Need help for Manly soap formulation

[NancyRogers]

My DH is a working man, gets dirty, sweaty and has sort of oily skin. (I'm the opposite...don't like to sweat or get dirty with very dry skin.) All of my recipes so far have been very moisturizing, but Hubby says they are a bit "slimey" for him. Any suggestions on oils/butters to use or avoid? I usually lye discount at 7 - 8%. Is that too much for Manly soap? And it may need to be mentioned that we live in South Louisiana...very humid most of the time.

I was thinking something with more coconut oil and less olive oil than my usual stuff. I just don't know where to start as all of my research has been centered around soap for dry skin. Should I add some clay? If so, what kind? :? I need some direction.

 

[NancyRogers]

Yes, I'm responding to my own thread. :wink:

This is what I've been toying around with through SoapCalc. Thoughts?

Walmart GV Shortening (Beef Tallow, Palm and Vegetable Oil) 16 oz.
Coconut Oil, 76 Deg 7 oz.
Fractionated Coconut Oil 1 oz.
Castor Oil 2 oz.
Olive Oil 6 oz.

5% lye discount, full water CP at maybe 120 deg? Too high, not high enough?

According to the properties on SoapCalc, this should put me at the high end of the cleansing and hardness scale and at the low end of the conditioning scale. Total INS of 168...is that too high?

 

[JacquiO]

I'm not great with recipe advice but one suggestion I wanted to make was adding activated charcoal. That will help draw out the oils and dirt from his skin plus make a beautiful manly black bar.

HTH,
Jacqui

 

[NancyRogers]

Where do you get activated charcoal :?:

 

[holly99]

Would he like some pumice in the soap I wonder...kind of like a Lava soap? If it's extra fine it should be good for whole body use, if you're careful not to add too much.

 

[JacquiO]

I found it at a local health food store. Luckily for me they carried it loose with their bulk herbs so I was able to get an ounce for very little money.

You can also find it in encapsulated form at nutrition, vitamin and health food stores but they are usually over priced but still usable. There also a lot of online bulk herb shops that sell it as well but you only need to use 1tsp to 1 tbsp per pound of oils so you don't need a lot of it.

If I were you I'd go through the phone book and call to see if you can get from local health food store. If not you can also find it in pet stores for fish tanks. You made need to grind it to powder but I've known other soapers to use the fish tank stuff.

 

[ToniD]

My husband and sons like different things. But they all have somewhat oily skin.

Husband likes castile.

One is into salt bars.

One likes
35% CO
30% crisco
30% OO and
5% castor. I make that one with sugar to increase the lather.



They all like "grit" (their word) in their soap lemon peel, tomato powder.

None of them like anything with shea butter in it.

Just for comparison sake this is the first recipe I tried for them and it was "the first thing that EVER dried out my skin" (quote by my son)

38% CO
29% crisco
13% castor
20% olive

Fruit scents have turned out to be the most popular for my guys. Apple Jack Peel, Kumquat, Pomegranate.

Happy formulating!

 

[NancyRogers]

DH says no to grit. But I do think I might try the charcoal or some type of clay. I have a Whole Foods here so I'll see what they have. Those recipes are interesting. I wonder why your first one was so much more drying? Too little OO? Just a touch too much CO? Hmmm.

How much lye discount should I use. Do you think 5% is enough? I really would like to get this right. I know I won't be able to use these bars so I don't want to be stuck with a bunch of stuff he won't use either. I guess I could give them to the teenage boys my daughter hangs around with.

 

[ToniD]

Yeah, actually I have been wanting to order some charcoal. Nice color. I liked the soap that was recently in the photo section with the swirls and the poppy seeds. Really sharp lookin--very inspiring.

I think the drying soap I made had too much CO. Also, it was 5% superfat.

My guys like 6%--but we have not yet used my soap during the higher humidity time of summer. We are in PA, so have dry air in the winter time.

 

[honor435]

not true about men not liking shea or cocoa, of course he doesnt know, but he does like the soap,! do this recipe alot
oo 32%
co 29%
po 19%
shea butter 9.5%
castor 9.6%
the cleasning is at 20, superfat 6 or 7% water as % of oil 33%, you could bump up the co a bit, but I dont like my cleansing higher than 22, but thats just me.

 

[Jezzy]

Great topic! Watching and learning! :wink:

 

[GardenGirl]

I made a batch with no palm and 22% cocoa butter with a superfat of 5%.

It's as hard as a rock!

So far, he's liked that one the best. Says he likes it because it doesn't feel slimy when you're using it.

Unfortunately, cocoa butter can be pricey, so it's not very economical, to be sure.

HTH

 

[mariflo]

It's really interesting to hear what other men like
My BF really likes salt bars. He absolutely adores them. He says he feels very clean after he uses them.
He also likes charcoal and clay (I use kaolyn) soap. He says he feels his skin can breathe better after using it.
I also noticed he prefers creamy to bubbly. He's doesn't care much for OO soap. He also says peppermint and eucalyptus in soap is very refreshing and invigorating

Happy soaping and formulating !
mari

 

[ToniD]

Sorry for that misstatement--when I said "none of them like anything with shea in it" I was referring to my husband and 5 sons--not men in general.

 

[sistrum]

Try a Palm, Olive, Coconut and then add your extras. My best selling guy soap is in that order. Men seem to like soaps that bubble and rinse off quickly. Oregon Soap Company make their soap with Palm listed first and they sell TONS. Keep on it and let us know how its going.

 

[NancyRogers]

Thanks everyone so much for the advice! I just put a batch to insulate. Here's what I d

8.2 oz. Olive Oil (Was supposed to be 8, but I got a little heavy handed.)
8 oz. Wal-Mart GV Shortening (the one with palm, beef tallow and veg oil)
6 oz. Palm Oil
6 oz. Coconut Oil
2 oz. Fractionated Coconut Oil (I reserved some to mix my micas)
2 oz. Castor Oil
345 grams Water
130 grams Lye

I added two tsps sugar and TD to the lye water. I added 2 tsp calcium bentonite clay to the oils. Took a 6% lye discount. Used Southern Garden's Black Vetiver Cafe at a little over .75 ppo (again, I got a little heavy handed so that's why it's a little over :wink: )

The FO smells AMAZING! No A, in fact, I had plenty of time to do a three color ITP swirl (used TKB's Blackstar Green, Colorona Russet and Bronze micas). Did a nice little extra bit of swirling on the top and put it to bed. We'll see. I'll post pics when I unmold. Of course, I won't be able to tell you how it works for him until it cures, but I'll update then too.

Thanks again!!

 

[gogreen]

Try a Palm, Olive, Coconut and then add your extras. My best selling guy soap is in that order. Men seem to like soaps that bubble and rinse off quickly. Oregon Soap Company make their soap with Palm listed first and they sell TONS. Keep on it and let us know how its going.

What percentage of PO, CO, & OO would you use? I read that PO is fine up to 30%. Coconut dries out my skin, so I tend to keep it around 20%.

 

[madpiano]

If slime-feel is an issue, definitely cut back on the Olive Oil. I live in a hard water area and Castille Soap is like snail slime to me.

Bubbly soap - try adding sugar, castor oil and Rhassoul. Due to the liquid rock we have coming from our tap, I make every one of my soaps with sugar and castor oil. I sometimes add clay. It's the only way for me to get a decent amount of bubbles without having to increase the coconut and/or palm oil. I superfat at around 6%, but have made soap with 9% the other day and it still bubbles fine, just more creamy.

 

[donniej]

For a mechanic type soap I wouldn't bother with expensive oils like olive. 80% to 90% shortening and the rest coconut with very little superfat. The superfat is the key.

You could also experiment with adding borax and/or wash soda (dissolve it in your lye water).

 

[MattInSD73]

Late to the party

I come from a background in keeping fish alive for long periods of time. You can buy activated charcoal pretty cheap and in bulk from any good pet supply store - online or otherwise and probably at amazon.com by now. it will be in pellet form, so you will have to grind it a bit. We use it in mesh socks floated in high flow areas of the tank to absorb funk from the tank.

Ciao,
~M