Thread: Homemade Soap Misadventure

Originally Posted by jockeys

yup, that's just the kinda guy i am. not 2m away from me is a dillon multistage press that i use to load ammo. my brush, soap, scuttle, strop, aftershave are all "made" things and not bought things. i actually spent more making some of these things that their store bought counterparts would cost, but like i said, i'm just a stubborn fellow who likes doing everything the hard way.

I'm the same way. Why buy when I can learn the skills needed, and make it myself. Some of the few that I recently started. I enjoy knives and when I couldn't find "the one" I was looking for, I made one of my own design. Being an Indiana Jones fan I always wanted a bullwhip. After finding out how much one would cost me, I bought a few books and now have a bullwhip the cracks loud as hell I made out of parachute cord. Soon I will be moving up to leather for whip making. I wanted to use horn for re-scaling a couple of my razors, but can"t find any long enough. I did some research, and this spring when I clear out the shed I will start making horn blanks. Now that I have read through this thread, after I get off work (oops I guess I should get back to work) I think I will begin some soap making.

"Gotta go... Spidey senses tingling..."

P.S. thanks for the step by step.

[quote=Markopolo;185840]It never ceases to amaze me that with ALL the things we "Straight Razor Shavers" have to worry about.....Honing, Stropping, "Is this razor good or bad", Aftershave, Hot Towels, hundreds of shaving soaps & creams available at the click of a mouse........Why in the world would you want to try to make your own soap ?.....don't you have anything better to do ?

Cruise the internet for an hour, and you will find more wonderful soaps & creams than you would ever thought possible !.....and they were made by people that have done this for a living !.........(They're not experimenting).

A few might be: "Truefitt & Hill"......"Geo. F. Trumper's"....."Taylor of Old Bond Street".......and others...............

They're all GREAT !






I like to do some things for my self,like i bought the lantigo leather to do my own strop...for my personal satisfaction.

I bought nice wood to do the handle of that strop...for my satisfaction.

I bought more wood to do my own scales...for my satisfaction.

I want to try to do my own soap ...for my satisaction.

Im going to buy my Norton to honing my own razors...for the same reazon...lol







RPR.

Why don't you blend some bentonite clay into your melted soap base?

I don't know what's available in your neighborhood, but at Whole Foods grocery stores in MA, I found a 1 lb tub of bentonite clay for $7.95. Check out www.aztec-secret.com, stuff is called Indian Healing Clay.

Do a little googling to find out the ratio you need... the 2-4 tablespoons per pound of soap is what I remember for shaving soaps, but check that... I sprinkle a little bit (maybe the equivalent of a dash of salt) into my lather and whip it up to make my own super slick lather.

It doesn't take much, I think I'll have the tub of bentonite clay for many, many years. Be careful, my understanding is that bentonite clay absorbs lots of water, so you want to keep your tub sealed and dry.

Nice job! As per the colors, it works to ID the soaps, colors be damned!

^^ I was searching last night about that,i think there is a cuple of recepies on how to make shaving soaps.





RP.

so far the feedback from most of the guys who got and then used the soap (from the DFW get together) is positive, the ratio of glycerin seems correct, but I may need to alter the ratio of essential oil.

got a couple of new essential oils (peppermint and lemongrass) last night, so I'll be making a new batch this weekend with the new proportions.

you made your own brush?!!! how did you do it??

Originally Posted by JohnnyCakeDC

you made your own brush?!!! how did you do it??

http://straightrazorpalace.com/brush...m-brushes.html
http://straightrazorpalace.com/brush...-many-pix.html
http://straightrazorpalace.com/brush...es-pt-3-a.html

Originally Posted by jockeys

spent more.....fellow who likes doing everything the hard way

Don't worry, that will pay off for generations.

Rule of the thumb for lye soaps is one ounce of scent per pound of oils.
Since yours is M&P, you might go with 2/3 of an ounce and you'll be fine.

Originally Posted by jockeys

the dye and eo didn't change the latherability at all, but adding that extra glycerine DEFINITELY helped produce more lather. the soap was ok without the extra glycerine, but with it, the lather just about exploded.

Can you part with the amounts of glycerin and eoils that you used or are you going to go into the soap market?
Also that dosen't look like your hands making that soap!

Originally Posted by paco

Can you part with the amounts of glycerin and eoils that you used or are you going to go into the soap market?

no, i'd be happy to open source my recipe

Jockeys' Redneck Soap:
(for 1 serving)
melt 2-2.5 oz of shea-butter and glycerine soap into a container
add 25-30 drops of pure glycerine
add 10-20 drops of EO (depends on the fragrance, some are stronger, some are more irritating, etc.)
add 5-10 drops of food coloring, to taste
stir vigorously
put soap in freezer

the freezing is important. if you let it cool naturally, the glycerine will settle to the bottom. freeze it for 30 minutes, then move it to the refridgerator overnight. then allow to sit for at least 48 hours at room temp. before using.