Thread: Homemade Shaving Cream?

Originally Posted by Datsots

You may find some useful information in the Information for Soap-Makers thread.

Soap-making Manual by E.G.Thomssen has a Shaving Cream section. The section starts towards the bottom of the page and the formulas are on the next,

I have only just started soaping, and have only done one batch of junk grease soap. It turned out well as a hand soap.

Jonathan

Sooo... it looks like shaving cream is basically soap but made with potassium lye instead of sodium lye then with more fats (stearic acid) and possibly glycerine added?

I interperate the first recipe as:

Hot KOH process the Coconut, Glycerin, and Stearic Acid

Coconut 9.74%
Glycerin 28.46%
Stearic Acid 58.80%

Super fat: Steric Acid 3.00%
66% Watter to KOH

Store in air tight container.

Jonathan

After making up a few more batches of soap this last weekend I can state that using 100% KOH will not net you a "Cream" soap. However, it looks like it can get it closer to your goal. After obtaining a few more books and luring on a LOt of soap forums it appears there are a few moer steps to be done after making a pure KOH soap. Unfortunatley, it seems like this is a fairly new "discovery" for the DIY soapers and artisian soapers and people are not sharing a lot of info. Some of the info I have picked up is:

1) The addition of soda ash. It's another alkali that needs to be nuetralized, but supposedly it makes the soap more malleable.
2) Making it a "liquid" soap with an alcohol or glycerin process and then "super creaming" with more stearic acid.
3) Addition of water and oils and some kind of mechanical agitation. Industrial milling or mortar and pestle.

I do not know how these would work, if they work together, in sequence or if you need to sacrafice a chicken on a blue moon to the lather gods..... but it's start.

PS: The 100% KOH ended up being a very soap, almost gummy soap. Molds easily, loads into a brush easily. Results will vary depending on oil/fats used to soap with.

Made a mistake for item #1 there. Meant to say Potassium Carbonate, commonly referred to as Pearl Ash.