Melting Soap

rtaylor61 · Post by **rtaylor61** » Sun Aug 21, 2005 2:14 pm

I love every QED scent I have ever tried, but I don't like the shaving stick format. Just not for me. And at the same time, I don't like trying to lather up my brush in a container of soap that is full to the rim. So, I melt them. I melt them into containers, soup bowls, whatever. Something that gives me room to swirl without making a mess everywhere, and preferably something that has a lid...I want to keep them fresh!

I have melted QED's Lavender, Sandalwood, Peppermint, and today's victim, the Patchouli/Tea Tree/Peppermint Stick. I have also melted Col. Conk's Amber, and Classic's Almond and Lime. Glycerine soaps SHOULD melt okay. Soaps with Bentonite Clay should also be fine. Williams Shave Soap bubbles and turns ugly.

Things to Remember:

1. You can't melt hard soaps.
2. Be sure you want to melt it. I melted my round soaps to mold them into a container. They don't move around, they won't fall out.
3. Watch what you are doing. Once in the microwave, stay with it. The size of the soap will determine the melt time. Depending on the size of the item, and the strength of your microwave, time will run from 10-20 seconds, but may take more time. If you are not sure, start with 10 seconds. The shave stick is somewhat small. I set the timer for 20 seconds, pulled the plug at 16.
4. ALLOW THE SOAP TO COOL AND SOLIDIFY BEFORE USING!!!
5. Any attempt to do this will be your responsiblity. If you ruin a soap, don't blame me or bill me. The information here is only a guideline. This is one time you want to ask questions first.
6. If you have any additional ideas or suggestions, please post them here. We can learn from each other's successes and mistakes.

In it's original form, the QED Patchouli/Tea Tree/Peppermint stick

This disassembles very easily. Just push up from the bottom and the stick comes right out.

No, I didn't use a Veg-A-Matic, but here it is, sliced and diced

The final result: 17 seconds later, and I now have a bowl of soap!

When choosing your container, think about the size of the soap you are melting. This one is an Anchor Hocking bowl that also comes with a lid. They are available at WalMart for around $5.00 for a pack of 4. The shave stick fits fine. If you are going to melt a larger soap, these containers come in a 1 cup size, and for about the same amount of dough, you get 3.

Doing this is no big deal...and your kitchen will smell wonderful!

Randy

notthesharpest · Post by **notthesharpest** » Sun Aug 21, 2005 2:35 pm

When you say "hard soaps", is there a good way to tell whether a soap is a hard kind that won't melt well? (I'm just thinking that some glycerin soaps feel reasonably hard, but probably melt OK.) Are there some ingredients or appearances that one can go by?

Thanks
David

rtaylor61 · Post by **rtaylor61** » Sun Aug 21, 2005 2:43 pm

David,

Good questions. Using the term "hard soap" is probably not be best description. Triple milled soaps are hard soaps. Soaps like Dial and Irish Spring are hard soaps. A glycerin soap should be okay. To be sure, slice off a small piece and try melting it. If it turns to liquid, go for it. If not, don't ruin a good soap! I can't think of any "clear" soap or soap that is somewhat "transparent" that would not melt. This will somewhat be a trial and error thing. If it is a soap that came in a wooden bowl, or possibly glass jar (Tabac), I would not try to melt it.

Randy

ARenaissanceMan · Post by **ARenaissanceMan** » Sun Aug 21, 2005 5:07 pm

Is it even possible to properly melt a soap that isn't glycerine based? Like a Floris type soap for instance?

notthesharpest · Post by **notthesharpest** » Sun Aug 21, 2005 5:11 pm

I've never seen Floris soap, but I think the answer is either "not easily" or "no".

Austin · Post by **Austin** » Sun Aug 21, 2005 5:19 pm

Clark, Floris is more of a hard milled soap. I thinks it would be difficult to melt it.

rtaylor61 · Post by **rtaylor61** » Sun Aug 21, 2005 5:21 pm

I love my Floris soap...and I would not consider melting it. Don at the Wetshavers Group tried melting one of the hard milled soaps, and he still posts about how it came out looking like "vomit".

Randy

Rik · Post by **Rik** » Sun Aug 21, 2005 5:55 pm

rtaylor61 wrote:I love my Floris soap...and I would not consider melting it. Don at the Wetshavers Group tried melting one of the hard milled soaps, and he still posts about how it came out looking like "vomit".

Randy

Having to look at that first thing in the morning would definitely ruin my day!

Nice job on the melting tutorial!

Take care,
Rik

ARenaissanceMan · Post by **ARenaissanceMan** » Sun Aug 21, 2005 6:05 pm

Well I know it could be done, but what I'm really wondering is if it's even feasible?

rtaylor61 · Post by **rtaylor61** » Sun Aug 21, 2005 6:36 pm

Clark,

It might work using a double boiler over low heat, but I think it best to just know that if you are buying a hard milled soap, customization is not really an option, at least to my knowledge.

Randy

FrancisDeSales · Post by **FrancisDeSales** » Mon Jan 16, 2006 8:43 pm

Customization is still an option in hard soaps.

It's called whittling!
<rimshot>

JackieMartling · Post by **JackieMartling** » Fri Feb 17, 2006 3:05 am

I was reminded of the saying "haste makes waste" tonight, for if I had simply taken the time to do a cursory search, I would have found this thread and not totally assassinated a perfectly good round of Art of Shaving soap. (Ironically, AOS is among the most expensive soaps I have, and probably my least favorite, so I'm not sure if it's a huge loss or not.) If it all boils down to, "Don't melt hard soaps," lesson learned. However, I am confused. Corey Blog talks about melting Classic Shaving's Shaving Mug Soap, which he says is a hard soap. This is not the same as CS's Gold soap, which is a glycerin soap. So if the CS mug soap is a hard soap, how come it is able to be melted? Moreover, what is it about traditional hard soaps that cannot be melted? The AOS soap turned into a souffle, literally. It didn't melt at all; it just poofed up into this mess that smelled like burnt lavender and soap, which is exactly what it was. Horrible, messy, and wasteful. I guess I could just take Corey's word for it and try Classic's soap, but I really would like to know the whys and wherefores behind it all. Does anybody have any answers?

Thanks,

Nathan

rustyblade · Post by **rustyblade** » Fri Feb 17, 2006 6:46 am

Classic's soaps are like St Charles' soaps in terms of consistancy. It has a soft surface feel to the fingers, but is a solid block. It is not hard and dry like the triple milled soaps from DR Harris and T&H. I have melted Classic's soaps, and then a couple day's later scraped it out of my mug because it burned my skin. The soap came out easily with a butter knife (in softish pieces). If you are interested I have a small round of Classic Almond that I have used once that you can have. I don't find it the most remarkable of soaps. Funnily enough the Bay Rum and Almond don't burn my skin like the Vanilla did. The Vanilla was the only one I melted. So it was either the scent or the fact I melted it.

When it comes to the technical reasons why and why not a particular soap can be melted I cannot help. I do know that glycerin soaps can be melted, and the bentonite clay has something to do with the melting on the Classic soap.

rtaylor61 · Post by **rtaylor61** » Fri Feb 17, 2006 11:01 am

Nathan,

I'm no expert on the subject, I just have read and "learnt" from others. My understanding about the Classic Soaps is that it is the bentonite clay that makes them meltable. I was told that way back when I got involved with the forums, and it was one of the MSN forums. In fact, I believe Don shared that information with me. Well, when I got my first Classic soaps, I melted them with no issues. Sue from St. Charles Shaving brought up the point that microwaving these items may harm them both lather wise and scent wise, a flashpoint thing. Since then, I have not melted any other soaps. I've found that I like shave sticks in their original medium, and that a few drops of water will meld a soap cake to it's container. If you want to really see a miserable sight, get a puck of Williams and melt that. It just bubbles and gets ugly!

Randy

JackieMartling · Post by **JackieMartling** » Fri Feb 17, 2006 11:48 am

Richard, thanks for the offer, but I respectfully pass. I've got more soaps than I'll use in who knows how long - quite literally a few years, perhaps - which is why I'm not too distraught over the AOS fiasco. (Randy, it too bubbled and just got ugly.) What I wanted to do was try to amp up its lavender levels with some lavender EO, similar to what I did with my T&H UC cream. So, if I ever get around to trying this stunt with some type of meltable soap (e.g., the Classic), I will need it to be unscented. Thanks, though.

Nathan

fisherc · Post by **fisherc** » Fri Feb 17, 2006 11:59 am

The "meltability" (is that a word ?) of a soap has nothing to do with clay as an ingredient or not. It has to do with the process by which the soap is manufactured. "Glycerin" soaps of the type sold by Classic, EmsPlace, QED, etc are all "cold pour" vegetable based soaps and can be melted in a microwave or any other heat source. Soaps made by the traditional English houses and AOS are "triple milled" soaps and cannot be melted.

Chris

JackieMartling · Post by **JackieMartling** » Fri Feb 17, 2006 12:11 pm

Chris, are cold pour soaps considered "hard soaps"? Is that distinction even a valid one?

Nathan

rustyblade · Post by **rustyblade** » Fri Feb 17, 2006 1:29 pm

Nathan,

I didn't realize this until recently, but the Taylor Lavender I have had for a few months is the "new" version of Taylor Lavender that is scented naturally. It is quite strong, and has all the lavender-y goodness of Castle Forbes (it is actually stronger in scent but identical notes). The only downside is the fairly strong colouring. It lathers as good as you would expect from Taylor cream. Maybe when you run low on creams/soaps it would be a buy.

Being a lavender junkie have you tried scenting other unscented products?

JackieMartling · Post by **JackieMartling** » Fri Feb 17, 2006 1:42 pm

Richard, I have tried scenting other products. Way back when, I added some lavender oil to AOS unscented cream to see how close I could get it to AOS lavender cream. It smells a little different in the tub, but the two smell almost identical when lathered. The difference could be the quality of oil used (mine is from Bath and Body Works, and I have no idea if it's high-end or not). As mentioned, just a few days ago, I added some lavender, rosemary and mint oils to T&H Ulitmate Comfort cream. The result is nothing at all like Nancy Boy; it is more potent and "fuller" smelling, and quite nice in its own right. Just last night, I added the same basic oil combination to some AOS unscented balm. I'm not sure how I feel about the results. It smells the same as my T&H cream mix, but I don't know that the scent lends itself to a balm. It's one thing to experience the scent while shaving, and to have the cooling sensation of the mint after rinsing off. To have the whole scent combo linger in a balm is another matter. I'm still making up my mind on that.

I have toyed with the idea of getting some Nancy Boy aftershave gel, just to see how I like it. It wouldn't be so good this time of year, but when warmer weather rolls around, it might be OK. I'll have to think about it. I've also thought about the newer Taylor's lavender, and your report makes me think more about it. I'm not so big on the coloring, though, and scent notwithstanding, I am really big on the quality of the Castle Forbes cream. Then again, Taylor's pricing is attractive. I won't get any right away, but I may consider it in the future, when it comes time to buy more creams, and the likelihood of getting the newer formulation has increased. Thanks for the pointers.

Nathan

fisherc · Post by **fisherc** » Fri Feb 17, 2006 1:43 pm

Nathan:

I am not sure I understand the question. Hard soaps of the type used in traditional shave soaps (Harris, T and H, Trumper, Taylor, etc) are milled soaps. This means the soap (after saponification) is actually grated in to fine pieces and then compressed. This process is called milling. When you hear the term "triple milled" it means the soap has been grated and compressed three times. This process is a mechanical one.

Glycerin soaps that are meltable are made by hand and are not compressed in any way. After saponification of the vegetable oil(s) they are poured in to a mold and allowed to cool and become solid. By heating them they return to a liquid state and become "pourable" again.

Both types of soap are "hard" but generally speaking I think the term "hard" refers to milled soaps. I believe the French were the first to use triple milling.

Chris