Mechanic's/Gardener's soap

SoapAddict415 · Sep 9, 2017

Hi everyone. I'm planning a mechanic's soap for a friend. Besides ground pumice, what are some other scrubby but not too abrasive add ins that I could use? Corn meal sounds like it would be to scratchy. The soap will be scented with cinnamon FO and I have ground pumice but could bentonite clay, sea salt or baking soda also be used? Thanks in advance for any suggestions?

SoapSap · Sep 10, 2017

I like fine coffee grinds or poppyseed.

SoapAddict415 · Sep 10, 2017

I've got some fine grinds. How much do you use per pound of oils?

mommycarlson · Sep 10, 2017

Hi SoapAddict, fine coffee grounds that have been "used" with distilled water are great. If you are scenting with cinnamon FO you can actually use ground cinnamon, I love the exfoliation from that as well. For my gardeners soap I use about 1 to 2 T of grounds in my 34 oz (of oils) batch of soap. It really depends on how scratchy you want it to be, and how fine the grind of your coffee is. Poppy seeds are nice too, I tend to use less of them because I find them to be "sharp". I have not personally used ground pumice, sea salt or baking soda.

artemis · Sep 10, 2017

SoapAddict415 said:
Corn meal sounds like it would be to scratchy.

I use the fine ground corn meal. I like it, because to me it feels like a gentle scratchy. The coffee grounds (even after using them first) feel like little sharp bits. The fine CM just gives it some texture. Still not nice in a body bar-- a friend's review-- but my husband and I like it for a gardener-type soap.

SoapAddict415 · Sep 10, 2017

I'll have to look for some when I going shopping. I also saw a recipe on Pinterest that used fresh dried orange zest. I think either one would add a nice speckle to the bar.

Dahila · Sep 10, 2017

you could add some d-lemone to it, it is a degraeser. Mine I just up CO to 30% and add a few tbsp of fine ground pumice, I love it to wash my hands, my hubby does not use the orange thing anymore, this soap washes all off

earlene · Sep 10, 2017

I don't know how you feel about Borax, but a bit of it goes a long way to help clean dirty hands really well and isn't so rough on the hands.

I do a combination of Borax and Pumice in my brother's BlackSmith Soap, which I designed for him based on his feedback after a few trials.

For a 1000 gram of oils batch, I dissolve 2.3 grams of Borax (20 Mule Team Borax powder) in some of the (boiled) water (taken from the liquid in the recipe). And I mix in 3 Tablespoons of finely-ground pumice at trace. The Borax is not abrasive and actually makes the soap feel nicer on the skin (as opposed to if you leave out the Borax). It also boosts the cleaning power of the soap.

SoapAddict415 · Sep 10, 2017

Thanks Earlene! I found a loofah in my linen closet so I cut some of that up into small pieces & added it to 1t of pumice. Now you've got me thinking about adding some borax too.

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tklechak · Sep 10, 2017

SoapAddict415 said:
Hi everyone. I'm planning a mechanic's soap for a friend. Besides ground pumice, what are some other scrubby but not too abrasive add ins that I could use? Corn meal sounds like it would be to scratchy. The soap will be scented with cinnamon FO and I have ground pumice but could bentonite clay, sea salt or baking soda also be used? Thanks in advance for any suggestions?

I am by no means a "soaper", but I use poppy seeds ........

BlackDog · Sep 10, 2017

My husband is a hobbyist mechanic and does regular farm work for his dad (read: he's dirty a lot) and his favorite is coffee grounds.

dblbubble · Sep 14, 2017

I made some lovely gardener's soap this summer and used ground loofah, dried orange peel, ground walnut powder, and poppy seeds. I scented w/lemongrass EO and it turned out great. Very long-lasting.

I used this recipe as a reference: http://www.reformationacres.com/2016/10/gardeners-soap-recipe.html

SoapAddict415 · Sep 14, 2017

dblbubble said:
I made some lovely gardener's soap this summer and used ground loofah, dried orange peel, ground walnut powder, and poppy seeds. I scented w/lemongrass EO and it turned out great. Very long-lasting.

I used this recipe as a reference: http://www.reformationacres.com/2016/10/gardeners-soap-recipe.html

That is a nice recipe. I saw it when I was looking for things I could add to my soap & it reminded me that I had a loofah.

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Melysg25 · Jan 8, 2021

dblbubble said:
I made some lovely gardener's soap this summer and used ground loofah, dried orange peel, ground walnut powder, and poppy seeds. I scented w/lemongrass EO and it turned out great. Very long-lasting.

I used this recipe as a reference: Super Scrub Cold-Process Gardener's Soap Recipe - Reformation Acres

When you ground loofah, did it become powdery or still had gritty texture?

Misschief · Jan 9, 2021

Melysg25 said:
When you ground loofah, did it become powdery or still had gritty texture?

Please note that the poster you're responding to hasn't been around since 2018 and that post is from 2017. You likely won't get a response.

Mechanic's/Gardener's soap

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