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Hey everyone,
I just got some soaps from SRD (can't wait to try them!). The plastic bowls/containers they come in are a little small. I was wondering if any of you had any good techniques for liquifying the soap into a state where it can be poured into a larger bowl and then allowed to re-solidify. Thanks!
I've never been too fond of melting soaps, I prefer to grate them (I'll explain this in a bit)
I've found that, with the SRD soap, a separate container isn't the best approach (due to difficulty of transfer from container A to container B) I use a stiff badger brush (soon to be replaced with a quality boar brush) and then get a good lather going on top of the soap, then transfer that to my face, since the badger isn't the best at soap loading (it's a 20$ Amazon brush) When I get the Boar, I'll go with loading that to the brim with soap, then purely face lathering.... Another method I use is to load as much as I can from the soap onto the badger, then whip up a lather in a separate mug with that... Continually loading and whipping until I get enough lather in that separate mug...
I'm also quite fond of the lidded SRD tub as it allows me to pour some really hot water on top of the soap, then lid it off. This keeps the water hot, and makes the soap even softer than other open soap containers. Keep it capped and hot while I'm in the shower, and it's easy lathering once I'm out and ready.
However, if you must take it out of the container, I recommend either cutting the container with a utility knife, or just cracking it with a hammer... Unless you want to keep the container, then you should probably use a chisel to break the soap out :P
Once you get it out, take a dollar store cheese grater (don't ruin your wife/mother's, trust me) and grate the soap up into small pieces, scoop those into your new container, mix it with a small amount of glycerin, then use your thumbs to push it down and pack it tight... I've found that grated soap, mixed with glycerin, and then pressed gives great results. Melting soaps, you can sometimes end up burning them, or melting the container too!
Good luck!
Cheers,
Jeremy
In general there are two types of soap. Easy to melt glycerin based soapsQuote:
Originally Posted by jseitz76
that melt at temperatures lower than boiling water (double boiler) and
harder milled soaps that do not melt as easy so don't try to melt them.
Most hard milled soaps are cast in a mold that matches the size of
the container. These just fall out at first and later get stuck by water
softened soap ofter time. You can drop them in any cup or mug that
they will fit in and in no time they will be stuck well enough to not wobble
when brushed.
For the glycerin soaps go for it. You can always reverse the melt.
Just use a chopstick or something to keep it well mixed.
BUT I would not bother.
I like to have each soap in an individual container with a label as
these already do.
Recall you are going to wet the surface. Take a quick shower then
use a brush to pick softened soap up from the surface and work into a lather
on your face, in a mug or however you like... One trick is to turn the
cup of soap upside down (thanks mantic).
I used to think that a lather was built on the soap in a mug because of
silly TV/ Movie images. It turns out that this makes it harder to get
the water soap ratio correct.
As others posted, It is a good trick to take a hard soap and grate it.
The micro-planes that are in all the cooking stores
work well. It does give you the opportunity to add a little of
this and that and then dampen it and tamp it into your
favorite container.
Assuming good water...
Most good shaving soaps do not need tinkering...
Never ever try to melt milled soaps (T&H, Trumper, Tabac etc.).
It will completely ruin them. The cheese grater method is perfect for those, although I wouldn't add glycerin to milled soap; just press the shavings in & you're good to go.
Thanks for the help and advice. I think I'm going to go with the approach of using the brush to pick up some soap and then work into a lather in a bowl.
If this is your approach, might I recommend a Boar Bristle brush? The Omega lines are all very soft on the face, but great backbone for lathering of a hard puck (most milled ones are hard, glycerin just needs fair stiffness from badger) My first Omega was 26 bucks, and, once broken in, passed a good deal of badger in my rotation. They are great for loading off of a puck, and very nice for face loading, soft, not prickly at all, and firm, it's like a face massage, and great exfoliation (killed my acne :D)Quote:
Originally Posted by jseitz76
Just my .02$
Cheers,
Jeremy
Ok, here's a question...how do you know if a soap is milled or not?
Would love to know how you can tell which ones you can met, and those you can't. :)
Glycerin soaps are soft, hard milled soaps are hard :)
The sure fire test for meltability is a knife and a microwave just slice off a sliver and zap it,,,, it will either melt or burn LMAO but true...
You might want to browse this old thread I put a ton of tips and tricks in there so did many others...
http://straightrazorpalace.com/brush...den-again.html
Quote:
Originally Posted by gssixgun
Also, most Glycerin soaps are labeled as such... And a good few of the milled ones also say that they are milled... However, the microwaved sliver is the best test.. Also, when you've tried enough soaps, a good boar brush tells you the difference... If you put the layer of hot water on the soap for a few minutes, then go for a whirl with the Boar, a Glycerin soap, you can just push the bristles straight in... most milled soaps take a bit of whisking before the boar cuts into the surface noticeably.
Hope that helps.
Cheers,
Jeremy
Not true. Milled soaps are simply plain old cold or hot processed soaps that have been reprocessed at least once. Reprocessing involves milling (grinding, grating) the soap, adding water, heating to melt the soap and drive off some of the water and then letting the mixture set. There are triple milled soaps that have been through this process three times, so clearly milled soap can be remilled and reprocessed.Quote:
Originally Posted by OLD_SCHOOL
Reprocessing can be used to correct problems with the original soap. or it can be used to add additional material ingredients such as glycerine, fragrences or fats.
You can also make clear glycerine soap by reprocessing with alcohol and glycerine instead of water.
Quote:
Originally Posted by fccexpert
Although technically you "might" be correct that there are some "milled" soaps that "might" melt...
For the purpose of this conversation most shaving soaps that are not glycerin do not melt... So don't go throwing yer new puck of MWF or Tabac in the microwave and zapping it on high...
Again if you're unsure, slice a small piece off, and try melting it in either the microwave or even better try the double boiler method....That way you are sure....
I was purposely avoiding this thread but I think that it is time for me to post. Glen, I think the key here is: "microwave". If instead of the microwave, you use a double boiler, you can get any soap, even Tabac or MWF, to melt without problems. It is a little involved because it requires milling or grating and addition of a tad of water to start the process, and about 45 minutes of constant heating. There are other ways of making "milled" soaps bet this one is widely used. I have done this many times to make my own soaps. In fact, there is a video that shows the process in detail: YouTube - How to make Lye Soap : Hand Milling or French Milling Soap for Homemade Lye Soap Making
That burning of the milled soaps that people observe, likely has its origins in the use of the microwave as the heating device. Heating in a microwave oven is not homogeneous, and therefore, create hot pockets which lead to the "burning". I could explain, probably by PM, if anybody is interested ;-). Needless to say, a microwave should not be used to melt soaps as correctly pointed out by Old_School.
When this topic has come up in the past, I have made the point that if you could not melt a milled soap, you could therefore not make triple milled soaps, see this:
http://straightrazorpalace.com/soaps...ome-tabac.html
Another thing that I wanted to say since I am here is that the "hardness" of the soap does not necessarily reflect the method of production. I have "milled" soaps that are softer than glycerin soaps. The hardness of the soap depends on the complete formulation, including the ingredients. Also not all the "milled" soaps are really milled (as in using the process described above), as I have dicovered recently. Many soapmakers do not make the distinction of whether their soaps are milled or glycerin anyway.
The truth is that without doing some lab tests, the glycerin content of the soap cannot be established. However, overtime, one develops a feel for which one is which. I think that developing this is probably a good way to go. You know that if a soap is translucent, it is likely glycerin-based although, you can add titanium dioxide or other ingredients to make them look like the old fashioned soaps, which is often what you see with shaving soaps ;-).
The bottom line is that for certain reason that I cannot understand, people seem to always want to shape their soaps to the container they are using. Grating and pressing seems to work for all soaps, and also the the double boiler, butt at the expense of some of the volatile components of the scent. Is it worth doing all of this? I am sure that each person would have his own opinion but what else is new ;-)
Al raz.
Quote:
Originally Posted by gssixgun
I guess that small part I keep writing over and over again and again just is too simple for all you experts..let's try one more time OK????
IF YOU ARE UNSURE !!!! SLICE OFF A PIECE AND TRY MELTING IT
BTW I apologize for being so adamant about this, but I don't want some Newb to mis-read what you guys are posting and go toss their MWF puck in the microwave on high OK??? I know you guys know way more about soap than I do...in fact if you watch the vid that Al-Raz posted it shows a usable process, but again take it slow...Hopefully he will take the time to break down the entire process for us in a thread or the Wiki...
Recently, I purchased a nice soap bowl, where the retailer offered one of their soaps w/the purchase of the bowl. The wrapper offered the suggestion of melting the soap in a microwave to pour-form to the bowl, so, I did it. I was pretty careful not to over-heat and removed it when it liquified. As I had another bowl, I didn't used the soap for a number of days, but, when I did, noted that the soap did not lather well...the lather being very thin and dried to almost invisible by the time I was finished stropping.
As I am admittedly somewhat new to all this, I cannot confirm, but, suspicion that the microwave method is not the way to go...the retailer is reputable and I'm sure the product was good quality...hence, my suspicions on the microwave changing the chemistry...or...as I did not stir the product, perhaps the different elements separated, affecting the lathering qualities...the grater method offered by a few here sound pretty fool-proof...
Quote:
Originally Posted by hardblues
Microwaves is just a bandwidth of light that resonates water.
The water in the soap was heated through microwaves and that melted the soap, causing water to evaporate as well. By the time the soap solidified, its water content is lower than what you started with.
Im not an expert in lather, but i'd assume after the water content dropped, this affected how well the soap was to make bubbles, since i hear later is dependent on the ratio of fats of the soap and water to make numerous fine bubbles.