Thread: Slake time

Well, here's another one of my strange ideas that I've noticed in my travels..

Has anyone else noticed that soaps and creams seen to improve if left to just sit for a minute of two after beating into a lather? I works for aggregates, where it's called slake time, and i can understand what's happening there... allowing a little time for all the dry components of cement, grout etc. to become thoroughly wetted. I can't imagine why this action would be needed for soaps and creams, but i've proven this to myself repeatedly...

Anyone else, or is this just another indication that I see things differently from the mainstream?

No problem with that really, as I've made a life's work out of it... I often don't follow prescribed dogmas.. So much so that I often feel like a salmon fighting it's way upstream!

All thoughts are welcome... Even those that may prove me wrong!

Very interesting observation! I would not generalize but this has been my experience with a lot of shaving products, some even improve further if you whip them again after let them sit for a bit. I could write quite a bit about this but the key is that lather is a disperse system and it is unstable. Often, it takes some time (kinetics) to reach equilibrium, which of course, is only metastable (in simple terms: one that can change over time).

Al raz.

Lather is a very complex mixture consisting of soap, water and air. You may think the soap has simply disolved in the water, but in fact the process is somewhat more complicted involving the release of a sodium ion from the salts that make up the soap. This produces a radical that has both a hydrophilic and a hydophobic side. The hydrophilic side wants to be wetted by the water while the hydrophobic side wants to get as far away from the water as possible. The net result is a cluster of water droplets surrounded by a fringe of soap radicals with the hydrophobic tails sticking out. These clusters are what trap the air to make a lather.

This alignment of the soap radicals takes a little time, thus allowing the mixture to set gives time for all of the molecular species to order themselves correctly. This produces the phenomenon you have noticed. Obviously the resulting optimum alignment is better able to trap air, which explains why additional whipping often improves the quality further.

Originally Posted by MasterRolf

Lather is a very complex mixture consisting of soap, water and air. You may think the soap has simply disolved in the water, but in fact the process is somewhat more complicted involving the release of a sodium ion from the salts that make up the soap. This produces a radical that has both a hydrophilic and a hydophobic side. The hydrophilic side wants to be wetted by the water while the hydrophobic side wants to get as far away from the water as possible. The net result is a cluster of water droplets surrounded by a fringe of soap radicals with the hydrophobic tails sticking out. These clusters are what trap the air to make a lather.

This alignment of the soap radicals takes a little time, thus allowing the mixture to set gives time for all of the molecular species to order themselves correctly. This produces the phenomenon you have noticed. Obviously the resulting optimum alignment is better able to trap air, which explains why additional whipping often improves the quality further.

That is awesome!

Thank you guys, but I already passed physics last quarter. No, really this is interesting to read.

I never realized that the relationship between the shave products we use without much thought, and water was so complex!

Very interesting.. And it's good to know that my observations are not just in my head..

Originally Posted by MasterRolf

Lather is a very complex mixture consisting of soap, water and air. You may think the soap has simply disolved in the water, but in fact the process is somewhat more complicted involving the release of a sodium ion from the salts that make up the soap. This produces a radical that has both a hydrophilic and a hydophobic side. The hydrophilic side wants to be wetted by the water while the hydrophobic side wants to get as far away from the water as possible. The net result is a cluster of water droplets surrounded by a fringe of soap radicals with the hydrophobic tails sticking out. These clusters are what trap the air to make a lather.

This alignment of the soap radicals takes a little time, thus allowing the mixture to set gives time for all of the molecular species to order themselves correctly. This produces the phenomenon you have noticed. Obviously the resulting optimum alignment is better able to trap air, which explains why additional whipping often improves the quality further.

Gee, and I always thought it was just that some of the water has time to evaorate. Or......is that what you just said?

Interesting! I was just going to post a thread on this...
I was about to start my shave today and was planning to use Williams soap. (I use it for time to time because I enjoy the smell)
I was pulled away from the shave den for a bit because of a phone call. When I got back I noticed that the lather I had already loaded in the brush felt much nicer than Williams normally does. It actually felt like a good quality soap after sitting for the time that I was on the phone.

Big bubbles pop faster than little ones. Results in a denser, richer lather.
KISS