Thread: just finished my first melt and pour shave soap.

I just made a pound of shave soap using the melt and pour shaving soap base from bulkapothecary, added 2 teaspoons of powdered bentonite clay and 1 1/2 tablespoon of glycerin. I poured it into a wide mouth jar and poured a little into a small shallow dish to test, after it was done drying I loaded my brush with it and lathered in a bowl, it created a lot of really thick lather really quickly, it left a giant mountain of it on my brush, so I left it on the counter while I took a bath, came back and it looked exactly how I left it, it shaved super smoothly.

although I wasn't sure how much fregence oil too add to it so I meant to only pour a small amount...but I dropped the bottle into it, so ended up pouring about 1/5 of the 2OZ bottle into it so now I have a super super sandalwood soap lol, didn't seem to get any irritation from it so I guess it's ok.
I will never buy another puck of shaveing soap ever again.

Buy Shaving SFIC (all natural) Glycerin Melt and Pour Soap Base

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Fragrance-oi...item3f1e9cccf4

Now that sounds interesting. Thanks for the post and links. So many aspects to this hobby to explore.

Bob

You find new ways to spend my money, eh? Do tell.

Originally Posted by Siguy

You find new ways to spend my money, eh? Do tell.

ya, it shaved really well, I'm not too familiar with all the shave soaps so not sure how it stacks up against the more expensive stuff but I can compare it to Williams and van der Hagen's, I can say for me it worked better then both of them. which was surprising because from reading a few wet shaving forums my impression was anything melt and pour would be horrible for shave soap, that the lather would be too thin and disappear/dry super fast.
looking at the ingredient in it there doesn't seem to be anything majorly different from other melt and pour soaps cept the lack of Shea butter or oatmeal or honey for the specialty soaps, they all contain Coconut oil, palm oil, safflower oil, glycerin, sorbitol, sorbitan oleate, soy bean protein and wheat protein. so I'm not sure what makes this soap base shaving soap when it's almost exactly the same as the other soap bases, maybe the levels of ingredience are different, or maybe its the clay and extra glycerin I added, and if so does that mean any of the other soap bases would be just as good? or maybe its just bulkapothecarys soap bases. I got into this whole thing to avoid spending a lot on replaceable razor carts so unless something changes I think I'll just do this again when I run out of soap. maybe buy a different scent, was thinking of Christmas tree but was afraid it would smell too much like pine sol lol.

also the soap base is for the most part clear so when you add the bentonite clay it turns a really really ugly semi translucent grey . it works great it's just an ugly soap. maybe if you dye it or if you decide to try one of the none clear bases.

This might be fertile ground for me. Dehydrated and ground material might work well. Wondering about the dried ghost peppers, the choco habeneros, etc...

I've been considering making some soaps myself lately. Was wanting to try the melt and pour style first due to the simpler and quicker nature than using lye for the cold process soaps. Glad to hear it's working well, and thanks for sharing the link to the one you got. I'll have to give it a shot!

Originally Posted by ne0nblakk

I've been considering making some soaps myself lately. Was wanting to try the melt and pour style first due to the simpler and quicker nature than using lye for the cold process soaps. Glad to hear it's working well, and thanks for sharing the link to the one you got. I'll have to give it a shot!

ya, thats why i ended up trying the melt and pour soap because i was trying to make this cold proccess soap, but being in hawaii it was almost impossible to get the pottassium lye here cuz it cant be air shipped in. there were a few places that would but the the stuff would cost $9 for the lye and $50 something for the shipping.

http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showthr...atch-LONG-POST

not the best pic, but it was taken with a phone lol

Originally Posted by keokitsune

ya, thats why i ended up trying the melt and pour soap because i was trying to make this cold proccess soap, but being in hawaii it was almost impossible to get the pottassium lye here cuz it cant be air shipped in. there were a few places that would but the the stuff would cost $9 for the lye and $50 something for the shipping.

http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showthr...atch-LONG-POST

Potassium lye, it's Potassium hydroxide right?
Have you checked around for cleaning products or some company using it?

I needed some chemicals for gold plating once and needed it quick, went to a local company and asked...
At first it was "no way" but after I explained why I needed it and what it was for I walked away with 5Kg Potassium cyanide and an order for a pair of wedding bands.

Originally Posted by Lemur

Potassium lye, it's Potassium hydroxide right?
Have you checked around for cleaning products or some company using it?

I needed some chemicals for gold plating once and needed it quick, went to a local company and asked...
At first it was "no way" but after I explained why I needed it and what it was for I walked away with 5Kg Potassium cyanide and an order for a pair of wedding bands.

yep, checked all the hardware stores, drugstores, soap making stores, chemical companies, drain cleaner, ect ect. they all gave the same answers we don't carry it because something something new Hawaii law against meth (apparently it used in making it or something, and we had a major meth problem a few years back) makes it harder to get or something. and the places that did carry it required you to bulk order it with the stipulation that it had to be for a university or other licensed use. there were one or 2 places off island that would ship it here but the shipping was too the point that I could just buy a shave soap just as good as the one I was making for cheaper. the soap supply shops said they all stopped selling it because it wasn't economical and switched over to sodium hydroxide for everything.