A couple of pretty stupid questions!

[Dana Mae]

Ok, I'm totally embarrassed to ask these but you all have been so kind to me here

Before I made soap, I was never a bar soap kind of person. It was liquid soap with a net poof thingy. Never had issues.

Now that I make my own, I am using bar soap obviously, so here are my two questions:

1. How to best make the soap last? I have heard references to soap savers (no idea what those are) etc. I have no idea how to best use/care for my soap bars to get the most out of them and have them last the longest.

2. Ugh. I hate the squeeky-clean feeling my skin has after I use my soap. Let me preface this by saying my skin is not sensitive, nor does it feel dry, tight, itchy, etc. after using my soap. I even use it on my face with no issues. But I don't like the squeeky clean feeling my skin has after a shower. Now I have heard ppl say "soap is to clean not to moisturize" and I do use moisturizer. But when I was using commercial LS I never had this (to me, yukky) feeling skin.

I have not tried making up my own recipes so have used ones found on this forum, miller soap, etc. But no matter what recipe I try I get the same feeling as far as the squeek factor goes. Is it my soap, or is it just a bar soap thing and I need to get over it?

I must add that I have not tried my castile type soaps as they still have a ways to go, cure-wise.

Ok. Any help or suggestions I'm all ears! :embarasse

Thanks,

Dana

[Angel91805]

Well...the only stupid question is the one you don't ask!

I was a shower gel kinda girl myself. I had "issues" stemming from my childhood about bar soap. LOL. Not no more! I just lather up the net poufie thing and GO. The key for me to make the bar last the longest is to KEEP IT DRY. If the bar sits in water it will get all slimy grimy and gunky....and it will dissolve (?) faster. Or if the water from the showerhead is aimed at it. We have one of those over the shower head wire basket thingy....(nice description, huh?)....and that keeps the soaps dry between uses (cuz there are like 9 in my shower now!). I don't like using the built in soap dish thingy...even with the raised bumps to keep the soap dry, it still gets wet.

Dry different soap recipes to get one that is more moisterizing. When I started to make soap I kept my numbers around 44-45 for hardness (wanted it to last!) and 45-48 for conditioning. And I've had a lot of "squeaky clean" soaps. Now, my favorite recipe is 38 in hardness and 59 on conditioning. One of my ingredients is mango or shea butter always...and that always helps.

Hope that helped a bit!

Donna

[eugenia]

How to best make the soap last? I have heard references to soap savers (no idea what those are) etc.

Soapsavers are little mesh drawstring bags that you can put bars or slivers in, to get the most out of them. The "built in" ceramic soap dishes in your shower are soap's enemy. Get one that is wire or plastic, large holes with a suction cup that sticks on the shower wall and allows the soap to dry completely between uses.

As far as the "squeaky clean" I agree, up the moisturizing oils.

e

[Dana Mae]

Ok! Thanks for the tips!

dana

[sudsnwicks]

Soaps which have been cured longer will also last longer when you use them. Maybe you already knew that, but just thought I'd mention it in case you hadn't realized that.

[topofmurrayhill]

Your question about skin feel isn't a stupid question -- it's THE question.

Various odd sensations could be described as squeaky clean but not in a totally good way. It would be going out on a limb to interpret that and suggest exactly what your formulation might need to make you happier with it, but I don't think conditioning is the answer.

I don't believe there's any such thing as conditioning oils versus filler oils. Every combination of different oil types creates soap that leaves your skin feeling a certain way. It's about finding the balance of oils that produces your just-right skin feel. Any oil can contribute to that or produce an odd feeling if there's too much or too little.

Changing the proportions in your recipe has a very noticeable effect on how the soap leaves your skin feeling. All you can do is try variations and learn from experience how to create recipes with a balance you like.