Thread: Homemade Shaving Soap

I am going to shamelessly "borrow" the instructions from the web site where I learned from. It includes all the appropriate safety warnings and such about lye. The web site are recipe that I use as a base are here. Real Food Renegade - Primal Body Grass Fed Tallow Soap Recipe – Learn to Craft Primal Tallow Soap Using Traditional Cold Process Methods. Below are the basic instructions.

A few notes from personal experience as well.

When water and lye mix they get hot, stinky and hard on the eyes and nose. Do it carefully and near an open window. The trick is heating up the fats in a microwave while the lye mix is cooling down. You want them both to hit about 115 degrees at the same time, but they are going in opposite directions. You are heating up the fats while the lye mix is cooling. It can be a little tricky so have an instant read thermometer on hand.

The instructions talk about pouring the soap into a mold. For shaving soap, I find it is easiest to pour it directly into the bowl or mug that you are going to use the soap out of.

The soap has to age for about 6 weeks before you can use it.

This whole process should only take about 20 or 30 minutes.

The recipe on the web site is for double the amount that I listed previously.

Prepare lye solution by slowly adding lye to the water (be sure to use a heat proof glass container). Mix gently (I use a silicone spatula) to incorporate the lye into the water. Set aside in a safe place to cool to about 115 degrees F.

Place all oils in a large heat proof container, like a Pyrex glass container, and melt in the microwave in bursts until the oils and butters are melted and fully incorporated. Alternatively, you can heat the oils on your stove in a pot until the butters and oils are well incorporated.
When the oils and lye are approximately the same temperature (115 degrees), slowly add the lye solution to the oils while mixing with a stick blender. You can try this by hand but it will take foreva! It's definitely worth investing in a cheap stick blender from Target or Walmart for this job.

Continue mixing with the stick blender until the mixture comes to "trace". Trace is where it begins to thicken like pudding - like when you drag a spoon through the mix, it leaves a light trace. Be careful however not to let it get too thick or you may have trouble pouring it into the mold.
Add your fragrance and mix on low to incorporate. This all takes a bit of time to get the hang of but after a couple of experiments, you will start to get a feel for when the mixture is blended enough. Once the fragrance is added, be sure to fully incorporate it, but don't over mix or the soap may begin to seize.
While the soap is still liquid and pudding-like, pour into a prepared soap mold that has been lined with parchment paper.

Thanks, I was always wondering what trace meant.

Well it hasn't quite been 4-6 weeks, but it's close so I checked on the soap. It look good and cured so I gave one a try. Wow, that stuff is great! The clay made all the difference in the world. I was a bit skeptical with all of the olive oil (as mentioned earlier) but lather was not an issue at all. I couldn't really detect a lavender scent, but it didn't smell off or even "soapy". I think next batch will be the same recipe with Sandalwood instead of lavender and 40 drops instead of 20. It's almost too bad that this stuff will last me about a year before I get to try another batch

great to hear it worked out
but damn 1 puck lasts me a year let alone several as you have LOL

It's getting about time to make another batch of soap and I'm trying to decide on the recipe. My biggest question right now is the scent. Lavender is a decent scent and it is good for the skin, but I'm not sure if there is another scent that I should be trying. Also, my homemade after shave is going to be a mixture of witch hazel, lavender and frankincense. Good frankincense oil is absolutely amazing at healing skin cuts and abrasions but my wife doesn't find the scent very pleasing. So I want the soap and the after shave to go well together. I'm also kicking around the idea of adding 5oz of cannabis oil. (No I don't smoke pot, but I do live in Washington so it is legal to put it in my soap). What are your thoughts?

Tallow (We used deer, but beef would work as well). 4.8 oz by weight
Shea butter, .8oz by weight
Coconut oil, 4oz by weight
Sunflower oil, 4oz by weight
Castor oil, 2 oz by weight
Avocado oil, .4 oz by weight
Lye, 2.2 oz by weight
Distilled water, 4.75oz by weight
Bentonite clay, 1 level tablespoon
Food grade diatomaceous earth, 1 level tablespoon
Lavender essential oil, 30 drops

*EDIT: These are also going into a silicone mold this time instead of a glass dish. I want to be able to pop them out of the mold and use them in a mug or scuttle.

If you want to go whole hog why not some Tonka bean Oil.

Originally Posted by thebigspendur

If you want to go whole hog why not some Tonka bean Oil.

You will have to excuse my ignorance, but I don't know the history of that oil.

I found another recipe that looks to have a great lather. Here is the recipe and picture from the web site.

325g Soy Wax (11.46 oz)
195g Coconut Oil (6.97 oz)
65g Cocoa Butter (2.3 oz)
65g Castor Oil (2.3 oz)
796g Water (28 oz)
44g Sodium Hydroxide (1.55 oz)
73g Potassium Hydroxide (2.61 oz)
20g Bentonite Clay
15g (.5 oz) of fragrance oil

Perhaps rosemary.

https://www.newdirectionsaromatics.c...emary-oil.html

Originally Posted by DVW

...I'm also kicking around the idea of adding 5oz of cannabis oil. (No I don't smoke pot, but I do live in Washington so it is legal to put it in my soap).

I've heard of medical marijuana but never cosmetic marijuana.