Shaving soap issue

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tarkus

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Hi all,

I made a shaving soap with 8% super fat and it looks like drying takes forever. this is my second day. I used online calculator and it is cold method. so far I made 3 different soaps and all 3 of them I used next day and looking at the PH level came out about 10 ph. shaving soap came up really nice except drying issue. I put 2 of them in oven and became a gel then I noticed it helps but it lost the look and shapes. all measurements are accurate. what do you think?


Shaving Soap: all measurement are OZ

Olive Oil 11.95
Coconut Oil, 76 deg 5.30
Castor Oil 5.30
Almond Oil, sweet 1.85
Shea Butter 1.50
Palm Oil 2.10

Water 10.64
Lye 3.70
Oils 28.00


Hardness 29 - 54 29
Cleansing 12 - 22 13
Conditioning 44 - 69 68
Bubbly 14 - 46 30
Creamy 16 - 48 33

Colloidal Oatmeal = 2 table spoon
Bentonite Clay = 1.5 table spoons

8% super fat

thanks

Andre
 
Well, as a shaving soap I don't really rate the recipe at all - I am a straight razor shaver and make my own soaps - as it looks to be a basic bath soap with added clay.

If you are serious about shaving soaps, do a search for 'shaving soap songwind' and you'll be led to one of the many great threads on the forum about formulating and making really superb shaving soaps
 
I second the shaving thread as an excellent resource... don't be intimidated, just grab a glass (er, bottle by the time you get to the end) and dig in! You'll see that true shaving soaps are very different animals than regular bar soap. Your recipe looks like one that might be nice for someone like me that just uses regular soap on herself... but my wet shaving husband wouldn't be happy with the lather on it.

Just give the recipe you posted some more time. I'm not able to check your recipe in a lye calculator right now, but I can tell you that different recipes behave differently. The unmold time you got with a different recipe/procedure/mold might be very different from the time this one takes. I only start to worry on day four. If it doesn't set up by then, I start to suspect my measurements or ingredients.

ETA: don't worry about taking pH measurements for soap. You'll not get reliable results. The best way to determine if a bar is safe to use is to zap test it. There's a funny and informative stickie about it. Take a look. :)
 
Last edited:
thank you for your replay. I used this soap this morning and already passed 6 hours my face still feels fresh. I am researching about "shaving soap songwind" soap. I noticed they used KOH


I have question about your replay:

How did you analyze the recipe? did you study each oil?. I think what I need to learn first is what property is important for shaving soap :)

thanks
 
Welcome, Andre!

It's sounds like you are using the soaps within only a few days of making them? Soaps that are only a few days old can be very drying to the skin. They need to be 'cured' by setting them in a well-ventilated place to sit for at least 4 weeks. Curing helps the pH to drop a little and for the soap to become milder and sudsier.

Here are 2 of the threads that helped me the most in improving my own shave soap formula. They are long, but full of very helpful info:

http://www.soapmakingforum.com/showthread.php?t=34264

http://www.soapmakingforum.com/showthread.php?t=47002&highlight=NaOH


IrishLass :)
 
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