How to add glycerine to soap?

I've just begun experimenting with adding glycerine to my lather, so far with little success (i.e. can't sense any increase in lubricity). I've been adding 3-4 drops to the bowl after the lather is nearly ready to use, then finishing the lather.

Am I using too little glycerine or adding it too late, or something else?

Also, how would I adjust the process for face lathering?

I'm not sure about the 'proper' procedure for max effect, but I usually add a couple drops on top of the soap as I'm loading my brush. My working theory is that it mixes with the water and as I'm building, the soap, works into the lather as it's built.

This seems to work, but I'd like to hear if someone has a better way to do it.

I'm not too sure if it matter at what point you add it but when I experimented with it I added a couple drops at the same time I added the cream or soap into the bowl. Worth a try.

Don B said:

I've just begun experimenting with adding glycerine to my lather, so far with little success (i.e. can't sense any increase in lubricity). I've been adding 3-4 drops to the bowl after the lather is nearly ready to use, then finishing the lather.

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I add a couple drops to the empty mug before I start building lather. I can definitely tell the difference between plain and glycerin-added Proraso, for instance.

If your cream/soap already has a good deal of glycerin in it, adding more may not make a difference.

RobAtSGH said:

If your cream/soap already has a good deal of glycerin in it, adding more may not make a difference.

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Makes sense. I must admit that I don't know much about the ingredient lists of my soaps (other than tallow or not). I should start reading the labels! I'll try adding glycerin to some Proraso tomorrow and see if I can feel a difference.

Where are you guys finding the glycerin? Does WalMart carry the stuff or an Akins?

CVS and Walgreens both have it. CVS is marketed under their own name. Walgreens is in a bottle called Africare (or something like that).

I add mine to the bowl either just before or just after I start mixing the lather. The idea is that you have to work it in early so it becomes part of the mix. If you are adding it in late as the lather is nearly finished, it's quite likely that you're just suspending the glycerin in the lather.

@18pars - pretty much any drug store should carry it. It's usually with the skin-care or the first-aid products.

@Don_B - Keep in mind that if you add too much glycerin in relation to soap/cream, it can get sticky rather than slick. Two or three drops is usually plenty.

I am sure glad someone asked this, I have been considering picking up a bottle of it and seeing what the hype is about.

I had a difficult time finding glycerin in Walmart/CVS/Walgreens?Rite-Aid.

Here's what I found in my local stores.

Walmart has it immediately next to or above the rubbing alcohol and witch hazel.
CVS had it in the skin care section immediately below the cetaphil section.
Rite Aid had it in the first aid section.
Walgreens said they had discontinued it.

I've added a few drops to my Proraso/Real Shaving creme as I've been mixing it with good results.

@redrako - thanks for the road map red!!!

What I do that works for me (regardless of what kind of creme/soap I use) is:

1. Put pea size amount of creme in bowl/scuttle and let it warm while taking a shower
2. Load brush (with moist tips of brush)...I never let soap sit in water. I load twice and transfer each load to bowl/scuttle.
3. Add glycerin (a few drops is more than enough as soaps/creme usually contain it anyway)
4. Lather away and add water a little at a time.

One thing you have to be aware of when making lather (if it doesn't turn out right) is whip it long enough. I found that longer whipping times lead to amazing results. Have fun

By the way, for those looking for glycerin and having a hard time finding it at local CVS or pharmacies (my local CVS told me they discontinued carrying Glycerin), here is a good source at a great price (especially if buying larger quantities). Link HERE

Don B said:

I've just begun experimenting with adding glycerine to my lather, so far with little success (i.e. can't sense any increase in lubricity). I've been adding 3-4 drops to the bowl after the lather is nearly ready to use, then finishing the lather.

Am I using too little glycerine or adding it too late, or something else?

Also, how would I adjust the process for face lathering?

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You are expecting too much from the glycerin. It is not a lubricant, will not make the lather slicker, and if over use will actually reduce lather quality. Glycerin is not an oil (i.e. a fat or micro wax), it is an alcohol, and its primary purpose in skin care products is to attract and hold water. As others have pointed out, most shaving soaps and cremes already contain some glycerin, either naturally as a byproduct of saponification or as an additive.

fccexpert said:

You are expecting too much from the glycerin. It is not a lubricant, will not make the lather slicker, and if over use will actually reduce lather quality. Glycerin is not an oil (i.e. a fat or micro wax), it is an alcohol, and its primary purpose in skin care products is to attract and hold water. As others have pointed out, most shaving soaps and cremes already contain some glycerin, either naturally as a byproduct of saponification or as an additive.

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fccexpert:
I know glycerine is not an oil. Nevertheless, if its hydroscopic properties enables the lather to hold more water, it seems it would have the potential to increase the lubricity of the lather. Have you tried it and found a point of overdose where it starts to degrade the lather? What does this degradation look/feel like?

As I said in an earlier post, I don't pay as much attention as I should to ingredient lists on soap labels, but your post encouraged me to look at an ingredients database on another forum, and I was surprised to learn that nearly every soap listed contained glycerin. I assumed that most soaps, other than artisinals, had the glycerin removed. So I learned something today!

I put a good squirt on top of my soap before I lather, works great

Don B said:

fccexpert:
I know glycerine is not an oil. Nevertheless, if its hydroscopic properties enables the lather to hold more water, it seems it would have the potential to increase the lubricity of the lather. Have you tried it and found a point of overdose where it starts to degrade the lather? What does this degradation look/feel like?

So I learned something today!

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Just so you all know it's hygroscopic not hydroscopic. With a g not a d.

Apologies for being pedantic.

captp said:

Just so you all know it's hygroscopic not hydroscopic. With a g not a d.

Apologies for being pedantic.

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I should have known better. Too often, I mistakenly use "hydroscopic" when I mean "hygroscopic" or "hydrophylic". In my defense, half of the engineers in my group made the same mistake. Shame on us!

captp said:

Just so you all know it's hygroscopic not hydroscopic. With a g not a d.

Apologies for being pedantic.

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I would have done the same thing.

A bit of follow-up: in recent years, glycerin has become much cheaper, to the point that even larger companies are now adding it back into the soap bases, though possibly not in the amounts that were there when the soap was first saponified. Glycerin's benefits might be duplicated by other ingredients, too -- if you use glycerin to make a more moisturizing shave, you might already have humectants in your shave soap/cream. If you use glycerin to make a more lubricated shave, you might already have other/similar lubricants in your shave soap/cream.

Don B said:

I should have known better. Too often, I mistakenly use "hydroscopic" when I mean "hygroscopic" or "hydrophylic". In my defense, half of the engineers in my group made the same mistake. Shame on us!

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Also in your defense, most words having to do with water do begin with hydro. The only reason I know it's hygro is that I semi-work in a tobacco shop and those little gauges you put in a humidor are called hygrometers.

I always thought that it was the clay added to the soap that actually made it slick...