher the stearic value is, the more lather it gives?

Yes, but it's more so for the kind of lather we are after in a shaving soap- stable, creamy lather as opposed to fluffy/bubbly lather. And since it also produces a harder, longer lasting bar, having a really high amount of stearic in a shaving soap is like killing 2 birds with one stone.


Stinkydancer said:
Tallow is creamier I guess but I think Lard makes a harder bar.

Both tallow and lard make for lovely, creamy lather (lard more so, imo), but I've found the opposite than you: - my tallow soaps are somewhat harder than my lard bars. :D I use tallow in my shaving soap.


chibilightangel said:
Based on what others have posted, you may not need to use stearic acid itself if you play with your butters to insure a stearic value of at least 20 on soapcalc.

Very true. I don't use stearic as an additive in mine, but with the tallow and my butters of choice, the total stearic amount for my formula is 20.

I soap my shaving soap on the hot side (about 130 degreesF), and as long as I'm using a well-behaved FO, my batter plays nice without seizing or accelerating on me.

IrishLass :)
 
Not particularly, but using some kind of milk or cream will help to make things even more creamy, which is a plus for a shaving soap.

IrishLass :)
 
This may be a stupid question, but from the description of a 'shaving soap' that is made just with basic oils (no additives), can it be used for sensitive skin as well. I mean, if a soap has low cleansing, good conditioning, good bubbles and excellent creamy lather, that sounds like a great soap for sensitive skin, no?
 
pure&simple said:
This may be a stupid question, but from the description of a 'shaving soap' that is made just with basic oils (no additives), can it be used for sensitive skin as well. I mean, if a soap has low cleansing, good conditioning, good bubbles and excellent creamy lather, that sounds like a great soap for sensitive skin, no?

Not stupid at all. :) My male testers have found mine to be very gentle on their skin, but I wouldn't go so far as to say it had good bubbles- unless, that is, you are using a shaving brush to lather it up with. But even then, the bubbles are more of a frothy/foamy/shaving cream type rather than the big, airy, Laurence Welk-type bubbles, i.e. the kind of bubbles one gets from a regular bar of CP (especially one with lots of coconut oil in it). When I try to lather my shaving soap up with just my naked hand, I get practically nil in terms of any kind of lather except maybe a little creaminess, but like I said, it's a whole 'nuther story when a shaving brush is taken to it.

In thinking more about it- I haven't done so yet, but I should try using my shaving soap with one of those nylon poufs and see how it suds.

IrishLass :)
 
IrishLass,

What is the bubble value of your shaving soap? I'm trying to figure out a good recipe for a shaving soap but I can't decide what to settle for in terms of bubbles compared to creamy.
 
My bubbly/creamy ratio is 28:56. Usually, I try to have a balanced, but slightly more-bubbly-than-creamy ratio in my non-shaving soap formulas, but for a shaving soap it's good to have things lean disproportionately heavy to the creamy side.

IrishLass :)
 
Thank you IrishLass,

That really helps me decide on choosing a recipe for a batch. :D
 
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