Thread: local ontario shaving soaps

Originally Posted by Antoine

It might sound strange, but La Bottega in the market sells shaving supplies, mostly Proraso. I don't know if they sell other brands.

Thanks for the tip - I have been by there many times but never thought to check it out.

Imperial Barber Shop in Ottawa (at least the one on Bank - I haven't been to their other location yet) has a selection of their own brand of soaps. I haven't tried any of them yet. They also usually have a few aftershaves, DE & straight razors, a couple of strops, and a fair number of brushes.

Originally Posted by TrilliumLT

I would be interested in trying to make some Shaving soap.

Trillium
Recipe's fairly lengthy did you want me to PM it to you? or post it here

Originally Posted by Cuardach

Trillium
Recipe's fairly lengthy did you want me to PM it to you? or post it here

I'd be willing to bet there are plenty of guys who would be interested in it - including me! If you decide not to post it, I'd be grateful if you could PM it to me as well. I have a friend who is a soap maker but who has not made any shaving soaps yet. Maybe if I make a batch to show her I might be able to change her mind.

Cangooner I don't mind posting the recipe at all.

Its a bit labor intensive but the recipe will make you nearly 30 ounces of soap enough for 6-8 bars.This recipe costs me under 20 cents per weight ounce /under a dollar per bar cost but a soap maker will charge you 4 to 8 dollars per bar.

note of caution: be careful with the lye

Tools you will need:
A kitchen thermometer
digital scale
a hand blender
a crock pot
a heat proof container like a big pyrex measuring cup ( for the lye)
2 empty pringles cans
gloves and eye protection for working with the lye solution

These are ingredients for an all vegetable based soap where you can get all the ingredients at your local grocery store and the castor oil at a health food store.

For Ottawa folks:
I picked up the Castor Oil at the Natural Food pantry in Stittsville
and the rest at the grocery store (coconut oil is sold in the grocery store in the ethnic foods section)
the Lye i picked up at home hardware in Richmond

Recipe

Canola Oil 3 ( oz wt)
Castor Oil 2( oz wt)
Coconut Oil 4.5( oz wt)
Olive Oil 10( oz wt)
All Vegetable Shortening 8( oz wt)

Lye 3.7 ( oz wt)
10 fluid ounces of water

1.Weigh the oils and place in crock pot,


2.take a bowl fill with half and half water and vinegar and add some dish soap ( this is in case you splash any lye on your skin the soapy acidic water mix neutralizes the lye)While wearing eye protection ( glasses or goggles) and neoprene gloves, go outside make sure you are up wind from the container and make sure you add the lye to the water not the water to the lye.

• pour the solid lye into the water, stir well. Set aside and allow to cool (100° F to 125° F). This is best done outside while you are standing upwind as the fumes coming off the lye are toxic and the lye reaches a temperature of nearly 160 degrees Fahrenheit
• Check the oils in the crock pot . Once the fats and oils are melted allow the temperature to drop to 100° F to 125° F.
• Combine lye solution and melted oils in the crock pot when the temperature of both falls under 125° F. The temperatures don't have to be exact just both the oil and the lye solution need to be under 125 degrees. Be careful not to splash while combining the mixtures (if you do rinse whatever body part got splashed with lye with the vinegar soap solution).
• Stir with a hand blender until the mixture traces.
• Tracing looks like a thick custard It will support a drop, or your stir marks for several seconds. Once tracing occurs...put a lid on the crock pot place it on high and take a break for an hour while the mix cooks (this to folks that make soap is called hot processing)
• With hot processing the soap can be used as soon as it hardens as the hot process cooks off all the lye in the mixture
• after an hour stir the mixture up , it will look almost translucent on the edges which is normal

At this point you can add scent if you want, recommended essential oils: lavender, sandalwood, orange oil, patchouli your choice
Also some shaving soaps call for clay as it assists the razor to glide over your skin. If you want to add clay to your mix let me know and i will post how to do so.

If you are adding scent add 2 teaspoons essential oil of your choice to the mixture (if your skin reacts play it safe and add half the amount of scent, you can always heat up the soap at any time til it melts and add more if the scent is too mild), stir again then scoop into your 2 pringles cans, tap the can as you are filling to remove air bubbles
leave the cans over night and the next day peel away the pringles can, slice your soap into bars, and use.

I hope thats enough information, any questions feel free to ask

Originally Posted by Cuardach

Cangooner I don't mind posting the recipe at all.

Its a bit labor intensive but the recipe will make you nearly 30 ounces of soap enough for 6-8 bars.This recipe costs me under 20 cents per weight ounce /under a dollar per bar cost but a soap maker will charge you 4 to 8 dollars per bar.

note of caution: be careful with the lye

Tools you will need:
A kitchen thermometer
digital scale
a hand blender
a crock pot
a heat proof container like a big pyrex measuring cup ( for the lye)
2 empty pringles cans
gloves and eye protection for working with the lye solution

These are ingredients for an all vegetable based soap where you can get all the ingredients at your local grocery store and the castor oil at a health food store.

For Ottawa folks:
I picked up the Castor Oil at the Natural Food pantry in Stittsville
and the rest at the grocery store (coconut oil is sold in the grocery store in the ethnic foods section)
the Lye i picked up at home hardware in Richmond

Recipe

Canola Oil 3 ( oz wt)
Castor Oil 2( oz wt)
Coconut Oil 4.5( oz wt)
Olive Oil 10( oz wt)
All Vegetable Shortening 8( oz wt)

Lye 3.7 ( oz wt)
10 fluid ounces of water

1.Weigh the oils and place in crock pot,


2.take a bowl fill with half and half water and vinegar and add some dish soap ( this is in case you splash any lye on your skin the soapy acidic water mix neutralizes the lye)While wearing eye protection ( glasses or goggles) and neoprene gloves, go outside make sure you are up wind from the container and make sure you add the lye to the water not the water to the lye.

• pour the solid lye into the water, stir well. Set aside and allow to cool (100° F to 125° F). This is best done outside while you are standing upwind as the fumes coming off the lye are toxic and the lye reaches a temperature of nearly 160 degrees Fahrenheit
• Check the oils in the crock pot . Once the fats and oils are melted allow the temperature to drop to 100° F to 125° F.
• Combine lye solution and melted oils in the crock pot when the temperature of both falls under 125° F. The temperatures don't have to be exact just both the oil and the lye solution need to be under 125 degrees. Be careful not to splash while combining the mixtures (if you do rinse whatever body part got splashed with lye with the vinegar soap solution).
• Stir with a hand blender until the mixture traces.
• Tracing looks like a thick custard It will support a drop, or your stir marks for several seconds. Once tracing occurs...put a lid on the crock pot place it on high and take a break for an hour while the mix cooks (this to folks that make soap is called hot processing)
• With hot processing the soap can be used as soon as it hardens as the hot process cooks off all the lye in the mixture
• after an hour stir the mixture up , it will look almost translucent on the edges which is normal

At this point you can add scent if you want, recommended essential oils: lavender, sandalwood, orange oil, patchouli your choice
Also some shaving soaps call for clay as it assists the razor to glide over your skin. If you want to add clay to your mix let me know and i will post how to do so.

If you are adding scent add 2 teaspoons essential oil of your choice to the mixture (if your skin reacts play it safe and add half the amount of scent, you can always heat up the soap at any time til it melts and add more if the scent is too mild), stir again then scoop into your 2 pringles cans, tap the can as you are filling to remove air bubbles
leave the cans over night and the next day peel away the pringles can, slice your soap into bars, and use.

I hope thats enough information, any questions feel free to ask

Awesome I for one will be trying this. Thank You for sharing.

Colin

Italian Barber Online Shaving Supplies, canadian vendor with excellent service, I have bought from these guys several times.

olive oil is often not recommened for shaving soap, i think because it doesnt lather well.. maybe try the recipe without olive oil and some other oil instead.. more coconut oil?

A good deal of the soaps out there are based off of olive oil. Its actually the ratio of the other oils that gives it a moisturizing content and lather. coconut oil produces a high amount of lather however you don't want to go over 20% in the recipe as it becomes drying to the skin

Castor oil is a thick, clear oil that helps increase the lather in soap - a rich, creamy lather. It's also a humectant (attracts moisture to your skin) oil. Just a little will do...5% - 8% in your recipe will work wonders. Shampoo bars often use 10%-15%...but more than that and you get a soft bar of soap. Castor oil has a fatty acid makeup that's completely unique - which makes what it contributes to your soap (the rich, creamy lather) unique. I have the castor oil in the above recipe a little under 6%

Canola is a good economical oil for soap making Its recommended it as part of your batch at 10-15%. It gives a nice, low, creamy lather and is moisturizing. It will slow down the rate at which your soap will get to trace.I have the canola at just under 11%
What i can do for you ezpz is recrunch the numbers and increase the castor and the coconut to the higher limit but I won't have tested a complete batch.
I actually teach soap making workshops here locally.
The biggest thing when changing a recipe is to take into account that in addition to lather and moisture content each oil has a different effect on the chemical reaction to produce your soap. Its not terribly recommended for a beginner to adjust recipes, but you can. Just put the recipe through a lye calculator prior to making. I even double check new recipes from other experienced soap makers by putting the ingredients through a lye calculator just to make sure as the lye is incredibly caustic if not combined effectively.
There are 2 online lye calculators for those out there : soapcalc, and www.thesage.com/calcs/lyecalc2.php
The recipe i listed above does something called superfatting the lye used. It calculates a degree of excess to the lye in the recipe so all of the chemical is used up. The recipe above is superfatted to 6% excess oils

Proraso Products are the best out there for the price in my eyes. I always want to reach for them every single time I shave. But I gotta switch it up sometimes lol. Hope you have found the help from other members..it doesnt take long to get answers here at SRP