Shaving products homemade

The fats are melted together with the glycerin and then saponified with the caustic soda. The rest of the fat is now completely saponified with half of the total amount of caustic soda. The stearic acid is now melted and after adding the rest of the lye, enough stearic acid is added that the soap is completely neutral. Then a little stearic acid is added, so that the soap becomes weakly acidic. For this purpose one usually takes 3% stearic acid.
In the heat, this soap is quite thick. They can also be kept thinner so that they can be stirred more easily by working with a large excess of stearic acid. During cooling, the acid is then neutralized with the calculated amount of lye, calculated with a small surplus of acid.

note: Read the safety instructions about working with aggressive substances, such as sodium hydroxyde and potassium hydroxyde (caustic soda's)

The fats are saponified at 70°C. Since the reaction proceeds fairly quickly, the lye can be added at a rapid rate.
The glycol stearate is then added to the hot soap mass and the whole mass is allowed to stand for several hours. The soap remains warm due to the ongoing saponification process and must be stirred every hour.
The hard but sticky soap now has to be dried, pressed into the desired shape and wrapped in silver paper.

Shaving soap

There are many requirements for a good shaving soap. Moreover, personal taste plays a major role here. Human skin is often so sensitive that small differences in otherwise very good soaps are experienced as unpleasant. The soap creams generally contain:

The glycerin keeps the foam moist longer; a foam that dries too quickly would make shaving almost impossible. For quick soaping, the soap must be very easily soluble. However, this causes the foam to be dissolved too easily by any newly added water. So here you have to choose a mixture of highly soluble and less soluble soap. The fats that make an easily soluble and highly foaming soap include coconut oil and palm oil. They make it possible to shave with cold water, but they irritate the skin quite strongly. In general, people therefore do not take more than 10 to 15% of these fats. Furthermore, fats such as beef tallow and stearin are taken. Large amounts of behenic acid are added for a very tough foam. The consistency of the cream depends not only on the amount of water, but mainly on the correct ratio between the potash and caustic soda. One should not take too much caustic soda, as the soap then becomes too hard and crumbly. The caustic soda is usually dissolved to a strength of 20° Bé and the caustic soda to a strength of 35° Bé.

The stearic acid is melted together with the other fats or oils. It is heated to about 70℃. The other ingredients are dissolved in the water and heated to boiling. The melted fat mixture is then poured into the boiling solution while stirring well. Stir until the mass forms a completely uniform emulsion. The perfume is then added while cooling. Stir gently from time to time.

The first recipe produces a cream with a pearlescent sheen, which is especially suitable for oily skin. The second recipe produces a thicker cream that can be used by people with dry skin. Both creams very easily form a smooth layer on the face and have a soothing after-effect. Both are very easy to wash off.

The menthol is first dissolved in alcohol, the boric acid and the glycerin in the water. After this, the solutions are mixed, perfumed and, if necessary, some coloring agent is added.

Alum stone

Alum causes the proteins in the skin to contract (astringent effect) so that wounds close and bleeding stops. Alum neutralizes the drying effect of soap residue on your skin. Alum is a natural antibacterial. When it comes into contact with bacteria, such as bacteria from sweat, it inhibits growth.

100 g of potassium alum is carefully melted. The foam is removed, while carefully avoiding overheating. In addition, 5 g of fine chalk are rubbed with 5 g of glycerin to form an even paste and mixed with the melted alum. The mass is then poured into a greased mold. The alum stone can be made completely white and opaque by adding more chalk.

To obtain a completely translucent alum stone, the potassium alum is again very carefully melted and 5% glycerin and water are added until the melt is completely transparent. The mass is then poured back into greased molds. The stones obtain a smooth surface by rubbing with a wet cloth.

Styptic powder

Styptic Powder is an antiseptic that helps stop bleeding after shaving. It is applied with a cotton swab.

Anticeptive and astringent is a mixture of 50% talcum and 50% phthalyl peroxide. The peroxide may contain up to 40% phthalic acid, which in this case acts as a stabilizer.