Critique this shave-soap recipe...(REVISED RECIPE)

[IanT]

Ian,

I noticed that you have stearic listed as an extra additive there. Just a heads up in case you are not aware, stearic has to be calculated in with your oils as it has a sap value.

Really!?!?!?!?!

welll thats a headache......

hmmmmm never worked with stearic in a soap, just in lotions ....

now how to work it out... hmmmm

 

[djk17]

Soapcalc.net gives NaOH and KOH SAP values for stearic acid; it is easy to calculate for your needs.

what I have read: raising linoleic will increase stable lather, (with the caveat of perhaps increased danger of rancidity); coconut cream/milk will give a boost to creamy lather; the Snowdrift Farms cream soap recipe has a salve-like texture as opposed to fluffy.

Still working on my cream soap and shaving soap. Last year's testers liked my cp shaving soap and requested more, but I think cream soap is what I will aim for now.

 

[Saltysteele]

i agree with mixing the two lye's. the koh aligns the molecules differently than the naoh, and it also gives different values.

i've been meaning to do it for a while, but make a batch with koh, then rebatching it with naoh.

as much as i love lard, won't make soap without it (except a OMH recipe i have), you won't find many good shave soaps that use it, they all use tallow. it is a firmer oil and reacts differently with koh (from what i'm told)

 

[IanT]

Does this recipe make a real soft bar? Maybe real shaving soaps are quite soft?

Did you make it, Ian? How'd it turn out?

Came out VERY hard.... literally was hard within a few hours!!

i agree with mixing the two lye's. the koh aligns the molecules differently than the naoh, and it also gives different values.

i've been meaning to do it for a while, but make a batch with koh, then rebatching it with naoh.

as much as i love lard, won't make soap without it (except a OMH recipe i have), you won't find many good shave soaps that use it, they all use tallow. it is a firmer oil and reacts differently with koh (from what i'm told)

I have heard the thing about tallow...didnt have any on hand but I am looking into getting some soon

Ive also heard bout mixing NaOH and KOH but i have Nooooooooooo idea how or where to start with that, thats a totally new area for me... never even worked with KOH yet...

This soap seems to have a nice lather, but seems to peter out after a few minutes.. I can hear the bubbles slowly popping... may be just cause I tried it the day after pouring it and needs to mellow out and evaporate some of the water content out of the soap, so Im going to keep testing it throughout the month; Ive never been one for patience in testing soaps...usually as soon as theyre cool i test them out to see how their qualities change over time (and I take extensive notes on all batches)

... so Ill let you know how it lathers in a month. It definitely was a thick lather but i may need to tinker with it...

 

[Saltysteele]

i've never made it myself; can't stand going through all the motions and then being disappointed.

from what i gather, you'd make soap with your tallow and the potassium. i've been told it does not turn liquidy like other oils with potassium - no clue, no personal experience.

then, you would rebatch that soap with your other oils, using only enough lye for the additional oils (you've already saponified the tallow).

a buddy had done a ton of research on it, but neither of us ended up trying it

so, i just bought some tabac, the bigalow stuff from bath and body works (proraso relabeled) and a couple other big names. tabac was objectionable to me at first, but i love the stuff now (the scent)

 

[hieroglyph]

i eventually dropped the lard from all the shaving soap recipes i tried. (prolly 6-8 logs)the lather was thin.

 

[CiCi]

i agree with mixing the two lye's. the koh aligns the molecules differently than the naoh, and it also gives different values.

i've been meaning to do it for a while, but make a batch with koh, then rebatching it with naoh.

as much as i love lard, won't make soap without it (except a OMH recipe i have), you won't find many good shave soaps that use it, they all use tallow. it is a firmer oil and reacts differently with koh (from what i'm told)

A question I have about the two lyes (KOH and NAOH)...how do you calculate them? SoapCalc will only do one or the other, so if I put in a recipe using NAOH, how will I know how much KOH to add in. I understand it is suppose to be slightly more than the NAOH. Do I calculate in SoapCalc and them divide the lye amounts in half? So confused.

 

[soapbuddy]

i agree with mixing the two lye's. the koh aligns the molecules differently than the naoh, and it also gives different values.

i've been meaning to do it for a while, but make a batch with koh, then rebatching it with naoh.

as much as i love lard, won't make soap without it (except a OMH recipe i have), you won't find many good shave soaps that use it, they all use tallow. it is a firmer oil and reacts differently with koh (from what i'm told)

A question I have about the two lyes (KOH and NAOH)...how do you calculate them? SoapCalc will only do one or the other, so if I put in a recipe using NAOH, how will I know how much KOH to add in. I understand it is suppose to be slightly more than the NAOH. Do I calculate in SoapCalc and them divide the lye amounts in half? So confused.

Look for a lye calc that does cream soap as your starting point. I believe Summer Bee Meadow has one.

 

[CiCi]

Thank you! I will check it out.