Shave soap recipe

[FrayGrants]

I am planning on making my first shave soap and was hoping for some feedback on my recipe. I am going to do this as a cold process and was curious about superfat, lye concentration, and anything else that needs adjustment. I was going to be adding Kaolin clay at 1 Tbsp PPO, tsp sodium lactate PPO, and 3.13% vegetable glycerin after trace. What do you all think of this recipe?

 

[Kcryss]

I think it looks pretty good. Have you tried it out yet?

 

[FrayGrants]

No I haven’t tried it yet, waiting on the KOH in the mail. Do you think that the cleansing oils are too high as well as the superfat? I was also thinking of ditching the clay. How about the lye concentration?

 

[Kcryss]

No I haven’t tried it yet, waiting on the KOH in the mail. Do you think that the cleansing oils are too high as well as the superfat? I was also thinking of ditching the clay. How about the lye concentration?

Not at all. In fact, you have the same cleansing numbers as my most recent shave soap.

Edit: I use a 4 to 1 lye concentration, mostly because of the stearic. I've never used soy wax however, so I'm not sure.

 

[FrayGrants]

Anyone else care to weigh in on this recipe?

 

[AliOop]

I would echo the comments by @Kcryss. It looks like a solid recipe, but I haven't used soy wax, either. Using 4:1 water:lye ratio can help you keep it fluid enough to pour. You could also think about adding some glycerin and/or sodium lactate at the end of the cook. That will help it remain fluid and add some humectant properties, as well.

 

[cjisler]

I like the fatty acid numbers for a shave soap. Have you tried it yet? I do a hot start with stearic that high. When I say hot start, I mean lye and oils temperatures over 140F when mixed. Maybe even up to 160F. Let us know how it turns out.

 

[FrayGrants]

Well I just made the recipe with a few tweaks and it was interesting to say the least. I did a 4:1 lye concentration as you all mentioned and a 7% superfat with 2% sorbitol and sodium citrate as well as 10% glycerin added after trace.

I mixed the oils and lye just above 140 as @cjisler mentioned. It took a long time to trace and went through several weird consistencies, which I expected, until I got it to smooth out. I then poured it into containers and I noticed it began to separate, so I poured it back into a wider pot to be able to get better contact with all the soap batter. This worked really well and it came back together very very smooth like a thick pudding and poured nicely into the containers.

It was by far the strangest soap making experience i have ever been through to date, but it was a nice learning experience and I had plenty of time to fix it. Now I just hope it is a good recipe that makes a nice shave soap. I will report back with details on the performance and feel. Thanks for all the help!!!

 

[AliOop]

Thanks for the report. Can't wait to hear about the finished product!

 

[Kcryss]

Haha, yes the high stearic in shave soap makes for an interesting experience. Can't wait to hear about the results.