Formulating a Shaving Soap Recipe

Christina said:

Most of the comments I read suggested a higher percentage of castor than a normal soap (I usually use 5-10%) Could you tell me why you recommend only 5% castor?

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I am only a "soap hacker" and there are suitably qualified professionals on this forum with more knowledge than I, but I'll answer based on my experiences:

Castor oil contains an extremely high amount of ricinoleic acid, making for great conditioning, and good bubbly/creamy lather but contains no stearic acid, the acid that provides stability to lather (among other things). In my limited experience, I find a small amount of castor oil goes a long way in shaving soap by providing a conditioning boost, but too much castor makes for less stable lather overall.

Christina said:

Man alive this site is helpful! I was worried nobody would answer as DIY shave soaps seems a common question everywhere but I'm glad I gave it a go. Thanks everyone who's replied so far, if I manage to nail down a great soap I'll update the recipe and post it.

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Heck, even if you don't nail it please post your progress. I did in my quest to reverse hack a famous vintage soap, still a work in progress. There are some good DIY shave soap threads over on the Soap Making Forum as well.

Christina said:

Thanks for all your help guys! I'll try the recipe suggested by cpacamper and go from there. Just waiting for payday to order the KOH and I'm away

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Then you must report your progress!

The best soaps by and large feature steric acid, or its salts prominently. It is usually the top ingredient. The de facto gold standard of soaps is Martin de Candre. Not sure how they get it into that jar, but I've heard they let it cure for months. It is a steric acid, coconut oil, and glycerin soap made KOH. Speick, another fantastic soap is a steric acid and tallow soap.

Anyway, your soap may work out very well, but most of the great soaps feature potassium stearate. If I were making a shaving soap that is where I'd start. You seemed to be using fats, so perhaps you wouldn't need to add extra glycerin, but glycerin helps the soap not dry out and provides extra lubrication. Both are essential properties of shaving soap lather.

Hello soapmaker!
there is a topic here from "Los Angeles" ...
met 50/50 NaOH/KOH; sodium: fat(80%) + coconut(20%) - hot way ~ 2 hours, then I add potassium: JBLA hot way, superfat after cooking for skin useful = luck...
fat = beef tallow (mutton is not bad, but has a smell unpleasant IMHO).
beef tallow/coconut can be 4:1 or 3:1 - you need to try and take my own recipe is dependent on the inability to know the exact composition of fatty acids in the feedstock: % - lauric, palmic, oleic, stearic,... acid.
glycerin 5-10-15% (enough 5%, but sticks to add more softness to 15%, especially stearic acid - glycerin no).
the ratio of potassium and sodium is a direct dependence on the hardness of the soap: 30/70, 40/60, 50/50, you need to try, my personal experience shows the change of the water in the recipe solves this problem.
lactate and succinate (citrate) - will improve the quality of soap especially for hard water.
supplements cosmetic, aloe Vera, squalane, cetyl alcohol or lanolin, extracts,... - improved cosmetic properties.
FO and EO is the wealth of my own dreams, when combined in an original way.
sorry for the language

Lose 5% of your castor for 5% more stearic (up to 15) and it should work out nicely.

Ordered my KOH which should hopefully arrive soon, was hoping to try make a batch of soap this weekend but my house is getting ready for lining, plastering, painting and flooring so me and kids are moving out while my husband does manly building stuff. Soap will have to be put on the back burner until my kitchen is put back (I currently have cabinets spread throughout different rooms of the house in preparation for the pre-line inspection) If I get a chance I'll try make it up at my mothers house but it might just have to wait as I don't know how much kid free time I'll be getting in the next few weeks

Still dead keen to give shaving soaps a go though!! And will definitely come back and post my success or failure when I finally make it!

Christina, how fascinating this thread has become. I am always amazed by how much people around here know and how pleasant they are spreading the news.

Very good luck in your remodeling; I can see the soap-making being on the back burner. What does Acqua di Gio smell like? Just like 4711, I hope.

Check back in with progress reports, please.

Vespasian said:

What does Acqua di Gio smell like?

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fragrantica
massmarket - imho.