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DIY-Homemade Soap(non-shaving)
- Thread starter Nick the Knife
- Start date
Whats implied as being mutually exclusive? Looks or function in a given product? As I never said you couldn't have both but I found it bizarre (and somewhat dumb) that any female could feel that if the product didn't look great NOTHING else mattered as they'd not be buying it.
filobiblic
Facepeeler Extraordinare
State Convenor - NSW
Group Buy Caporegime
2017 Sabbatical Fail
2016 Sabbatical Fail
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Have you been into "Lush" recently? [emoji11]
borked
Shave, collect B&M pokemon, vodka, sleep, repeat
Grand Society
Group Buy Associate
Da Menth Heads
2018 Charity Auction Winner
Who or what is a 'Lush' ?
BTW image does count for something.
Would you wash your hands with the below soap ?
filobiblic
Facepeeler Extraordinare
State Convenor - NSW
Group Buy Caporegime
2017 Sabbatical Fail
2016 Sabbatical Fail
2015 Sabbatical Fail
That's not what it's for right...?Who or what is a 'Lush' ?
BTW image does count for something.
Would you wash your hands with the below soap ?
Lush is a what.
borked
Shave, collect B&M pokemon, vodka, sleep, repeat
Grand Society
Group Buy Associate
Da Menth Heads
2018 Charity Auction Winner
Oh, in that case, no not recently, nor in a very long while, if ever!
Yas, it is soap mate.
@filobiblic , yes well it's been a while but I've wandered through one many moons ago and thats EXACTLY the kind of soap making I despise and have complete contempt for. Truth be known I bet they put all kinds of shit in their soaps and the morons put that crap all over themselves - plus I cannot imagine the ridiculous looking ones are actually GOOD SOAP.
Hmmm but anyway like I said my focus is on the steak, not the sizzle .
Anyway banged out another 1/2 batch last night this time went with:
Came to trace really quickly, should be ready for cutting later this evening ~24hrs after mix.
Hmmm but anyway like I said my focus is on the steak, not the sizzle .
Anyway banged out another 1/2 batch last night this time went with:
- Tallow 23%
- Palm Oil 23%
- CO 20%
- OO 15%
- RBO 14%
- Castor 5%
Came to trace really quickly, should be ready for cutting later this evening ~24hrs after mix.
The soap cut and presented really well - you'd have no idea it had nearly 4% oatmeal in it. Nice light green shade to it. Citrus scents are notoriously hard to keep in CP soaps - hence a lot of people go HP as less EO is used and it's dumped in at the end. Still smells pretty good but is an improvement from the #1 batch's texture/look - so nice to be moving forward. Is a real PITA that you are best recommended to wait 6-8 weeks (apparently there's a real and BIG difference in the quality of a soap thats used before this) - I can imagine a lot of market sellers churning their stuff out to buyers after way less - though if they forward planned it's really such a small trade off and gives the buyer a vastly superior product.
So who's going to be the first to do a CP batch as well? We all appreciate quality shaving soap so surely it's a no brainer to want quality soap in the rest of your life as well - plus the average joe is very impressed by this kind of thing so your missus and pals (easy to do blokeish ones) will think you're a genius.
So who's going to be the first to do a CP batch as well? We all appreciate quality shaving soap so surely it's a no brainer to want quality soap in the rest of your life as well - plus the average joe is very impressed by this kind of thing so your missus and pals (easy to do blokeish ones) will think you're a genius.
filobiblic
Facepeeler Extraordinare
State Convenor - NSW
Group Buy Caporegime
2017 Sabbatical Fail
2016 Sabbatical Fail
2015 Sabbatical Fail
You must have enough bath soap now to last you a good 10 years...
Seems reasonable since you have enough shaving soap to last you 20 years! [emoji13]
Seems reasonable since you have enough shaving soap to last you 20 years! [emoji13]
Nah - each half batch only gave around 12 bars each. Plus a lot of it will be given away so there will be a lot more batches done soon enough.
Third batch done, stuck with the same base recipe as #2 (Tallow,PO, CO, RBO, Castor + french green clay + colloidal oatmeal) however this time after researching thoroughly substituted 1/2 of the water for freshly cut Aloe Vera from our garden (no sugar used due to the sugars in the aloe). The lye mixture was made using the other 1/2 of the water and added the chopped aloe after emulsification. If blended up really well with the stick blender and you'd have no idea it was in there from the end mixture's appearance. Scented this one with Rosemary + Peppermint with a dash of Geranium EO's. Smelt very good, however you really have to use a LOT of EO in CP soaps (far less used in HP ones) - hence it really adds to the end cost and I don't know if one can justify using some of the nicer EO's with CP due to that.
Still only doing 1/2 batch sizes. Up until now I'd been lining the mold with cling wrap - which worked well but was a slight PITA. Anyway as I permanently lined the mold with thick builders film I figured I'd use it without the extra cling wrap. I only poured the soap over when it was at thick/heavy trace - zero leaks (as the two end sections are completely removeable but they're a very snug fit.
Has firmed up nicely this morning and so should be another successful batch thus cutting early this evening.
The PITA is that I'm 3 batches in BUT to do it properly (and I know no other way) I have to wait another 5 weeks to even try the first batch!
Still only doing 1/2 batch sizes. Up until now I'd been lining the mold with cling wrap - which worked well but was a slight PITA. Anyway as I permanently lined the mold with thick builders film I figured I'd use it without the extra cling wrap. I only poured the soap over when it was at thick/heavy trace - zero leaks (as the two end sections are completely removeable but they're a very snug fit.
Has firmed up nicely this morning and so should be another successful batch thus cutting early this evening.
The PITA is that I'm 3 batches in BUT to do it properly (and I know no other way) I have to wait another 5 weeks to even try the first batch!
filobiblic
Facepeeler Extraordinare
State Convenor - NSW
Group Buy Caporegime
2017 Sabbatical Fail
2016 Sabbatical Fail
2015 Sabbatical Fail
It's the same as buying shaving gear from overseas. You buy up but then need to wait another few weeks before you see what you bought. Meanwhile, you decide to get something else, and the first lot hasn't even shown up...
Can't wait until you get to test it though! Thanks for talking us through the process. We'll know who to lean on for bath soaps in future...
My wife had used a few commercially/or small artisan made shampoo bars but never gotten good results from them. Even the 'artisan' made ones were, with the gift of my relatively new soaping knowledge - relatively poorly made having the majority of their ingredients made up of PO+CO.
Cut a long story short made a small (1lb) batch last night which was based on the formulation recommendations from a mammoth 68 page thread over at SMF. Was done in hopes of adjusting to my wife's irritable scalp and also oily hair combo plus working with the actual ingredients I had on hand or could access easily here in regional Australia. Apparently shampoo bars are VERY individual specific and while most people will agree a certain body soap is good you get a lot more issues as hair type/scalp type etc come into things.
Ended up going with:
OO 40%, AvO 20%, Castor 10%, CO (Copha which has the convenient advantage of containing lecithin, which some think helps hair shine) 5%, RBO 19%, PO 5%, Neem Oil 1% (so low as my wife HATES it's smell but it works very well on her scalp)
SF@3%
1/2 the water was made into a tea of fresh parsley, rosemary, camomile + green tea, fresh Aloe Vera and Manuka Honey. Strained and added at light trace. And also 1tsp of Bentonite clay.
The other half I made the lye solution in (think I could have just added all together to simplify things!)
Scented with Rosemary + Tea Tree EO at 2:1 ratio with just a dash of Lavender.
Took a tad longer to trace (than my whopping 3 previous batches of experience!
but surprisingly very firm this morning. Will zap test and cut pending this @24hr mark.
Cut a long story short made a small (1lb) batch last night which was based on the formulation recommendations from a mammoth 68 page thread over at SMF. Was done in hopes of adjusting to my wife's irritable scalp and also oily hair combo plus working with the actual ingredients I had on hand or could access easily here in regional Australia. Apparently shampoo bars are VERY individual specific and while most people will agree a certain body soap is good you get a lot more issues as hair type/scalp type etc come into things.
Ended up going with:
OO 40%, AvO 20%, Castor 10%, CO (Copha which has the convenient advantage of containing lecithin, which some think helps hair shine) 5%, RBO 19%, PO 5%, Neem Oil 1% (so low as my wife HATES it's smell but it works very well on her scalp)
SF@3%
1/2 the water was made into a tea of fresh parsley, rosemary, camomile + green tea, fresh Aloe Vera and Manuka Honey. Strained and added at light trace. And also 1tsp of Bentonite clay.
The other half I made the lye solution in (think I could have just added all together to simplify things!)
Scented with Rosemary + Tea Tree EO at 2:1 ratio with just a dash of Lavender.
Took a tad longer to trace (than my whopping 3 previous batches of experience!
Cantaloupe_Crusader
Member
Interesting reading! So how'd the first batch turn out?
Sorry for the delay I didn't see your post. The 1st turned out well - as did the subsequent 4 or so. Here's an album with some pretty run of the mill pix of them.
We've been using the first 3 soaps ourselves for the past couple of weeks, very happy with them - noticeable improvement in friendliness and luxury over commercial stuff. They won't change your world but it's a nice point of difference to have done it yourself and well it's very bloody simple - so well worth trying as you'll have nearly everything you need around your home already.
FWIW I heard that atleast one other member here has started making their own soap so watch this space.
Monsta_AU
...can I interest you in some vintage blades?
Staff member
Forum Administrator
Grand Society
Nick was kind enough to forward a bar each of his first three experiments to me, and I will tell you that they were all fairly successful.
Personally, I have been using the Rosemary and Mint bar, and only had one use before heading off to Malaysia so it wasn't a fair comparison. I will tell you what though, upon getting home and using some pretty drying and badly scented soaps while away - this stuff was heaven to come home to.
While there is no eucalyptus or tea tree in this particular soap, using it an hour after I walked in the door made me feel and smell Aussie again. That in itself meant a whole lot to me as it settled me back into home. Performance is really good, nothing to be whinged about at all. It is not as lathery as commercial soaps, but the colloidal oatmeal in it gives a slight exfoliating effect. Scent wise it is just right, not overpowering at all and you don't smell it on yourself afterwards that much. It's more about the steam inhalation in the shower.
The other half has had issues with her hands in the last 6 months, mainly to do with handwash & detergent (washing dishes). It cleared up nicely while we were away, and started coming back once we got back. I have asked her to only use Nick's soap to wash her hands, and glove up for washing dishes. We will see how that goes.
If you are offered some of these, by all means accept them. You won't be sorry you did.
Personally, I have been using the Rosemary and Mint bar, and only had one use before heading off to Malaysia so it wasn't a fair comparison. I will tell you what though, upon getting home and using some pretty drying and badly scented soaps while away - this stuff was heaven to come home to.
While there is no eucalyptus or tea tree in this particular soap, using it an hour after I walked in the door made me feel and smell Aussie again. That in itself meant a whole lot to me as it settled me back into home. Performance is really good, nothing to be whinged about at all. It is not as lathery as commercial soaps, but the colloidal oatmeal in it gives a slight exfoliating effect. Scent wise it is just right, not overpowering at all and you don't smell it on yourself afterwards that much. It's more about the steam inhalation in the shower.
The other half has had issues with her hands in the last 6 months, mainly to do with handwash & detergent (washing dishes). It cleared up nicely while we were away, and started coming back once we got back. I have asked her to only use Nick's soap to wash her hands, and glove up for washing dishes. We will see how that goes.
If you are offered some of these, by all means accept them. You won't be sorry you did.
gthomas04
...was Drubbing's first. AKA Captain Tightarse
That would be meSorry for the delay I didn't see your post. The 1st turned out well - as did the subsequent 4 or so. Here's an album with some pretty run of the mill pix of them.
We've been using the first 3 soaps ourselves for the past couple of weeks, very happy with them - noticeable improvement in friendliness and luxury over commercial stuff. They won't change your world but it's a nice point of difference to have done it yourself and well it's very bloody simple - so well worth trying as you'll have nearly everything you need around your home already.
FWIW I heard that atleast one other member here has started making their own soap so watch this space.
First batch out on the curing rack and the 4 to 6 week wait in front of me. I have used all 3 of Nick's first runs and both herself and I have been most impressed. I will have to wait now to see if my first brew is anywhere near as good.
borked
Shave, collect B&M pokemon, vodka, sleep, repeat
Grand Society
Group Buy Associate
Da Menth Heads
2018 Charity Auction Winner
Herself must of been impressed to allow production of soap in her residence.That would be me
Banged out another batch this arvo. Only a half size batch, 750g of oil based.
45% Beef Tallow
20% Coconut oil
15% OO
10% RBO
5% Castor
5% AvO
Superfat@8%. Additives: Sugar, Bentonite clay and Coarse Coffee grinds (used).
Fragrance was Teatree EO + Rosemary EO with a lil Bay Laurel EO
The coffee grinds are in it as an exfoliant. No hassles with the batch, in the mould nice and easy - looks very nice with the coffee all through it. Will pop up some pix when I unmould and cut in 24hrs.
45% Beef Tallow
20% Coconut oil
15% OO
10% RBO
5% Castor
5% AvO
Superfat@8%. Additives: Sugar, Bentonite clay and Coarse Coffee grinds (used).
Fragrance was Teatree EO + Rosemary EO with a lil Bay Laurel EO
The coffee grinds are in it as an exfoliant. No hassles with the batch, in the mould nice and easy - looks very nice with the coffee all through it. Will pop up some pix when I unmould and cut in 24hrs.