I went to the Farmer's Market today...

[Texas_Bubbly]

... and bought some soap....

(Stop me if you've heard this before :wink: )

There were 2 vendors with soap, and I bought some from both. One was a classic look and scents, nice beveled edges, all natural ingredients. Second was EO and FO's, bright colors, kind of gaudy, not something I would really buy normally.

I was suprised to find that I LOVE the gaudy soap. The scent lingers, the soap was silky slick in my hands and made a great lather that stood up to scrubbing. The natural soap was beautiful and consistant, but it didn't feel as good. It was a hard dry bar, and had a weak lather.

So finally to my questions...what gives soap that slick, slippery feel? And is there any website or group of photos that demonstrates different lather properties... like what does "silky" lather look like?

 

[WilsonFamilyPicnic]

i found a lot of soybean oil or shea butter gives that "slick" feeling....

 

[Tabitha]

Olive oil is lick & down right slimey at times.

 

[zajanatural]

Here you go:

http://www.zensoaps.com/singleoil.htm

Olive oil is usually the slippery culprit. Soybean does the same thing in large quantities.

 

[reallyrita]

I went to the Farmers' Market today....

I learned here on this forum to add silk and castor oil to my soap recipes. I only use a tiny bit of castor. For a 1lb batch I use .4 ounces and for a 2lb I use .8. No matter what else goes wrong...my soaps have lovely lather and a silky slip....not slimy...and I do use olive oil in every batch too. I am constantly trying new things in my soap making...but the castor and silk remain my constants. Give them a try, but with a light hand and see if that brings the soaps to where you like them to feel. The castor has never slowed down my trace because I use such a little bit of it.

 

[Soapmaker Man]

Silk. :wink:

 

[brian0523]

I use 30% Olive Oil and 10% Shea in my master recipe, and it's very "slick" feeling, not slimy at all.

 

[Texas_Bubbly]

Thanks for all your replies. I have been buying stuff here and there... and only have a few more things to get online.. then I will make my first attempt at soaping!

 

[Texas_Bubbly]

Here you go:

http://www.zensoaps.com/singleoil.htm

Olive oil is usually the slippery culprit. Soybean does the same thing in large quantities.

How did I miss this link??? What a great site, thank you!