Martin de Candre

Nah, just a little gefingerpoken...

BTW, getting a used gas chromatograph wouldn't be beyond the average household: <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.labstuff.nl/contents/nl/d1.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.labstuff.nl/contents/nl/d1.html</a><!-- m --> , starting at Eur 400... Now a hadron collider would be a little more difficult
 
So, here's a picture of the soap lab...

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and this is what you get when you follow the Martin de Candre ingredients list. Stearic acid, coconut acid, only KOH, and glycerin. It became what I thought it would be, a soft green soap -- the color is even more telling than I thought it would be:

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It does give a nice lather even when just washing your hands with it, so I'm guessing it would make at least a decent shaving soap; I will report on that later. However, for Martin de Candre to make a white firm to hard soap, there's got to be more in it than they disclose on the label...

Oh, BTW, in case anyone wants a sample, rather than leaving it the green soap it was, with its slightly repulsive soap smell, I've scented it 'Dutch Moss', my take on Irisch Moos, as described on their own web site...
 

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I think I bought some "Dutch Moss" in an Amsterdam coffee shop once . . . . :shock:


So MdC has got some secret ingredients. Hmm . . . unicorn horn? Moondust?
 
Rev-O said:
I think I bought some "Dutch Moss" in an Amsterdam coffee shop once . . . . :shock:


So MdC has got some secret ingredients. Hmm . . . unicorn horn? Moondust?
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Well, yes. I would think so. But only in the sense that they are not revealed, not in the sense that they would be special, unknown, or otherwise proprietary ingredients. I would guess that there are pigments in it to make it white, I would guess that there is NaOH next to the KOH, and my guess is that the order is incorrect. The amount of coconut acid will probably be minimal...

I've now tried my MdC clone and it is a total lemon - for shaving. KOH only and still not a stable lather. My guess is that with 25% coconut acid, it is impossible to create a stable-lather soap... The scent is fine, and it is a great soap for anything other than shaving.
 
henkverhaar said:
and this is what you get when you follow the Martin de Candre ingredients list. Stearic acid, coconut acid, only KOH, and glycerin. It became what I thought it would be, a soft green soap -- the color is even more telling than I thought it would be:

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Henk; I'm curious as to why the soap was green (although it looks browny orange in the picture), when everything that went in was white or colourless. Is it still that colour?
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As always Henk, you are a mine of information. I haven't seen the soft greenish soap you're talking about. I've just made a soap with 80% potassium in a first attempt at making cream soap.....not very successful, but experiments are ongoing. It does have a lovely pearlescence to it that I am hoping may be replicated in more successful batches.
 
Here's an ingredient list for a 'modern' traditional green (brown in Belgium, liquid soap) soap:

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They DO state C12 to C18 fatty acids, so it may be a combination of coconut oil and linseed oil or other cheap oil; maybe it is the short chains that are responsible for the yellowish color. I've never yet made a soap without kaolin and titanium oxide, so I've no idea how yellow my normal soaps would be without pigments.
 
Most of my soaps are a pale cream, but I have had them turn out snow white...with no colour added, nor clay. Palm, coconut and shea are all snow white if refined, so if the liquid oil used is pale enough, the soap can still be white. I've never had a soap look green except occasionally the bentonite can add a hint of a green tinge. Even when I bought a different olive oil to usual which was very green as opposed to the gold I was used to, the Castille soap I made was cream coloured.
Maybe it is something to do with using hot as opposed to cold process? Having said that I have been forced to get the crock pot out of the cupboard to experiment with the cream soap, as I understand that the KOH likes to be mixed at a higher temperature.
 
Apparently most green/brown soaps are coconut/linseed or coconut/hemp soaps. Note also that the colour of the oil (if refined) does not necessarily dictate the colour of the fatty acids, so a white oil can still give a coloured soap. Note also that white fats aren't white because of pigmentation, but because of light scattering on the fat crystals. Ever note that when you melt palm oil or tallow, the liquid is a very pale yellow, not white or colourless?

And yes, temperature may have some effect, although I would guess it to be minor.
 
No only in jest, it is all good stuff, although most of it is way over my head. I felt like an intruder reading the exchange and it shows you how some forums can make for good conversations.

Carry on I am off to the pub..... ;)
 
Tried the Martin De Candre this morning, it is very a good soap. I need to try it a few times to really see how it is but my first impressions from one shave are quite positive. I do like the scent which as Fido says is a Mint and Lavender, overall it is fresh and clean smelling but if you don't like Lavender you will not like this, this is spicy Lavender. It lathers very easily and does give a nice slick coating on the skin, this allows an easy glide of the razor and after shaving there is no dryness or tight feeling, overall it was a very pleasant shave. I think this would be a fantastic summer soap, it reminds me of springtime and holidays for some reason.

Is it worth the cash? that is up to you but it is a darn good soap and one I personally had to try. Thanks to Boab I did not need to stump up for a full tub. It would make an ideal gift from a loved one as one of those things that you wouldn't buy yourself so worth writing to Santa to see if he thinks you have been good enough to get it as a pressie.

I always try to separate the performance form the scent and yes this works well, but it is not a WOW soap, it is up there with the best of them so if you are a MWF or Tabac lover this is not going to give you a better shave but it is different enough to make it worth trying. the consistency is a bit like Tabac or P160 (and Henks soap), it is not a solid soap but it is not a cream. I am finding more of these soft soaps are like this are great performers and I seem to get on with them quite well.
 
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