Shaving Soap 7


Shaving soaps make wonderful gifts to any one who owns a razor. This soap can be scented with any fragrance or essential oil that suits the recipient. If they aren’t too fond of strong scents, leave it unscented and the Chamomile Herbal Tea will give the soap a perfectly faint scent of chamomile.

Collect needed items:

Ingredients
Coconut Oil
Olive Oil
Palm Oil
Avocado Oil
Water (I use Reverse Osmosis Water)
Lye (sodium hydroxide)
Chamomile Herbal Tea
Bentonite Clay
Bay Rum Fragrance Oil
Equipment
Scale
1 Gallon Soap Bucket
Soap Spoon
Gloves
Rubbermaid Drawer Organizer #2915
Glass Beakers
Immersion Blender
Small Tea Plate
Time spent:Weighing time: 8 minutes
Adding lye to water: 25 seconds, followed by 60 seconds of stirring
Heating of oils time: 2 minutes
Pouring lye solution into the fat mixture: 20 seconds
Using immersion blender to mix soap solution: 90 seconds
Pour into mold: 45 seconds
Allow soap to rest: 24 hours
Recipe in ounces: (Makes a 2 pound batch)
4 oz Coconut Oil
5 oz Olive Oil
6 oz Palm Oil
1 oz Avocado Oil

6 oz Water (I use Reverse Osmosis Water)
2.25 oz Lye (sodium hydroxide)
1 bag Chamomile Herbal Tea

1 Tbsp Bentonite Clay

0.24 oz Bay Rum Fragrance Oil

Measure the clay onto the small tea plate and set aside.

Weigh the Bay Rum Fragrance Oil into a small beaker and set aside.

Measure fixed oils on your scale. Warm on the stove or in the microwave. I melted the oils in the microwave. Add sodium hydroxide to the water. Mix well.

Combine oils and lye solution. Stir until thin trace. Once the soap has reached thin trace, remove a small portion and add the clay to the removed soap and mix until any clumps of clay have been eliminated. Pour this clay portion of soap back into the bucket of soap and mix well. Add the Bay Rum Fragrance Oil. Stir well. Pour soap into molds. I used the Rubbermaid Drawer Organizer #2915. Allow to sit until soap is firm.

The next morning cut into bars. Stack to allow good air circulation. Allow to cure for several days before using. Longer curing will result in a harder bar.

Notes:
Don’t panic about the bright color of the tea after adding the lye. Remember the color of the tea before we added the lye? The lye solution is just cloudy and will clear up again to look like the tea.

What would you scent your shaving soap with?

Curious about kitchen spices or herbs in cold process soap? Vote now in our poll for future blog posts! The poll can be found on the right side of the screen between the Join In and Follow us on Twitter sections. Every vote counts! You can choose up to five answers if there are multiple spices or herbs you would like to see!

Andee

Finished soap.

Chamomile Tea after steeping for 10 minutes.

Fixed oils before melting.

Mixing the lye solution.

Lye solution and melted fixed oils.

Adding the lye solution to the fixed oils.

Adding clay to a small portion of soap.

Beginning to blend.

Blending after the clay portion has been added.

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Rating: 5.0/5 (1 vote cast)
Shaving Soap, 5.0 out of 5 based on 1 rating

About Andee

Director of Happiness. I'm a thirty-something soap snob. I've grown up with handmade soaps, and I love them! I really like making lotions, soaps, and perfumes. I adore mixing scents to come up with something new. My favorite scent is either Wicked or Cotton Candy. I tend to hoard fragrances, I even have an Earl Grey Tea from the MMS catalog. I won't tell you how old it is, but it sure is good!

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7 thoughts on “Shaving Soap

  • Zany

    This is a wonderful shaving soap! I’ve been making it for about 4 years now. I tweaked it a few times until I got it just where I liked it. Hubby LOVES it — he gets a nice close shave, with no nicks, no razor burn, no “5 o’clock shadow”, and can do his whole face without rinsing the blade. He will NEVER go back to aerosols. I love it too — for shaving my legs. I thought I was imagining things when I noticed I didn’t have to shave my legs as often, but others have mentioned the same thing! I usually scent it with Balsam Peru EO for it’s antiseptic qualities (nice fragrance too!). I use 2.5″ round silicone molds for just the right size to drop into a mug. A 4 oz. bar lasts 3-4 months.

    Zany in CO

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  • Jennifer

    Hello. Do you need to wait until the lye solution and the melted oils reach 100 degrees before combining them like when I make regular soap?

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    • Tina

      I target somewhere between 110 and 120°F for the temperatures. I think that works well. Good question.

      Tina

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    • Tina

      This is a cold process soap and could be adapted to a hot process soap. The percentage of excess fat is about 5%.

      Tina

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  • Dave

    I’m very impressed with what I’ve seen so far. But I’ve not seen you talk about molds yet. Do you use PVC for your shaving soap, or a square mold?

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    • Tina

      Dave,
      Any mold can be used. The mold used in the photos is a drawer organizer. I just lined the tray with a piece of plastic wrap.

      Tina

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