Wax in soaps

[bambi]

Has anyone tried to use wax in soaps? I heard it makes the bar hard but I wonder if it helps to make a longer lasting bar for palm oil-free soap?

I'm interested in Candelilla wax, but are other waxes better for soaps? And is around 1-2% effective enough without cutting the lather? Also my concern is if it accelerates trace and make the soap looks waxy.

Thank you

 

[shunt2011]

I think most use beeswax. You could give it a try. I've heard candelilla is harder than beeswax so you will need to soap pretty warm. I would start at 1%. I've tried wax in my soap but didn't really care for it. Too much will affect lather and can also make your soap softer. It will accelerate trace so I wouldn't try to do anything crazy design wise.

 

[bumbleklutz]

I've used beeswax in cp. I'm not sure if it makes the bar any harder, but it really does seem to make it last longer in the shower. In my experience, it does speed up trace quite a bit. I "think" it accelerates all by itself. I know when I used it I had to soap hotter than normal to avoid "dots" of wax in the soap and to get it fully melted. Beeswax melts at approximately 145F. So the higher temp is going to speed things up considerably all by itself. YMMV. Overall I like it in cp soap, but it's a pain to use if you're planning to do swirls (I'm swirl impaired. :cry or anything that requires a light trace.

Edited to add: Also it's "supposed" to help stop ash from forming. That's the original reason I started using it. I don't recall whether it worked or not. Again, YMMV.

 

[dixiedragon]

I love 5% beeswax. I combine it with honey, so perhaps that boosts the lather? I made a bar with 10% beeswax and it was softer than the 5% beeswax - I have no idea how that works! I like to hot process my honey beeswax soap, since you have to soap it hot and I'm worried about separation.

 

[Obsidian]

I also like beeswax at 5%. I did try candelilla wax once at 5%, it was too much. The bar was too hard, almost brittle and it didn't lather well. I've meant to try it again at 2%.