Thread: How to make your own shaving soap?

I use quite a bit of shea butter, and really like it. It has very good moisturizing properties, but use caution, it can clog pores if you use too much.

I might try mixing up some of these homemade soap recipes.

I get good results from the low priced aerosol shaving creams, and I also find that almost any kind of the commonly available bar soaps work for me, even without a brush. I have a good brush and quality straight razor mug soap on hand most of the time. The results I get from them are not any better than canned shaving cream or bar soaps, but the brush and mug soap are nice little luxuries I enjoy.

I have a little experience soap making, so I'll out line the basics of what I know.

The two main factors at work in making soap are lye and fat. (to get the soponification process, as someone mentioned earlier.)

The general rule of thumb is that more lye will give the soap more "bite" if you will, whereas more fat will give you a creamier outcome.
The average soap is about 2oz of lye to 1 pound fat.

Now depending on what type of fat you use, you'll get different characteristics in the soap. One of which, is how hard the soap will be. It ranges from vegetable oils, which will give you very soft soaps that won't hold together very well, to things like beef tallo that will give you a harder block of soap.

I've never made a shaving soap, so this is just speculation, but it seems to me for a shaving soap you would want to superfat the soap near the point of saturation, and use lots of glycerin (the top layer of fat when rendered fat cools).
After it soponifies, you'll want to add your extracts and such.

Also, be sure you're getting pure lye, because one with additives is sure to cause irritation. and make sure not to use any aluminum equipment, which causes pretty bad chemical reactions. Other than that, use gloves and keep a big jug of vinegar on hand.

Good luck with the soap, and if you do decide to make it, make sure you've got your plan layed out ahead of time, and do some more research.

I didn't originally intend to make soap but after doing a little research I'm starting to get pretty interested in it. I think I may give it a go soon. I've been trying to determine what oils I want to include and to that end this chart is pretty handy:
http://www.soapnuts.com/indexoils.html

I think I'm going to try a palm kernel/palm/sweet almond/castor/shea butter recipe first and I've been running different proportions through a lye calculator. It looks good on paper but I think the only way to find out if it actually works is to run a small batch and see what I end up with.

Originally Posted by cstewart

Any soapmakers have experience adding shea butter to their soaps? I'm finding I prefer HBS and Pre de Provence to other brands and their common denominator seems to be shea butter. If I try this some time down the road I would definitely want to include it.

We have made some with Shea butter, it works pretty well.


+1 on the soapnuts website above, I think they give a good desc. of the oils properties. We use that list all the time.

Sorry for the wait everyone! Any of the websites/vendors listed below are just ones we have had good luck with, the following are not really endorsements per se.

OK, here are some various lye and fragrance calculators we use for lye, oil, and fragrance ratios. A pretty good starting place to get the ball rolling.
http://www.thesage.com/calcs/index.html

This is the company my wife buys her essential oils and base oils, they have pretty good prices and are relatively dependable.
http://www.camdengrey.com/

If you want to buy oils in bulk, these guys have better prices and are also reliable.
http://www.columbusfoods.com/

Here is how we make soap. Taken from http://thesage.com/calcs/lyecalc2.php more or less.

I put notes and hints in italics; just some things we have found out over time that make it easier.

If you follow these instructions you will get soap!

Basic Soapmaking Instructions

• While wearing safety goggles and neoprene gloves, combine lye and liquid (slowly pour lye into water while stirring, NEVER WATER INTO LYE!), stir well. Set aside and allow to cool (100° F to 125° F). This is best done outside while you are standing upwind.

Note: The sodium hydroxide (lye) we get is 100% pure, we actually get it from a local hardware store. They list it as a drain cleaner of all things.
Anyhow, getting lye is often the hardest part of the job. It seems that some folks use it to make methamphetamine, so it is getting harder to acquire it for honest purposes.

• Combine oils and heat gently. Once the fats and oils are melted allow the temperature to drop to 100° F to 125° F .

Note: if you combine the lye and oils at too high a temp, they won't want to "trace" or start to solidify. I suggest waiting till they drop to about 105-108.

• Combine lye solution and melted oils.

Note: Slowly pour lye solution into oils with a stream no larger than the diameter of a pencil.

• Be careful not to splash while combining the mixtures. Stir until the mixture traces. If tracing takes more than 15 minutes, which it often does, stir for the first 15 minutes, then stir for 5 minutes at 15 minute intervals. Tracing looks like a slightly thickened custard, not instant pudding but a cooked custard. It will support a drop, or your stir marks for several seconds. Once tracing occurs...

Note: we use a cheap drink mixer type stick blender to accelerate the process. It speeds things up a lot and is easier on your arm than stirring continuously for around 30 min.

• Pour raw soap into your prepared molds.

Note: I suggest that you somehow insulate the soap containers so the heat will be held in for the first 24 hours, it gives the lye a chance to complete the saponification process more thoroughly. We wrap the boxes in an old u-haul blanket we have lying around. Once again, it's cheap and easy.

• After 24 hours the soap can be turned out of the mold. This is a good time to cut the soap into bars but if the soap is very soft, allow it to cure for a few days to firm the outside.

Note: For the first batch, try a cardboard box lined with wax paper. Cheap and easy.

• Set the bars out to cure and dry for 2-3 weeks. This will allow the bar to firm and finish saponification (usually complete within 48-72 hours). Place the bars on something that will allow them to breathe.

Note: the bars will be pretty squishy at first, but they harden up in a few weeks. We cover em with a cheesecloth so they can breathe and stay dust/cat hair free.

I suggest getting some ph testing strips and checking the bars before using them. All the soaps we make come out at pretty near neutral, at least so far, but it never hurts to doublecheck!

If you aren't sick of reading by now, here is a recipe that works pretty well. It has peppermint and lavender in it, so it feels nice and cool. It makes a darn nice, rich lather too. Probably one of my favorites so far.

LAVENDER, FIR, PEPPERMINT & PATCHOULI SOAP (makes 3 lbs.)

All measurements (except essential oils) are in ounces by weight, NOT VOLUME. We bought a cheap digital scale that works pretty well.

OILS:
Avocado 4.5
Castor 3.5
Coconut 5.5
Olive 4
Palm Kernel 7.5
Shea Butter 2
Soybean 5

WATER & LYE:
Distilled water 8
lye 4.57

ESSENTIAL OILS:
lavender 1.5 tsp
fir needle .75 tsp
peppermint 1.5 tsp
patchouli .75 tsp


CLAY: Like I said earlier in this thread, I have tried soaps with/without clay and can't tell the difference in shave quality. I say forget it!

approx 1 tablespoon of clay per pound of soap so....

3 tablespoons of Kaolin clay for this batch.

Wow - that is a ton of information! I hope exams went well!

Once Mrs. T is done with her exams I'll be giving this a whirl.

Yeah, everything went fine. All I have to do is pass my state boards and I can practice! It sure will be nice to work for money. Then I can get some real trouble!