Lets talk about silk...

[IrishLass]

So would it be good to use silk for a shaving cream then? I see it has slip.

Like Theresa, I use silk in all my soaps, including my shave soap/croap.


IrishLass

 

[shunt2011]

I'm another one who uses silk in all my soaps including shave soap. Love it!

 

[rparrny]

Well I have now made three batches of soap with silk...I've tried different methods mentioned here and like soaking the silk in the lye water for 20 minutes, after spider webbing it out and then adding the lye. Using this method I have not had to strain and it melts in beautifully.
Thank you for all the suggestions!
Now comes the agonizing wait to see what it feels like...

 

[doriettefarm]

Thanks IL & shunt for the feedback on silk in shaving soap . . . I will definitely add some to my next batch of croap. Do you use about the same amount as you would in a regular CP batch? And do you have to do anything special to get it to dissolve in KOH instead of NaOH?

 

[houseofwool]

I'm intrigued by all of this... I master batch my lye. Does the lye solution need to be hot for the silk to dissolve?

 

[IrishLass]

I'm intrigued by all of this... I master batch my lye. Does the lye solution need to be hot for the silk to dissolve?

Yes, it needs to be hot. I master-batch my lye, too and I add the silk to my water for the master-batch and let it soak for about 20 minutes before I add the lye in. It all dissolves in about 3 to 5 minutes or so.


IrishLass

 

[houseofwool]

So, do you heat the water you soak it in? My 50:50 lye solution is at room temp and I'm not keen on heating it up.

 

[Spice]

I use silk in all of my soap. I love creamy lather, not bubbly lather, and the silk makes my bars extra creamy feeling. I guess it is a "mental" thing that because I have such dry skin I associate the creamy lather with a lotion or body butter more so than the bubbly-frothy kind of lather. The true test for my home made soaps will be coming up this winter. I have a bunch of soap that I've made in June and July waiting for me to use in January thru March. I love the Bastille that I made and I'm saving the last piece (besides my control bar) for when the really cold weather hits.

I do stuff like that too and think its a mental thing. I think that it has more to do with having love for what we do. That is my 2 sense.

 

[rparrny]

So, do you heat the water you soak it in? My 50:50 lye solution is at room temp and I'm not keen on heating it up.

I don't master batch but the one time I did try to cool my lye down in an ice bath all the silk did not melt and needed to be strained.

 

[IrishLass]

So, do you heat the water you soak it in? My 50:50 lye solution is at room temp and I'm not keen on heating it up.

I could be wrong, but I think we may be talking at cross-purposes. Just to be certain that I'm understanding your question correctly, I don't add the silk to my already-made master-batch solution, but instead to my room temp water before I add the dry lye into it in order to make my actual master-batch solution. The intense heat from dissolving the dry lye into the water is plenty hot enough to dissolve my silk. In other words, the silk is an integral part of my entire master-batched solution up front. I hope that made sense. If not, let me know!


IrishLass

 

[houseofwool]

I could be wrong, but I think we may be talking at cross-purposes. Just to be certain that I'm understanding your question correctly, I don't add the silk to my already-made master-batch solution, but instead to my room temp water before I add the dry lye into it in order to make my actual master-batch solution. The intense heat from dissolving the dry lye into the water is plenty hot enough to dissolve my silk. In other words, the silk is an integral part of my entire master-batched solution up front. I hope that made sense. If not, let me know!


IrishLass

This made loads of sense. Thank you for clarifying!