Pb Pimento Silk

[nsavage]

Tabula Rasa soap has Argan Oil and the legendary Il Coloniali has mango oil which really seems to add something amazing to the post shave feel.

I stand corrected then iColoniali is very good.

 

[borked]

Mike's Natural Soaps

Ingredients: Distilled water; saponified tallow (beef) and stearic acid; vegetable glycerin; saponified kokum butter, avocado oil, and shea butter; lanolin, fragrance and/or essential oil(s); saponified coconut oil; kaolin clay, vitamin E.

Mystic Water Soap
All of our shaving soap is made with tallow, which contributes to an exceptionally dense, slick lather. Combined with stearic acid, unrefined shea butter, sustainably sourced organic palm oil, avocado oil, aloe vera, bentonite clay, silk protein, allantoin, and extra glycerin

Both known for their difficulty to find that narrow band in later technique that actually works.
Coincidence?
Both if my understanding is correct, are listing them as a minor ingredient as well.

What quality soap has Argan oil in it? All the ones I have tried with Argan oil have been mediocre at best.

What soaps have Argan oil in them?
I suggested it, as it's apparently good post application properties and I'm curious how that works out in a soap.

Shea butter is a triglyceride (fat) not an oil, different melting point.

Technically correct you may be mate (I'm not doubting you btw in case that's how it's coming across), yet I've only seen it marketed as an oil.

I have made various formulations using Lard and Tallow but me personally I couldn't see any real advantage over a single tallow soap. I think from memory it was marginally creamier but didn't retain that body for as long as Tallow only. It didn't smell like bacon

I can see a Pig meets vegan soap in my near future. Stearic, Lard, Coconut, Avocado, Macadamia and Kokum or Shea butter to super fat.

Stearic acid is the main ingredient requirement for the majority of soap features. Tallow, Lard, Shea butter, Kokum Butter and a couple of others provide a good percentage of Stearic but straight Stearic Acid as a refined soap making ingredient is usually the bulk of all traditional saponified shaving soaps. It is easy to make a shaving soap for yourself but to make a soap that satisfies a commercial market is a whole 'nother level.

So the fats from different animals don't react differently?
That's why I've suggested it.
Curiosity if all animal fat perform the same, or if some behave differently.

Only if your chromosomes are in the wrong order.

I don't use it for the scent, it is a fantastic anti bacterial.

Damn you and your posts piquing my curiosity
Do you utilise it in soap only, or as a post shave as well?

 

[todras]

Tabula Rasa soap has Argan Oil and the legendary Il Coloniali has mango oil which really seems to add something amazing to the post shave feel.

That mango oil is fantastic stuff and runs to 45% stearic acid, damm shame that II Coloniali pulled up stumps. Tabula Rasa is one of the soaps that is on my future list, once I work my way through the already silly number waiting.

One oil that has not got a mention so far, that the Spanish artisans use (Elena, Manuel) is Borago officinalis aka Borage oil which is very high in Gamma-linolenic acid or GLA (γ-Linolenic acid) reported in some literature as reducing incidence of eczema and skin abrasions. We looked into it for APR but it runs to $80 a liter or so in Australia, long story short is that the lather and the feel of the lather from both soaps by Luna and Jabonman have a certain beautiful viscous feel and a fantastic post shave which from speaking to them both at length they (anecdotally) attribute in part to this oil.

I would like to experiment with the oil down the line in our soap base, not commercially of course due to the cost and vol/weight requirements but as a project out of interest, I would love to formulate a soap base that is in the ball park of the Spanish artisans as I find it incredibly good to shave with, and great on the skin even if just for personal use or what have you.

 

[bald as]

Do you utilise it in soap only, or as a post shave as well?

Post shave. Make as follows: About 100ml of Macadamia nut oil and a capful of the lemon myrtle. Add more if you are so inclined.

 

[Pbgoose]

Stocks running a little low on Pb Pimento Silk so cooked a V2 batch. Very similar to original batch but nudged closer to formulations I been doing lately but w/ no clay @borked . Test lathered well.
Ingredients: Stearic, Tallow (Beef), Olive Oil, Coconut Oil, Castor Oil, Apricot Oil, Argon Oil, Glycerine, Filtered Water (RO), Tussah Silk, KOH, NaOH, Essential Oils.
Essential Oils: Pimento Berry, Patchouli, Lime, Lemongrass.

 

[borked]

Does the method you cook make any difference?

 

[Pbgoose]

Does the method you cook make any difference?

Not sure what you mean by ‘method you cook’?
I only do hot process for shaving soaps. As I’m only usually doing two tub/batch then double boiler method works well but if I’m doing larger batch then I’ll pull out a slow cooker. If you mean nuances of the process then there’s lots of variables for which I have my own preferences. As to whether they are always correct......¯\_(ツ)_/¯

 

[borked]

Do you notice any difference between the methods for a small and large batch ?

 

[Pbgoose]

Do you notice any difference between the methods for a small and large batch ?

Not yet, the largest batch I've done is four tubs (oh yeah, I'm ready to take on the world). I've done larger batches of hand soap and the dynamics of the cook seem consistent.
What you thinking?

 

[borked]

I've no direct experience, yet I can't help but wonder if the variables in the cooking method may alter the end result and if that is the case, if it's worth experimenting with.

 

[bald as]

Do you notice any difference between the methods for a small and large batch ?

My speculation: Stepping up from an accurately calculated small batch should be relatively simple but stepping down from "a close enough measured large batch" would possibly less consistent.

I've no direct experience, yet I can't help but wonder if the variables in the cooking method may alter the end result and if that is the case, if it's worth experimenting with.

In a standard hot process shaving soap the actual conversion to "soap" takes place very quickly, within a few minutes because of the normally high Stearic acid content - between 35 to 55%, the cooking time then completes the saponification process over the next 20 minutes to 90 minutes depending on the remaining fat/oil content.

An alternative is the independent saponification of different fats/oils in the type of alkali [sodium or potassium hydroxide] that they convert to soap at a more efficient rate. I have used this method a couple of times but could not on a small batch notice significant advantage.

The length of cooking time with a hot processed soap - on average 60 minutes - ensures conversion of the alkali to "soap salts" Sodium or Potassium tallowate etc.

I'm my only customer so my pH test of the final product is the soap maker's zap test however I have done comparative pH sample testing with 4 commercial soaps and my digital pH meter and the pH range of all tradition style soaps was very similar to my own using a pH metered sample of each and the actual lather formed. @alfredus explained a controlled titration method to me for testing but as this was purely for my own interest I devised a simple capful of lather test for each soap. In reality a comparison only, not a true indication of actual pH but that said, accurate enough for my own satisfaction and also a confidence factor I'm not going to burn my skin off with excess alkali in the soap.

The hot process method allows a higher stearic acid content from all sources compared to cold processing. Usually most good quality shaving soaps are hot processed to overcome the almost instant reaction of the high stearic acid content and the alkali.

As another point my personal soaps contain Lanolin, Tussah silk and both Kaolin and Bentonite clays - cosmetic grades which are extremely finely ground.

This my basic method and others may approach the task differently.

Steve

 

[Pbgoose]

@borked , yeah, what @bald as said
As has been said in other threads with the very small quantities of materials being used (especially with small batches) , accuracy is paramount, so we're using scales that measure down to two decimals places of a gram. So as bald as said moving to larger batches is actually easy.
Interestingly there appears to be a number of people on the forum that have a scientific or lab background that contribute to discussions involving chemistry or lab procedures. I'm not a scientist or have lab background but often work in labs so the whole learning curve in accuracy requirement was easier for me.
So the variables that are significant to me are the material inputs and what I've found personally is that I'm not gravitating to one base formula. It's like cooking food, there's a million good recipes out there so why restrict myself to one? I love the different characteristics of the different bases. I love using clay and what it adds to soap performance, but plenty of my bases don't have clay as clay may mask or change scent profiles and can also change how a soap lathers. Pimento Silk and Kaolin Pimento Silk was a good example of this (though there were other changes to the base in Kaolin Pimento Silk other than the addition of clay). That's why when I did V2 I thought about adding clay but chose to stay close to the original (but stuffed up with the Argan oil, not thinking about it's potential for changing the scent profile).
.