Thread: Glycerine soap

Wondering if anyone else has run into this problem. When I first made the move away from an electric, a couple of my first purchases were a cheap Surrey bristle brush from Walgreens (haven't used it for a long time in case anyone wants it) and a bar of Surrey shave soap. I've actually been pretty impressed with the soap--cost under $2, good lather, lasts a loooong time, but not much scent. Anyway, to my question. When I bought it, I used a microwave to melt the soap into my shaving mug (a recycled coffee mug). Now that I'm finally getting down to the end of the soap, it seems that the lather is thicker and slicker. Even with the addition of extra water, the lather is pretty thick and it seems to be taking a lot more water to fully rinse off after the shave. I was wondering if during the process of melting the soap initially, if the ingredients may have stratified in the mug--when I melted the soap I did not stir it up before setting it aside to cool. Is it possible that I'm just getting down to a layer with a higher glycerine content? Thoughts?
Thanks,
Ed

That sounds possible to me.

Ed,

I've never run into this before, but I always give the melted soaps a good stir, and then let them cool naturally, not by putting them in the refrigerator.

RT

Hi Ed,
My name is Sue and I just joined yesterday after receiving an invite from Lynn. I am a soapmaker and would like to offer my opinion of why your shave soap is better now than it was.

Many of the ingredients that make your shave soap different from a bar of bath soap are heavier then the other ingredients. For instance clay is heavy. These ingredients are suspended equaly within the shave soap at the right temperature and proper mixing. When it was melted the 'good stuff' was separated and went to the bottom and most likley would not have been the same irregardless of remixing.

With my soap I offer a full money back guarantee 'except' if it has been degraded by melting or any applied heat. You may be able to ask your supplier for a specific size to fit your mug or bowl.

Sue

Hi Sue,

Do let me know when you'll be shipping your soap internationally. I'm sure interested in trying some.

Hal

Hal, I would love to ship 'anywhere'. I have shipped to Canada with varying results. One package took almost a month to receive. Have you received shipments from the States and how long was the transit time?
Sue

Thanks Sue and welcome to SRP,
I thought that was likely what happened but thought I'd ask the collected wisdom of the group to find out for sure. It's good to have a professional around. I'm sure I'll be placing an order with you, but as most of my Christmas lists included shaving creams/soaps/paraphanelia, I'd better wait until I thin down my stock to a few months worth before buying more. {Lightbulb going off} Sue, what is the typical shelf life of a high quality shaving soap or cream? I'd hate to have any of my favorites go bad just because I bought too much at once.

Originally Posted by Sue

Hi Ed,
My name is Sue and I just joined yesterday after receiving an invite from Lynn. I am a soapmaker and would like to offer my opinion of why your shave soap is better now than it was.

Many of the ingredients that make your shave soap different from a bar of bath soap are heavier then the other ingredients. For instance clay is heavy. These ingredients are suspended equaly within the shave soap at the right temperature and proper mixing. When it was melted the 'good stuff' was separated and went to the bottom and most likley would not have been the same irregardless of remixing.

With my soap I offer a full money back guarantee 'except' if it has been degraded by melting or any applied heat. You may be able to ask your supplier for a specific size to fit your mug or bowl.

Sue

Originally Posted by ForestryProf

Sue, what is the typical shelf life of a high quality shaving soap or cream? I'd hate to have any of my favorites go bad just because I bought too much at once.

Clearly, I am not Sue...

However, I will relate that when I visited the Taylor's shop, they told me that their creams have a shelf life of about a year.

I have a tub of Taylor's "Mr. Taylor" scent, though, that I had left, unopened, for about two years. At that point, it is no longer a "cream" - at least, not in the moist, fluffy way that it is when you open a new tub. Instead, it dries out, and becomes denser.

That said, I did give it a try, and a dollop of the "concentrate" in my shaving bowl still seemed to whip up a good lather in no time at all - in fact, you can actually use it a bit like a shaving soap, and lather it right in the tub (If you've never tried that with a new one - it makes a godawful mess). What I'm not sure about is what the effect is on some of the ingredients. It seemed a little less "slick" which might indicate that there was less emolient after all that time.

In the end, I decided it wasn't expensive enough to prevent me from buying more to replace the dried out supply.

So, that's my experience.

-Keith

I had some similar experince... When I got a can of The Body Shop cream this summer, It too seemed somewhat dry to touch, and denser than tube cream. I use it for a few months untill I decided to stir things up a bit, literary... I just mixed it with my finger, and it looks like the more wet stuff was down at the bottom of the can. Now it's just like my Taylor's creme in consistency...

Nenad

Regarding soap 'shelf life' I would think a year or so for creams and soft soaps as long as they are not exposed to air. Cold process (hard bar) bath soaps should last indefinately.

When I make Cold Process soaps, the bars are much heavier bars when first cut. I have wire rack shelves under a fan where they dry for a few weeks. After that drying time they weigh much less due to water evaporation.

I have a large basket of miscut bar soaps on the bath tub step. Some of them close to two years old that still are the same as the day I tossed them in there. Those bars last a long time. I've had some that last two months or more after at least once a day use.
Sue