would vaseline soap be too soft?

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Nite Hawk

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I have thought about trying a vaseline soap for the very dry skin that occurs especially in winter time, and wondered if anyone had tried it or had good recipe or any ideas how well it would work, ......thanks..:p
 
I'm not sure about that one...does soapcalc.net have a Vaseline option? How much did you want to add? would it be basically a superfat and how would it react to saponification? Guess experimentation will answer these questions...
 
I would guess you could add a little as an additive but I think that petroleum based oils don't saponify.
 
Petroleum oils don't saponify. That means you can't make a soap from mineral oil, either, as it's made from petroleum.
 
I dunno... vaseline is petroleum jelly. Not sure if it has the fatty acids that are necessary. But I'll be checking back to see if anyone has a definitive answer!
 
Again - same as the thread about mineral oil soap - ICK! It doesn't even saponify, so I think you'd end up with a big giant mess. I sometimes use vaseline on the dam in my big mold to prevent soap batter from running past the dam. And really, why would you want that in your good, handmade soap? Make a "balm" with vaseline, not soap.
 
I use Vaseline to grease some of my molds because it does not saponify. My suggestion is to use lanolin in your soap recipe.

Here is just a sample recipe:

30% Coconut oil
5% Castor Oil
5% Lanolin
70% New Crisco
 
I use mineral oil to help for easier unmolding in detailed cavity molds. I like mineral oil and Vaseline petroleum jelly because both are great products for people like me with dry, sensitive skin. However, I agree you don't want to use Vaseline in soap. I like lsg's suggestion or you could increase the superfat in your soap.
 
Thanks for the replies, didn't know it wouldn"t saponify.
I do have a bit of concern about using lanolin though, as some pretty "wicked" chemicals are used to treat sheep for keds etc so wondering about the possible effect on ones health and skin, any thoughts out there about possible toxins in lanolin???
 
I use whipped shea butter for dry winter skin.

For soap, as long as the bar is superfatted enough and is high conditioning and low cleansing, a variety of oils would work.
 
I actually made soap with vaseline a couple of weeks ago. It's curing now so I can't help you much. I can tell you that it has a really nice feel to it, and the bars are not mushy at all. I added 3% vaseline ppo.
 
I added baby oil (about 3-4%) to a batch once. My sister ask me to try it. It was a simple soap, Olive oil, coconut oil, lard, and a little castor, SF around 7%. It worked fine, although it too forever to cure and she loved the soap. No fragrance or color added. She said it was like a bit of bath oil in the bar. I haven't done it since, I didn't think it was that great.
 
I do my best to stay away from using products with petroleum. There are many ways to make a very mild soap without adding such. I make an unfragranced naturally colored oatmeal soap which as lauric below 10 on the soap calc scale. It is a soap I created for selling at City of Hope
 
Our weather / air can be very dry during the winter and I use vaseline as a mosturizer due to the fact I don't like all these strongly sented lotions that basically don"t do you any good, so was thinking a vaseline soap.
Vegangal -what was your recipe if you don"t mind me asking?
Thanks for all the replies, sorry it took so long to get back to the thread, am not home alot so don"t get to the computer properly...
 
I have to agree with Ruthie re the lard. You want to use an ingredient that will bring health to the skin and lard is wonderfully lush as well as being a great carrier. My hands use to be so very dry no matter what I used due to the constant washing of them at work but since I made my own soap and discovered the lard factor they feel wonderful. And to add even more health include some avocado oil. Wonderful.Hugs Liz
 
I love lanolin in soap. It is amazing but you use very little, not more than 5%. Lanolin has been used for years with only people who have allergies to it having any negative response to it. Love the stuff
 

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