Thread: Glycerine - Questions

Hiya,

Just three questions concerning glycerine-


1. What is the most common commercial use for the kind of glycerine that enhances shaving soap? (I'm having a difficult time finding it in the UK, so it would help WHY to find it to determine where to find it.)

2. What kind of soaps should it accompany?

3. Can you just add glycerine to any old soap and --TADA!-- shaving soap?

Thanks,



Derek

I think that you can find most of your answers in this thread: http://straightrazorpalace.com/begin...-glycerin.html . However, I will try to answer them also here.

1) Glycerin, a common name for the chemical glycerol, has many industrial uses, a lot in the food and cosmetics industry, see this: Glycerol - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia . You may be able to find glycerin at your local pharmacy. I will not elaborate much here but, it is used ;-). Also, grocery stores may carry some as glycerin is used for making fondant icing, check the baking alley or a baking supply store.

2) In principle, most soaps contain glycerin. Soaps are obtained by a process called saponification ( Saponification - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia ) in which the lye, a strong base, reacts with the oils you added (triglycerides Triglyceride - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia) forming the soap (salts of the fatty acids; Fatty acid - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia) and glycerin. Unless the glycerin is removed, every soap contains some. Some soaps, including shaving soaps have a higher content of glycerin. By adding extra glycerin to a soap and performing a "special" type of purification, you obtain glycerin-based soaps.

3) Nope, sorry. Glycerin is not a soap and does not produce lather although, it can modify its properties to a certain extend. Bar soaps and shaving soaps are completely different in properties. While bar soap's main function is to cleanse, shaving soaps need to produce copious amounts of dense and stable lather. This obviously implies that the ingredients, and some times, the methods used are different. Depending on the purpose of the soap, a certain profile of fatty acids ("size") is desired. The size of the "tail" determines some of the properties of the fatty acids, and ultimately of the soap itself. Short chains are used for cleansing and longer tails give more creaminess to the lather but there has to be a certain balance. In summary, a soap that has been formulated to cleanse would likely not produce the good creamy and stable lather required for shaving.

Al raz.

Originally Posted by DerekW

Hiya,

Just three questions concerning glycerine-


1. What is the most common commercial use for the kind of glycerine that enhances shaving soap? (I'm having a difficult time finding it in the UK, so it would help WHY to find it to determine where to find it.)

2. What kind of soaps should it accompany?

3. Can you just add glycerine to any old soap and --TADA!-- shaving soap?

Thanks,



Derek

My dear Al:

Thanks for your comprehensive and most educational explanation about glycerin. Well done, sir.

Regards,
Obie

Wow, thanks for the information, I shall go forth and purchase in perfect confidence.

The young lady in your avatar looks like she's got a pretty good lather goin'.

I think you will have the best luck finding it at a pharmacy. It should be in the first aid section.

Right there beside the bandages, witch hazel, peroxide, iodine etc.

You can also find it at most hobby stores in the soap making area or in most Natural Health food type stores too.

I found it in beauty supply shops. Apparantly, it can be used in hair.

Goog