Soft HP Shaving Soap

[Crazy8]

So I have finally made my shaving soap with the correctly measured amounts of KOH and NaOH this time. Everything seems to have come out ok and I even tried the Pringles cans this time. With all of that said, there is a minor issue that I may be having. It has been a little more than 24 hours since it was in the Crock Pot and I even put it in the freezer for a cool down, and the bars are still a bit squishy and sticky. Is this normal? Is it just a matter of time and just have to wait for it to solidify more? Im starting to think, as hard of a batch as it was, that my best mistake was my last batch which still ended up in a completely solid bar. Any thoughts on this? Below is my current recipe.

32oz. batch
8 oz 25% Beef Tallow
3.2 oz 10% Coconut oil
3.2 oz 10% Caster oil
2.6 oz 8% Palm oil
15 oz 47% Stearic Acid
Water 12.2 oz
NaOH 30% 1.4 oz
KOH 70% 4.5 oz
FO 2 oz.
3 tsp of clay/pound of oils (I did two in the previous batch but felt in needed a bit more slip when I was shaving.)

 

[sistrum]

From just looking I would say your KOH amount is to high and NaOH is to low. I don't know how you figured them or if they are correct but if they are,I would switch them around. It's all in the balance and how you want your soap in the end. The more KOH the softer your soap

 

[DeeAnna]

You asked "...the bars are still a bit squishy and sticky. Is this normal?..."

Even if your lye amounts are perfectly correct (and I didn't check that), a KOH/NaOH soap recipe will be soft and sticky for some days or even weeks. Welcome to the world of soft shaving soap.

 

[Crazy8]

Well this is good to know for the future. It does seem like it is getting to be more and more how I was hopping it would be each day and I figured that it was just a waiting game. Just wanted to be sure.

So what are the disadvantages of having a shaving soap that has way to much KOH and NaOH as far as the end product? I mean its a hard bar and all but it performs great, matters great and I can't seem to find any one problem with it really. The only slight issue I noticed was that it could use more slip to it, which would mean to add more clay correct?

Sent from my HTC6435LVW using Soap Making mobile app

 

[sistrum]

From just looking I would say your KOH amount is to high and NaOH is to low. I don't know how you figured them or if they are correct but if they are,I would switch them around. It's all in the balance and how you want your soap in the end. The more KOH the softer your soap

This was mentioned because I thought you said your soap was softer than you wanted. If your soap has to MUCH KOH and NaOH together that would mean it could be lye heavy. I'm assuming you did the correct calculations on the total lye amount used.

As far as adding more clay for better slip, I can't really help you there.

 

[DeeAnna]

"...what are the disadvantages of having a shaving soap that has way to much KOH and NaOH..."

Uh, well, one disadvantage that trumps all others is the prospect of getting a chemical burn on various tender body parts, depending on where you shave. Lye heavy soap is not a good thing to lather up with.

Say, could you please be a little more clear when you write to identify the specific batch of soap you're talking about? That would be a great help. I think Sistrum and I are getting confused, because I now suspect you're talking about two completely different batches of soap. Your messages read as if you're talking about only one. Maybe I'm wrong though ... it's been a long day and I'm tired. Please clarify?

 

[Crazy8]

I apologize for any confusion. So far I have done two batches total of Shaving soap. The first batch had way to much KOA and NaOH. This time around I did a 70% KOA and a 30% NaOH. Maybe we should just do "Batch 1" and the newest batch is "Batch 2". The bars that were harder, had way to much KOA and NaOH, but otherwise seem to work fine are "Batch 1". The soft squishy bars are from the newest batch, "Batch 2". Maybe I should let these sit for a week or so and see what happens from day to day with them. Perhaps I should be using SL to make the bars harder. But I have heard that a good shaving bar usually contains both KOA and NaOH. I will perfect the homemade shaving soap. I wont let these few things stop me...lol

 

[SomethingGoodAustin]

I'd give the batch a little more time to cure and see how it does. Every batch of shaving soap I've ever made has been extremely soft (mostly because all the formulas I've come up with that approach the appropriate creamy/bubbly ratio are heavy on castor oil) initially, even though I used NaOH exclusively. I don't know how your soap will change as it matures, but I would take copious notes and see how things develop.

 

[DeeAnna]

So does the soap from Batch 1 -- the harder version -- zap for you? Or are they "tongue neutral"?

Batch 2 sounds about right, based on my experience. A soap with 70% KOH should make a pliable, waxy soap that will be fairly sticky at first until it dries down a bit. The soap will remain pliable even after curing.

If you want a hard soap, which is what I'm getting from your words, then why bother with KOH in this recipe. Just use NaOH alone or go to 80% NaOH and 20% KOH, or something more like that. With all that stearic, I doubt you'll need to add sodium lactate to get a bar that is plenty hard. Many commercial shaving soaps are formulated to be a hard bar type of soap, and most are made with NaOH alone or as the main alkali.

 

[Crazy8]

Yeah I am thinking I will probably wait it out and see what happens to the bars over time.

DeeAnna - To answer your question, I did zap test it and it was totally tongue neutral and tasted like soap. Started bringing back not so good childhood memories that taste was so strong. Perhaps when I make this batch again, which might be 10 years from now with all the shaving soap I have, I will try it with just NaOH and see how that turns out. You know, maybe I will have to see if there is enough interest on the forum here to give these bars away to some folks and get some reviews on them. Now there is an idea. But for another thread of course.