I've made shave soap just about every way you can. lol My first formula was via CP with NaOH, made with a high % of tallow and butters and castor oil, and just a little CO and OO and some kaolin clay. My hubby enjoyed using this formula for about 5 years or so, give or take, and he loved it because it provided him with wonderful cushion, glide and a baby's butt smooth shave, and not once did he ever get a nick or cut with it. It also got high praises from a shaving aficionado over on Badger & Blade to whom I sent samples at his request, and he gave me a few suggestions that helped me tweak it to make it lather more easy, which he said was the only aspect that needed improving in his sage opinion. I've posted the recipe somewhere on the forum before, but don't have a link handy, so here it is:
60% high stearic fats (a combo of beef tallow, kokum butter and illipe butter.....enough to push up my total stearic/palmitic to 35%)
20% castor oil
10% coconut (or a mix of CO and PKO to = 10% bubbly oils total)
10% olive oil or avocado (or a combo to = 10% total)
Superfat of 8%
NaOH (lye concentration of 30%)
Additions:
10% glycerin ppo
2 tsp kaolin clay ppo
2 tbsp. sugar ppo
Coconut cream as part of my water amount (I use 4 tsp. coconut cream powder ppo, mixed with some of my water)
This formula is able to be CP'd quite well if soaped at 120F.
Fast forward to a few years ago when lots of menfolk from the different shaving forums out there started joining our forum here and were interested in making their own shave soap or else duping famous brands that they loved. Out of all the wonderfully informative discussions that ensued, I made several tweaks to my formula over time to make it even better. The first thing I changed was my use of clay. I was encouraged/challenged by them to make my formula without clay, because to most of the wet shavers who joined SMF, clay was anathema. Well, removing the clay from my formula proved to be a disaster.....for the first time since using my shave soap, my hubby had the "crappiest" shave ever and got nicked. At least that showed me the clay was doing something quite nice and useful in my formula as written. If I was going to remove the clay, I would have to tweak something else in my formula to compensate for the loss of that glidy, protective cushion the clay seemed to be contributing.
Long story short, by only tweaking the 60% tallow/kokum/illipe component to allow for the inclusion of 28% straight stearic acid, and switching my lye to an 80% KOH/20% NaOH combo, I was able to achieve a wonderful shave 'croap'/soap without clay that my hubby loved even better than my original, because it was now so much easier to build up the lather.....and best yet- no nicks. The rest of my original recipe remained the same except for the glycerin, which I bumped up to 20%, oh, and I also have to HP it.
The resulting 'croap' is pliable like clay, but able to hold whatever shape you form it into. I pour mine (yes, it actually pours) into a collapsible silicone column mold (from Brambleberry), and the next day when I unmold, it's soft, yet firm enough to cut into pucks. Over time, it does harden up and get more difficult to shape, but it never gets rock hard.
I've also made my tweaked formula with 100% KOH, but hubby prefers the 80 KOH/20 NaOH combo best.
IrishLass
