Lanolin: Wet-shaver-soapers, please help!

[Sapwn]

There is no wet shaver that doesn't know about Mitchell's Wool Fat shaving soap. I am trying to reproduce the benefits of lanolin in a recipe completely different from MWF. The problem is I cannot guess the right percentage of lanolin. I made some experiments but it turns out that the addition of lanoline destroys the lather formation. In other words, the soap lathers better with no lanoline at all.

I decided to make my recipe with 0 superfat and add lanoline to a percentage that will provide the lather all the benefits of lanolin but without destroying it.

Which is this percentage?

According to you which is the right percentage of lanolin in a shaving soap?
Could you try to guess the percentage of lanolin in MWF soap?

Thank you!

 

[The Efficacious Gentleman]

I think it was talked about in the big shaving thread, but I can't remember the details

 

[reinbeau]

And a link to the big shaving thread is here

 

[Sapwn]

Thank you both. I will check it for some answers.

 

[Sapwn]

I checked the 70 pages of the above mentioned thread and there is no answer to my question.
I found an old post of mine when first used lanolin, and another couple of posts referring to the use of some lanolin without any number of percentage and result.
I also found some completely irrelevant posts regarding lanolin and contact dermatitis.

If you have seen a post that answers the questions made here, please indicate it to me.

If somebody has successfully used lanolin in a shaving soap please suggest me a range of percentages.
If somebody has any idea about the percentage of lanolin in Mitchell's wool fat soap please post an answer.

Thank you very much.

 

[Nikko]

Well FWIW this is the best I could find:
http://badgerandblade.com/vb/archive/index.php/t-261097.html

Seems consensus is that it's definitely under 5% and likely under 1%.

That said if you're very keen why not email the makers and ask - I'd tell a bit of a white lie saying you've been recommended their product due to skin issues but have issues with anything with more than around 1% lanolin in it - is their product likely to be ok?

Worst case you've wasted 5mins.

Alternatively you know how high it is NOT, so start at say 1% in small batches and work up splitting the difference to 5% e.g 1st try 1%, if thats ok try 3%, if not good try 2%, if it is good try 4% etc. I reckon it's definitely less than you'd think.

 

[Sapwn]

Thank you Nikko!
I think that percentages above 1% are too high. I am afraid that even 1% is high. I wouldn't be surprized if they used 0.3 - 0.5%.
I will try something like 0.5% or even less.

 

[TRBeck]

I think you are right to aim for the low end. I will also say that I have found other ingredients to provide the same benefits (skin conditioning, mainly, and a bit of glide) without the fussiness or allergen concerns that accompany lanolin.

 

[LBussy]

I was looking for an older post and found this.

I use 5% lanolin in my shaving soaps and I have no issues with lather or greasiness.

 

[Sapwn]

I was looking for an older post and found this.

I use 5% lanolin in my shaving soaps and I have no issues with lather or greasiness.

Thank you LBussy.
I have tried percentage like 5% in an otherwise excellent soap. Lather disappeared :shifty:

Maybe it was something else. I will try to add 5% lanoline in a already cured cream/soap to see if the disaster repeats.

 

[The Efficacious Gentleman]

Not wanting to be a absolute horror, but what was this "otherwise excellent soap"'s recipe, and how are you in lathering other soaps? There are a lot of variables there and I know that Lee knows how to a) lather a soap well and b) make a good shaving soap. So let's look at what is going on and find a solution.

 

[LBussy]

How I did this is somewhat longer than can be shared here - but I will be releasing an article soon with all the details.

In general though I calculate 5% each of lanolin and another butter. I create my recipe for a 5% lye discount. I reserve half of the lanolin and half the other butter to add after as a superfat. So in other words my superfat is 2.5% lanolin and 2.5% other butter, but there is 5% total lanolin in the recipe.

 

[dosco]

In general though I calculate 5% each of lanolin and another butter. I create my recipe for a 5% lye discount. I reserve half of the lanolin and half the other butter to add after as a superfat. So in other words my superfat is 2.5% lanolin and 2.5% other butter, but there is 5% total lanolin in the recipe.

So what happens to lanolin when it is exposed to lye?

According to wikipedia it is not a triglyceride, nor is it a FFA (although, supposedly, raw lanolin does have a small amount of "lanolin acids" which presumably are turned to some sort of salt as a result of an acid-base reaction).

-Dave

 

[LBussy]

SoapCalc gives it an SAP of 0.076 (for NaOH) where it gives Lard an SAP of 0.141. So from that I extrapolate that "about half" of the fats react.

It's an interesting question. I just know "it works for me." :twisted:

 

[cgsample]

necrobump

I look at ingredient lists to try and figure our what their recipe might be. In looking at Mitchell's Wool Fat, I see Sodium Tallowate, but not any Potassium Tallowate? Interesting because there is Sodium and Potassium Cocoate listed. So, is the tallow saponified with 100% Sodium Hydroxide and them added to the rest, or are the ingredient listings not compliant to what's exactly in there?

 

[The Efficacious Gentleman]

If you read a couple of the larger shaving threads you will see that some people do just that - mixing certain oils/fatty acids with certain lyes rather than all together.