Shave soap question

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Sonya-m

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I'm in the process of attempting my first shave soap. I decided to try Lee's from his blog.

I've mixed the lye water to the oils and it turned apple sauce like but now is pretty dense - not very loose and certainly can't be stirred.

Do I just leave it in the slow cooker to do its thing?
 
The blog had pics of the 'apple sauce' stage then shows it being pushed down - write up said a bit like pushing down bread dough but mine is very thick.

I've also scaled the recipe down to half the original

This is it now

ImageUploadedBySoap Making1435520663.226262.jpg

I have my SF and FO still to add, it's been cooking around 1 hour now
 
I've had similar results in the pot. I don't know this recipe but when I've had soaps look like that I add scent and SF. Then pack into molds. Haven't had to rebatch yet.
 
Well this is it, you can see the bits where the SF didn't mix in

It's also very hard - using just KOH, I would have expected it to be softer

I'd assumed my KOH was the 90% variant as it was flakes - it doesn't zap

Any idea what went wrong?
 
How much water did you use? Using high steric just naturally makes a harder soap, your recipe might need to be made with extra water to counter that. If its really lumpy, you can always rebatch.
 
I think it is just lumpy. We have all had that to some degree while making shaving soap.

Were things getting cooler when it started to harden up? Stearic melts at a higher temperature, so if it was cooling off then it might well have been causing issues
 
I have had some that turn out that way. I've not had it solidify in the pot though. I've started doing the 2 part process. I mix my lye with my CO and other oils while I melt the stearic on the stove. Once everything is combined I had the melted stearic and continue from there. It's made a huge difference in my shave soaping experience. When it's zap free I add my SF and my glycerine.
 
My smaller batches were definitely more difficult to manage. I don't think you did anything wrong. The reason the larger batches are like "mashed potatoes" is because there's enough heat to create steam and enough volume to capture it. That's why I make the bread dough analogy because that's exactly how it behaves. When I scale up to a larger batch my larger crockpot doesn't have enough heat so it does that there too - the 1 lb batch seems the sweet spot. This is also why I specify the longer cook. It's partially to do with how it behaves physically.

Yes this is a very hard recipe compared to other KOH recipes - which is why I always question why people think they need to use NaOH. You can certainly make a puck with this recipe. Being so hard the most challenging part is getting the FO and SF mixed in well. I have experimented using a mixer (inspired by Lindy's cream soap writeup) and that does seem to work very well. I have not noticed that any lack of perfect homogenization causes any issues - the ones that don't mix as well for me perform the same as those which do.

I think you did well! Let us know how it performs.
 
I think it is just lumpy. We have all had that to some degree while making shaving soap.

Were things getting cooler when it started to harden up? Stearic melts at a higher temperature, so if it was cooling off then it might well have been causing issues


No, if anything it was when it got hotter

Oh well, I guess hubby will be one to decide.
 
My smaller batches were definitely more difficult to manage. I don't think you did anything wrong. The reason the larger batches are like "mashed potatoes" is because there's enough heat to create steam and enough volume to capture it. That's why I make the bread dough analogy because that's exactly how it behaves. When I scale up to a larger batch my larger crockpot doesn't have enough heat so it does that there too - the 1 lb batch seems the sweet spot.

I think you did well! Let us know how it performs.


Ok, maybe the bigger batch next time if my husband and other male guinea pigs like it

I will report back - just waiting for hubby's shaving brush to arrive
 
Sonya, steal that brush and try your soap on your legs. Handmade shave soap is better then any junk that comes from a can. I've always had terrible ingrown hair and irritated skin, not anymore. I get a super close shave with no irritation.
 
Sonya, steal that brush and try your soap on your legs. Handmade shave soap is better then any junk that comes from a can. I've always had terrible ingrown hair and irritated skin, not anymore. I get a super close shave with no irritation.


Noted!! Will do
 

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