Can you make lime soap with lime juice instead of water?

[danjpiscina]

Hi everyone. I have a quick question:

I'd like to make a citrus soap [haven't come up with the exact recipe but it would have lime/lemon/orange/bergamot/ylang ylang EOs!].

I'm relatively new to CP soap-making, and someone told me you can use "whichever liquid you like", instead of water. But I've only heard of goat milk. coconut milk, etc. I was wondering if lime/lemon juice concentrate would work. Would it help? Has anyone tried anything like this? Could you use pure orange juice? There's so much to experiment with!

Thanks for listening!

-Dan P.

 

[PrairieCraft]

I tried lemon juice for my second ever batch. Don't do it. The acidity of the juice neutralizes the lye. (at least I think that's the technical explanation for why it won't work, regardless it doesn't)

 

[judymoody]

Citrus juices and lye don't get along well. If you use them as part or all of your water, your soap will be mushy.

 

[danjpiscina]

Thanks guys! That helps a lot. Explains why milks [alkalis!] work so well. duh!