My first shaving soap is a success!

[The Efficacious Gentleman]

Not overly - not like some of you 'muricans like your strong smelling soaps.

Caffeine is often used a skin treatment, but how effective it is is still not 100% http://www.academia.edu/4980787/Cosmetics_with_caffeine_real_benefits_versus_marketing_claims

 

[dosco]

What makes you look at soy wax as a stearic swap?

Fully hydrogenated soy oil is like 89% stearic acid. Similar deal with regards to fully hydrogenated castor oil (aka "Castor Wax").

So ... you would get a triglyceride high in stearic, and would get the benefit of full (and naturally occurring) glycerine after saponification.

I'm not sure I'd want to use soy wax because I'm concerned any remaining soybean oil would lend negative attributes to the finished soap. To mitigate this I would use castor wax. In fact I'm seriously considering an experiment with castor wax as an alternative to stearic acid.

Cheers-
Dave

 

[DeeAnna]

No scent from coffee in soap. I've tried it as part of a scrubby hand soap. Looks neat though -- the color survives the lye.

As far as caffeine absorbing through the skin ... I will defer to The Gent's research. The only thing I can add is someone on SMF got the bright idea to add pure caffeine to his shave soap (it's discussed way earlier in this thread, if I remember correctly) but he didn't get any amazing results from the experiment (again, if I remember correctly).

Sorry about the fuzzy headedness this a.m. ... I haven't finished my first cuppa joe. I'm all for caffeine ... in coffee beans ... preferably fresh ground, properly infused into hot water, and the hot infusion ingested with relish.

 

[The Efficacious Gentleman]

.......I will defer to The Gent's research................

aka google first page, look for something that I like the sound of :shh:

Fully hydrogenated soy oil is like 89% stearic acid. Similar deal with regards to fully hydrogenated castor oil (aka "Castor Wax").

So ... you would get a triglyceride high in stearic, and would get the benefit of full (and naturally occurring) glycerine after saponification.

I'm not sure I'd want to use soy wax because I'm concerned any remaining soybean oil would lend negative attributes to the finished soap. To mitigate this I would use castor wax. In fact I'm seriously considering an experiment with castor wax as an alternative to stearic acid.

Cheers-
Dave

So it's not actually a wax as such? That makes more sense.

 

[dosco]

So it's not actually a wax as such? That makes more sense.

I don't have any in my possession, but soy wax and castor wax are supposed to be solids at room temperature ... much like stearic acid (which is sort of waxy if you think about it).

-Dave

 

[TRBeck]

I have some soy wax shave soap on hand at present. I did run into some hiccups, both in terms of getting the soy wax and in terms of potential for sales; then there's the soaping process, which is a bit different than with straight stearic. I will post some detail later.

 

[The Efficacious Gentleman]

I don't have any in my possession, but soy wax and castor wax are supposed to be solids at room temperature ... much like stearic acid (which is sort of waxy if you think about it).

-Dave

CO and shea butter are also solid at room temp - but waxes they are not.

 

[TRBeck]

Soy wax is "waxy" in texture. The flakes look like bigger, slightly yellow stearic acid flakes. It is used in candles as a replacement for paraffin "wax." However, it is saponifiable, unlike jojoba or lanolin.

 

[dosco]

I have some soy wax shave soap on hand at present. I did run into some hiccups, both in terms of getting the soy wax and in terms of potential for sales; then there's the soaping process, which is a bit different than with straight stearic. I will post some detail later.

Tim:
I'm interested in the details, and look forward to your posts about this.

Regards-
Dave

 

[dosco]

CO and shea butter are also solid at room temp - but waxes they are not.

Right. I think the point is that "castor wax" or "soy wax" are names given to describe their outward and obvious physical characteristics. With that said they're not necessarily "wax" like the paraffin used to make candles. Although reading the wikipedia page about "wax" it's interesting to note the generic similarity between a "wax ester" and a triglyceride (when looking at the molecular model).

Wikipedia entry on Castor Wax.

Jedwards calls it "Castor Flakes."

-Dave

 

[boyago]

Fully hydrogenated soy oil is like 89% stearic acid. Similar deal with regards to fully hydrogenated castor oil (aka "Castor Wax").

So ... you would get a triglyceride high in stearic, and would get the benefit of full (and naturally occurring) glycerine after saponification.

I'm not sure I'd want to use soy wax because I'm concerned any remaining soybean oil would lend negative attributes to the finished soap. To mitigate this I would use castor wax. In fact I'm seriously considering an experiment with castor wax as an alternative to stearic acid.

Cheers-
Dave

I was looking at both fully hydrogenated soy and castor when I was inspired by this thread to start making shave soaps. I was looking for ways to up the stearic content. At the time i didn't realize that the "stearic" I was using was actually more like 49% stearic while I was assuming the soapcalc numbers for the lab grade where what I had (the soap suppliers "stearic" being more like 50/50 stearic palmitic as apposed to the soapcalc something like 99% stearic as explained earlier or in another thread).
I am also super curious about the "non-saps" or other stuff in the oils/waxes and what they bring to the party. If you are experimenting please report back with any nuggets of wisdom you dig up.

 

[rogue]

I ran the numbers for a 1:1 switch & the stearic numbers actually looked high!
I've used soy wax in some lip balms & solid perfumes with bees wax when I want less drag. Quite a bit softer. I suspect since it's fully hydrogenated the other soy oil issues shouldn't be there if most of the issues are due to it having those pesky unsaturated spots normally.
My whole purpose Gent is to go completely Palm free. Nothing cuter than that.

 

[claudep]

I also tried coffee in the soap, smell did not survive the saponification. Added Coffee fragrance was horrific. 4 pounds of soap in the trash....

 

[TRBeck]

My whole purpose Gent is to go completely Palm free. Nothing cuter than that.

Likewise.

 

[luker]

Coconut Acid

Hi all!!

The original listing for the MdC shaving soap lists 'coconut acid' as the oil used.

I looked up this term in the INCI database, and found that it refers to a mix of fatty acids to resemble or be just like a coconut oil profile.

Maybe we could use coconut MCTs or some palm oil or palm kernel oil, along with the coconut oil or even superfat (setting our soap calculators to 0 superfat for the in itial recipe) with MCTs.
The possibilities seem intriguing!!

And thoughts out there??

 

[McSpin]

An attempt with a new formula

My latest attempt is a dual lye shaving soap with stearic acid, CO and lard. It turned out very well. A definite step above my last one, which I also was happy with. This one gives an even more dense, creamy lather. I debated on adding clay to this one, but decided not to. I decided not to change too many things at once. Clay will go into the next batch.

The photo below is a lather made within a minute or so of getting the soap out of the crock. I made this by just swishing the brush in the crock before I washed it. The photo was taken after letting it sit on the brush for 45 minutes. It didn't change at all. I add quite a bit of water to my lather so there are no stiff peaks. I then shaved with it and it was extraordinary. Now, I'm going have to give away the remaining 2 lbs of the first batch.

 

[SpringLily16]

That is some AWESOME looking shaving soap! Congrats is in order here!! Ya did a great job!!

 

[boyago]

Now, I'm going have to give away the remaining 2 lbs of the first batch.

Yeah, I picked up a "jewelers scale" and forced myself to get comfortable making tiny batches so I could try different recipes and I am really glad I did. Even the small amounts I've been making take quite a while to go through and there is are so many conflicting opinions on what makes a good shave soap that it's nice to not waste so much material testing out some of the comments you hear.

 

[McSpin]

Yeah, I picked up a "jewelers scale" and forced myself to get comfortable making tiny batches so I could try different recipes and I am really glad I did. Even the small amounts I've been making take quite a while to go through and there is are so many conflicting opinions on what makes a good shave soap that it's nice to not waste so much material testing out some of the comments you hear.

How small are your batches?

My scale reads in increments of 5 grams, so when the batch gets small, everything is a bit less precise. My last batch was 8 oz of fats. That's still probably a year's worth of soap, and I'm not sure I should mix up less than that. I have no trouble giving away my other soaps, but no one seems to even know what to do with a shaving soap where they have to create a lather on their own. I might have to start bundling a shaving brush with my give-a-ways.

 

[The Efficacious Gentleman]

My scale does 0.1 gram and a good "jewelers scale" should do 0.01 gram. the lowest I will go is a 100g batch with mine. I did a few 50g batches and it wasn't ideal.

Don't forget, not matter how accurate the scale, you need to be able to pour that accurately on to the scale.