DIY Homemade Shaving Soap

Nick the Knife

Nick the Knife

Krill Enabler
Grand Society
Joined
Sep 4, 2012
Location
Coffs Harbour, NSW
I just thought I'd pop this thread up to foster discussion on members who make their own specialist shaving soaps - I be clear I'm talking about non-commercial making of shaving soap (so B&M, Shaver Heaven etc who are members and who make soaps aren't the target audience).

There's atleast one member already doing this (and from what I hear getting very good feedback on his efforts, @bald as ) - I know another member is talking about jumping into making some shaving soap - and who knows how many others are on the sidelines.

I can easily envisage a half dozen members making their own shaving soap before the year is out so discussion of it would be greatly welcomed as I for one find it a very interesting area.

So suggested discussion points are:
  • Are you considering a Cold Process or Hot Process shaving soap?
  • Any recipes you're leaning towards using?
  • Suppliers for specialist ingredients (in HP Stearic Acid is commonly used)
  • Comparison of any homemade soaps to commercial ones?
  • Any particular must have additives or ingredients? And vice versa stuff you definitely want to avoid?
Cheers, Nick
 
Thanks NtK. I'm planning to make some shaving soap via HP shortly. @bald as has given me some advice and @NicktheKnife has been been very helpful in all the advice he has passed on. I just need to find some time and I'll give it a crack.
 
Hi @Nick the Knife - It is as you well know a slippery slope.

http://soapcalc.net/calc/SoapCalcWP.asp

This is a free to use online soap calculator to give you the amounts of Alkali needed based on particular oils used.

[1] Hot process - only because of the Stearic amount. I may have a go at a CP in the future.
[2] This is a good base recipe
50% Stearic Acid
30% Tallow
15% Coconut Oil
5% Castor Oil
60% KOH - 40% NaOH
After trace add 10% of Oil weight of Glycerine

This is "similar" to many commercial soaps and apparently close to a famous French one? Whether it is I have no idea.
52% Stearic Acid
48% Coconut Oil
60% KOH - 40% NaOH
After trace add 10% of Oil weight of Glycerine

[3] I will post links later.
[4] I no longer buy soaps - no reflection on available soaps, I'm happy with my own. I'm not fussed on scents except for maybe some Tea Tree.
[5] Again just me - tried clay but didn't like it.

I do very small batches [less than 100gms]so use a crock pot to create a water bath for a 500ml pyrex jug as the soap making vessel. The crock pot is a no brainer to maintain temperature. I pre melt my stearic in the microwave in another pyrex jug while the main oils are melting. I use 30 second bursts and for the amount I use about 5 -6 bursts, more or less depending on your microwave power. I chill the water to mix the 60% KOH - 40% NaOH in. Don't forget add the 60% KOH - 40% NaOH to the water NEVER water to the 60% KOH - 40% NaOH. Never use hot water, in fact in the first instance put the water you intend to use in the fridge to get to about 5 or so degrees as the reaction between the 60% KOH - 40% NaOH added to the water is exothermic [ it creates heat.]

I purchased a dedicated stick/wisk blender just for soap making which is almost a necessity.

Have safety glasses, rubber gloves - It isn't as dangerous as you might think as long as you are extremely careful. Don't have kids or pets around when working with the alkali as they [the alkali's] will cause major skin damage and have a very high potential for blindness. It is your responsibility to pre check what you need to do if you intend to use these alkali components.

I am used to hundredth of gram measurements for my photographic darkroom and have a set of digital scales that will measure to those small amounts for the 60% KOH - 40% NaOH

I will be experimenting with adding about 5-7% Macadamia Oil to my next batch as a super fat just before moulding. I melted an existing soap last night and added the Macadamia Oil and it seemed excellent.

I'm always up for a phone chat if someone is really interested.

Steve
 
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Great post @bald as - only thing I'd note is that I've read that you should NOT use vinegar to neutralise spills (especially those that occur on one's person) - apparently this can cause significant heat to occur as they react with each other, which can do more damage than the alkali would have.

I was like yourself and assumed that a mild acid would be best but apparently plain old water is the best thing to apply on any alkali spills - but again thats just what I read. :)
 
Guys, how much stearic and lanolin do we 'need'? My hook up says that it's entirely up to us how much we want at wholesale prices. I'm thinking that 500 or 1000 g of stearic acid and 100 g of lanolin would be reasonable as a starting point. What do you think? Too low? Too high?
 
Stearic is a component you need a larger quantity of for shaving soap. But for most shave soaps work on 50% 0f the total oil weight. 200g of soap you need 100gms of Stearic. If you intend to experiment a bit 500g will go quickly. :)
 
khun_diddy said:
Guys, how much stearic and lanolin do we 'need'? My hook up says that it's entirely up to us how much we want at wholesale prices. I'm thinking that 500 or 1000 g of stearic acid and 100 g of lanolin would be reasonable as a starting point. What do you think? Too low? Too high?
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All depends on other factors (IMHO) like hassle of getting it etc - but for YOU I think those amounts are about right to allow you to do several batches etc. Even if 20% of it was stuffed up and unusable you'd have likely 1.5kg+ of product to get through. So unless you can get a few others to go in with you on that end I think you've picked a decent starting size.

FWIW I'd expect the Stearic to be pretty cheap so better to buy more than you need than have to annoy your mate again in a few months time.
 
Roughly how much does it cost you per batch @bald as, and how many soap pick equivalents does a batch make?
 
@eggbert it isn't a real cost saving as you have to buy some expensive things to get set up [coconut oil - castor oil sodium and potassium hydroxide] but that said once you have those your costs per "'puck" are quite low. The real benefit is being able within a short number of experiments to tailor a soap formulation you really like. Getting there you may have spent the cost of a few commercial soaps but once you have your recipe nailed down it doesn't take long to make and because you do have the oils etc the cost is quite good. The real expense for the home soap maker in my opinion is the essential oils. The initial set up is the big expense and as such will keep many people away from self production. Commercial soaps may appear expensive but considering their production outlays they are on the whole good value.
 
alfredus said:
I will get a 900g jar of coconut oil tomorrow...
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I use it infused with Tahiti Gardenia essential oil as my balm.
Only issue is it solidifies in colder weather, yet using an eye drop bottle allows you to liquefy it by holding in your hands for a few minutes.
 
eggbert said:
Is the stuff sold in Asian grocery stores good enough quality?
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You could use Copha from the supermarkets... That white lump used to make chocolate crackles.
 
Being hydrogenated, I've steered away from Copha as a food product.
Being almost completely hydrogenated it probably doesn't contain the trans fats that are really unhealthy, but not understanding the science completely I've erred on the side of caution.
Not that it should matter too much as you are only going to be throwing it on your face, not in it.

I've never had Aussie chocolate crackles. When I was a kid my mum used to make something similar, but she didn't used anything like Copha.
 
A really good supply of Tallow is the Red cube of Supa Fry in the supermarket. A kilo is about $2.80. It is the one I use. I looked at Copha but it also has Lecithin and Soy so I'm not sure of the proportions. Actually pure coconut oil is really important to a good result when it is a higher percentage of the oil content. A $7 - 300gm bottle of Coconut oil can make up to 6 - 8 100g soaps at least [with the other ingredients].

@alfredus , @khun_diddy and myself had a very productive discussion on soap making. It was very informative as both these guys have very real "chemist" backgrounds. Me - I throw things in a pot, apply heat and hope :) .
 
Of course I got some organic, virgin coconut oil - 900g for ~13$ at your local COSTCO ;)
 
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