Soap recycling. It started off as a way to not have to go to the drugstore

[Joesixpack]

I am looking for suggestions and tips-

I was at the end of my puck of shaving soap (I normally get the Van Der Hagan brand at the local Walgreens ) and I needed to shave and didn't feel like making the trip, so I "improvised, adapted, overcame."

Also, I had a soap dish full of the soap ends. I use Ivory soap, so that's all I got there. No built in moisturizer or anything like that.

I crushed up the soap in the bottom of my shaving mug (a repurposed coffee mug) added a little water, and popped it in the microwave. I heated it 30 seconds at a time, checking it and stirring it as I went along. Finally it was pretty melted, so I put a couple of generous glugs of olive oil in there and gave it a final blast in the microwave and stirred it all up into a smooth goo. I let it harden overnight and tried it out the next day.

It actually worked out pretty well. I may do this again when this gets used up. Has anyone else recycled soap this way? Anyone have any tips or ideas? I feel like this works, but it's not as good as it could be. I want to add more oil or maybe figure some way to make it a little creamier.

 

[drmoss_ca]

I once made some bay rum shaving cream by melting Colonel Conk Bay Rum glycerine soap, then added hot water and bentonite clay (don't laugh, but non-clumping cat litter is a good and cheap source!) It was actually quite good.
And that reminds me that back when I first used a straight and knew no better, I bought a bunch of Col. Conk soaps. I decided that melting two pucks of bay rum and one of lime together made the nicest smelling soap I'd ever used. Pity it doesn't perform as well as a real soap though! For performance, I shall have to blow my own trumpet and say the homemade soap is as good as it gets. I was never any good at scenting it though (which is tricky—add scent oils while it is too hot and the scent 'flashes off,' but wait till it's colder and it won't mix in evenly).

PS: I just went and checked the drawers of shame, and I still have two or three of each of the Conks. I know what I'm doing later this morning!

 

[Joesixpack]

It's funny but I just assumed that Ivory soap contained bentonite clay, but I looked it up and apparently it does not. Unfortunately I don't have a cat, so I don't know what I'm going to do several pounds of cat litter when I only need a tablespoon full at a time.