Shaving soap

[The Efficacious Gentleman]

Do one and then weigh it and cut the rest accordingly.

Let's be honest, if you're using it yourself it is no big deal and anyone from your friends or relatives who get it for free certainly can't cry over a few grams difference

 

[DeeAnna]

What The Gent said. The density of your soap will vary some and shave soap is prone to being a bit more variable than other soaps, so any math formula someone could trot out will not necessarily be accurate. The easiest and best way is to actually measure and weigh the soap and cut accordingly.

 

[Lee242]

Is there a difference in the types clay being used in shave soap ?
Or is clay just clay or just different colors ?

 

[cgsample]

As the soap was cooling in the PVC pipe, I found a flat bottomed glass that was almost the same diameter. Periodically I would plunge it down packing the soap as much as I could. I finally put the PVC in the fridge for about two hours as was then able the really pound down the malleable soap as much as I could.

When I un-molded. the 3" diameter "log" was exactly 3" long so 1" pucks was the answer. The three pucks weighted very closely to 4oz each.

I weighted them again this morning and each had lost 2 grams. I did use extra water in the recipe so I'm sure there will be a lot of evaporation.

My thought process in all this is, when you buy commercial soaps, at what point in the cure did they sell it to you? When you buy their 4oz puck, was it 4oz when it was cut, or 4oz after it cured?

 

[DeeAnna]

No, clay is not just clay. There is montmorillonite clay (that's the stuff used in clumping kitty litter, by the way), kaolin, illite, and others. Study up on it -- a google search will fill you in on their different properties and uses.

As far as commercial soaps, the makers seldom cure their soap like handcrafted soap makers do. Instead, they flake, extrude, noodle, vacuum dry, "plod", mill, and pressure mold. You're wanting to compare apples and oranges.

The net weight for a bar of soap, whether handcrafted or commercial, is supposed to be the minimum weight of the naked bar at the time of sale. If you aren't weighing it at the time of sale, then you need to anticipate the weight loss during cure and storage and label the net weight accordingly. My bars after cure generally weigh about 4.5 ounces each, but I know they continue to lose weight over time, so my labels say the net weight is 4 ounces.

 

[The Efficacious Gentleman]

If you're thinking of some of the artisans as 'commercial' then it is different. By all accounts, MdC has a good long cure. As for the others, you could ask.

Test yours out to see when the changes are almost not to notice or the soap is already what you are looking for

 

[cgsample]

Can we mention known artisan brand names we are trying to emulate?

That beings asked, I have found a highly ranked one that list these ingredients:

"Coconut oil, Shea Butter, Stearic Acid, Water, Potassium Hydroxide, Glycerin"

I'm surprised that SA is not #1 or even #2? What could the percentages possible be?

Another question, can the oils be added in stages? Wanting some oils to be saponified 100%, then the next, etc. i.e. adding 100% of the lye and water to only SA, blending, adding CO, blending, then adding shea butter? Hoping shea butter is the only superfatted oil remaining?

 

[DeeAnna]

Since shea butter provides a goodly dose of stearic, it's not surprising to me that stearic acid is lower on the list in the example you provided. If you eliminate the use of a high-stearic butter, then, yes, stearic acid might need to be higher on the ingredients list. Honestly, this is something you can learn on your own, so I encourage you to try -- bring up your favorite soap calc and play around with the numbers and see what fatty acid profiles come up.

If you want shea to be the superfat, then yes you need to add it only after the saponification is done. I don't quite understand why you would want to saponify the stearic first and then saponify the coconut oil, but if that is what seems best for you to do, there's no reason why you can't do that.

 

[gemsupthepoley]

Only going from the experience of the soap I made, but it's very pliable. It would easilly pack into a hard walled mould like a bit pipe. You could weigh out 4oz and push it into the mould.

I put mine into used shaving cream tubs and earthenware bowls and this method works a treat. I dont grate it or anything. Just push it into the bowl.