DIY Shaving Cream

What is your opinion on fine shaving creams and hard soaps? Do you like Trumpers, Coates, Taylors, Truefitt & Hill? Post your reviews and opinions here!
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lint
Posts: 234
Joined: Sun May 15, 2005 5:51 pm
Location: Walnut Creek, CA

DIY Shaving Cream

Post by lint »

I found this, and thought id pass it along to the more adventurous out there.

All information comes from http://www.snowdriftfarm.com/form_whippedsoaps.html, and more info and even the ingredients can be purchased from them (as well as hundreds of other soap shops online).



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Whipped Cream Shaving Soap

Extra smooth and cream for a close shave

Oils (by weight)

4 oz Olive oil
1 oz Avocado oil 6 oz. coconut oil
4 oz. palm oil
2 oz. stearic acid Lye (by weight) = 2.6 oz. KOH & .6 oz. NAOH

Water (distilled) = 22 oz. PLUS 1 oz glycerin(by weight)
1 oz silk protein
1 tablespoon bentonite

Soak the bentonite in water overnight before starting. Add the glycerine, then carefully sprinkle the mixed lye over the surface. Mix well to ensure that the lye dissolves completely. Add the oils to lye-water. Cream soaps like to be processed warmer (140 +) than CP soaps It is not unusual to see a curdled mass at this point. This is due to the stearic acid becoming neutralized by the lye. Using a stick blender, blend for 1-2 minutes at a time, allowing the blender to rest for 2-3 minutes before whipping again. The mix may take 5-10 minutes to become homogenous. About halfway through the mixing, add your essential oils mix, if using.

There is a danger of separation if you do not mix long enough. You will eventually develop an instinctual feel for "trace" with these materials. In the meantime, the best way to describe trace in a whipped cream soap in that it is much thicker than regular cold process soap when it traces. You will also note a shift in creaminess when the soap is at trace. When your soap has traced, pour into waiting sterile wide-mouth jars or tubes. Allow to stand for approximately 7-10 days before using. Test pH. It should be around pH 8-9 range.

Other essential oil Blends:

15 drops peppermint
5 drops spearmint
20 drops lime
or 30 drops sandalwood
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