Jackofhearts
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Oct 26, 2014
- Messages
- 46
- Reaction score
- 19
Hello all!
So, yesterday I made 2 batches of shave soap using one of my usual recipes. My last batch I used lard for fun and the soap ended up having a bit of a piggy smell (not a good thing considering how important scent is to a shave soap). This time I made an older version which was:
45% Coconut oil
50% Stearic acid
5% Shea Butter
3 tbls/ppo Glycerin
1 oz. FO/ppo
Now I added the shea butter after it was zap-less to ensure the SF was Shea. Once it was ready I let it cool to around 140 f. then added the glycerin and FO (one was a GIT dupe and the other was WSP Bamboo Lotus)
I then glopped it into a 3 inch round individual mold like I always do and once set I unmolded it. This usually works well and the pucks aren't the hardest thing but its good enough to, after a month cure, wrap in coffee filters and tie with twine (my usual packaging...I'm still too new to sell so its just for storage).
This time however, once I unmolded the pucks were shiny and quite hard. Like I squeezed them and they didn't budge. I was thrilled. Unfortunately, today after work I went to the tray I was curing them on and went to turn them and they weren't shiny and they were quite soft!
Any idea what happened? I'm stumped.
The only thing I can think of is that the glycerin (humectant that it is) absorbed some humidity from the August New England air and went soft. I was so excited too...
Thanks for any help!
So, yesterday I made 2 batches of shave soap using one of my usual recipes. My last batch I used lard for fun and the soap ended up having a bit of a piggy smell (not a good thing considering how important scent is to a shave soap). This time I made an older version which was:
45% Coconut oil
50% Stearic acid
5% Shea Butter
3 tbls/ppo Glycerin
1 oz. FO/ppo
Now I added the shea butter after it was zap-less to ensure the SF was Shea. Once it was ready I let it cool to around 140 f. then added the glycerin and FO (one was a GIT dupe and the other was WSP Bamboo Lotus)
I then glopped it into a 3 inch round individual mold like I always do and once set I unmolded it. This usually works well and the pucks aren't the hardest thing but its good enough to, after a month cure, wrap in coffee filters and tie with twine (my usual packaging...I'm still too new to sell so its just for storage).
This time however, once I unmolded the pucks were shiny and quite hard. Like I squeezed them and they didn't budge. I was thrilled. Unfortunately, today after work I went to the tray I was curing them on and went to turn them and they weren't shiny and they were quite soft!
Any idea what happened? I'm stumped.
The only thing I can think of is that the glycerin (humectant that it is) absorbed some humidity from the August New England air and went soft. I was so excited too...
Thanks for any help!