Soaps with clay

Some shaving soaps contain clay (bentonite, kaolin, etc), which apparently adds slickness. However, it seems that none of the high street brands include clay in their soaps. Does this mean that it is not really such an efficacious ingredient, or that industrially produced soaps contain ingredients that do the same thing the clay would do?

Alex

Etalex said:

Some shaving soaps contain clay (bentonite, kaolin, etc), which apparently adds slickness. However, it seems that none of the high street brands include clay in their soaps. Does this mean that it [clay] is not really such an efficacious ingredient, or that industrially produced soaps contain ingredients that do the same thing the clay would do? [emphases mine]

Click to expand...

Clay is efficacious; industrial ingredients are cost-efficient.

The difference between them is left as an exercise for the reader...

JBHoren said:

Clay is efficacious; industrial ingredients are cost-efficient.

The difference between them is left as an exercise for the reader...

Click to expand...

Very well put.

JBHoren said:

Clay is efficacious; industrial ingredients are cost-efficient.

Click to expand...

Clay is getting expensive, even for us soapmakers. I do use it in all my shaving soaps. My clients like the slip it gives them.

If clay is efficacious, howcome I've never seen any posts praising soaps with clay? There are posts praising tallow based soaps, as well as high street and handmade soaps, but the inclusion/exclusion of clay never seems to be the crucial point.

Alex

Hmmmm, Maybe clay is the next big thing the Shavegeek Collective will turn its busy mind to...........

if you have ever got your vehicle stuck in a kaolin mud hole you KNOW it is slick!

Honeybeespa soaps all contain clay- this adds the slickness while the oils provide moisturizing to counterbalance the clay's tendency to absorb.

The Gentleman's Quarter also uses clay.

scoopster said:

Hmmmm, Maybe clay is the next big thing the Shavegeek Collective will turn its busy mind to...........

Click to expand...

If that happens, remember the thread that got it started
I have a feeling that clay in soaps is a bit like lots of moisturizing oils in creams. It can help you get a comfortable shave, but with proper technique it is perhaps unnecessary and does not add anything in particular in terms of comfort. This is just my own speculation, though.

Alex

Etalex said:

If clay is efficacious, howcome I've never seen any posts praising soaps with clay? There are posts praising tallow based soaps, as well as high street and handmade soaps, but the inclusion/exclusion of clay never seems to be the crucial point.

Click to expand...

whiskerlips said:

The Gentleman's Quarter also uses clay.

Click to expand...

My favorite (read: used most often) shaving soaps are from TGQ (hat-tip to Colleen!), and I inevitably find myself listening-to (or, at least, humming) Paul Simon's Slip-Slidin' Away while lathering my face with them and shaving.

Etalex said:

If that happens, remember the thread that got it started
I have a feeling that clay in soaps is a bit like lots of moisturizing oils in creams. It can help you get a comfortable shave, but with proper technique it is perhaps unnecessary and does not add anything in particular in terms of comfort. This is just my own speculation, though.

Alex

Click to expand...

Sure, the same can be said about tallow. Many soap makers are removing tallow from their products, which only the hardcore shave geeks are probably going to notice. I have a puck of vege-based Trumper's rose which provides better lather than some of the tallow soaps I own. However, there are some soaps that will suffer from the removal of the tallow ... I have heard this is the case with C&E soaps.

FWIW: HBS is one of my all time favorite soaps and I like it so well because of the clay (i.e., it's slick!)

JBHoren said:

My favorite (read: used most often) shaving soaps are from TGQ (hat-tip to Colleen!), and I inevitably find myself listening-to (or, at least, humming) Paul Simon's Slip-Slidin' Away while lathering my face with them and shaving.

Click to expand...

+1000

headdoc said:

Honeybeespa soaps all contain clay- this adds the slickness while the oils provide moisturizing to counterbalance the clay's tendency to absorb.

Click to expand...

I'll go along with that. After trying one of her soaps, it's now one of my top favorites. I get great shaves using HBS. Not expert enough to know if it's the clay that does it, but whatever she does it works.

I will only buy glycerine/soft soaps with clay (and other stuff like shea butter, etc.) in them. I find it makes a marked difference in the performance.

While there is no clay/no clay debate equivalent to the tallow/veggie debate, that's because there's been no reformulation issue where folks can compare the same soap with and withouth.

What you will notice is that the glycerine/soft soaps that get some of the best praise have clay in them.

Do you need clay - no, but if the right clay(s) are added in the correct proportions, it can make a better shaving soap.

Oh yeah, Colleen's TGQ soaps rock - anyone who likes soft soaps or who hasn't found a glycerine/soft soap that "does it" for them, should try one of her soaps (she sells trial pucks for very little $$).