Have you ever made Sake Soap?

[My Mountain Soaps]

I have a request to make a sake' soap and wondered if any of you have ever made it? I found a recipe but am unsure what percentages i should use? the ingredients are: olive oil, coconut oil, palm oil, castor oil, shae butter, jojoba, sake and lye. Any tips or ideas? Once again, thanks!

 

[Hazel]

I've never heard of sake soap but it sounds interesting. I don't know about it but I'll give you some thoughts and my opinion on it.

You could just use your regular recipe since the sake is going to be the liquid. I checked on the alcohol content for sake and saw it can range between 15% -17%. I simmer the alcohol off to make it easier to soap with but if you don't, I'd recommend starting with a small batch to see how the sake reacts in the soap. It might cause it to seize.

Are you going to CP or HP? The reason I ask is because I'd leave out the jojoba if you're going to CP it. Jojoba doesn't contribute much in soap other than helping to stabilize lather. Castor oil also helps to stabilize, boosts bubbles and is very conditioning so you don't need the jojoba. However, jojoba would be great to add as the superfat if you prefer HP.
Based on the oils you listed:

CP recipe with 8% lye discount
40% OO
25% PO
25% CO
5% shea butter
5% castor oil

HP
same recipe but add jojoba for the superfat. However, you may not want to add 8% jojoba because it will leave the loaf a bit oily. Perhaps 5% or so would be better.

Disclaimer: This is just my opinion! Actually, I probably wouldn't add shea and I'd either up the OO by 5% or decrease it to 35% and add 10% HO sunflower oil.

 

[My Mountain Soaps]

thank you hazel, i always value your input. I have come across another problem. My mom is the one who put in the request for this soap, and she ordered the rice bran oil and sake and had it shipped to my house. But what she sent wasnt sake, it is Kikkoman's Manjo Aji-Mirin sweet cooking rice seasoning. So it has glucose syrup, water, alcohol, rice, corn syrup, and salt. Everything that can possibly react with lye, and come out with who knows what. I may have to get her to return it, and send the real stuff.

 

[Hazel]

You can still use it but I wouldn't recommend using it as the liquid. I would treat it like I was adding sugar to a batch. I think the alcohol content would be minimal.

Did she order the rice bran oil for you to use in the soap?

 

[My Mountain Soaps]

yes, and i forgot to add that to the recipe above. So what would be the new percentages to you? How do you know what percentages to assign? that is what baffles me. I have never dealt with sugars in soap, how does one do it? once again, thank you Hazel, i am going to start calling you Super Hazel.

 

[Hazel]

Crap! I wrote a long reply, the power went out so I lost everything I typed. Grrr.... Oh well, at least the electric came back on.

Briefly - I'm not super. I'm just passing on info I've learned from others and from what I've learned from experience. There is a lot of specialty type soap I've never made and very possibly never will make. This is why I'll never be an expert like some of the other members.

You would assign percentages based on what properties you want for your soap. It's all personal preference. What I like for my soap (less CO, more conditioning oils) isn't something someone else would like. It depends on your skin type. This is why you'll see people recommend making a recipe, then altering it slightly the next time to see how different amount of oils can change the quality of the soap. Experimenting is the only way to find what you like best.

This recipe is a little lower in conditioning than the one above but it should be all right with 8% lye discount.
35% OO
25% PO
25% CO
5% rice bran oil
5% shea butter
5% castor oil

or...

30% OO
25% PO
25% CO
10% rice bran oil
5% shea butter
5% castor oil

I like the look of both but again; I'd probably drop the shea and increase the RBO to 10% in the first one. In the second one, I'd either leave the RBO at 10% and increase the olive to 35% or increase RBO to 15% and leave the olive at 30%. Decisions, decisions. But this is all just my opinion. You'd have to try them and see what you like.

Also, someone else may have a better suggestion.

 

[My Mountain Soaps]

Ok, so i cant call you Super? ha ha. But thank you so much for your time and energy. I have had the power outage issue too. Mostly when i lived in texas, in spring and fall you can almost set your clock to it going out due to the huge storms. Here in colorado, i think we have had it once. But thanks for the re-write. Oh, and how do i use the non-sake as a sugar like you suggested?

 

[Pepsi Girl]

Ok I can't stand it What is sake?

 

[My Mountain Soaps]

Japanese Rice Wine. It is supposed to have great anti-aging values when used in soaps. I cant wait to try it.

 

[Pepsi Girl]

HaHa ok now I got it! I've never really seen the word written out! In my mind it was like sake as in"for Pete's sake" :grin:

 

[Hazel]

thank you so much for your time and energy. Oh, and how do i use the non-sake as a sugar like you suggested?

I'd use it like I would regular sugar which is based on 2% ppo. This comes out to approximately 1 tablespoon ppo.

You're welcome! However, now my energy has dissipated and the time is up. I'm going to be heading for bed.

 

[My Mountain Soaps]

HaHa ok now I got it! I've never really seen the word written out! In my mind it was like sake as in"for Pete's sake" :grin:

Ha ha, that is what i thought when i went to first write it out, i even had to double check with my husband and ask how to spell it.

 

[My Mountain Soaps]

Thanks again Hazel!

 

[Ruthie]

Another one of those endless possibilities for soap making. Can hardly wait to hear how it turns out!

 

[My Mountain Soaps]

Ok Hazel, one more question. the Kikkoman's Manjo Aji-Mirin sweet cooking rice seasoning is 8% alcohol, should i let it sit out and go flat like i read about everyone else doing with their alcohol based liquids? or can i just use it straight out of the bottle? thanks again hazel.

 

[Hazel]

It won't go flat since it isn't carbonated. Several people have mentioned freezing alcoholic beverages and then slowly adding lye to them. It's possible this would work but I don't know since 8% is quite a bit higher than beer. I don't recall if anyone has mentioned freezing wine which has an even higher alcohol content. I prefer to play it safe and simmer alcohol off because I worry about the soap seizing. I've had it happen to me once. Not fun but educational.

 

[My Mountain Soaps]

Well i finally made the soap and cut it tonight. It turned out super soft and creamy. But this is of course not a true sake, it is Kikkoman's Manjo Aji-Mirin sweet cooking rice seasoning. I would like to try true sake next.....

 

[Pepsi Girl]

I love creamy white soap!

 

[My Mountain Soaps]

I love creamy white soap!

Thanks, I haven't ventured into colors yet, i may do that. I still prefer to keep things as natural as possible, even though colors are natural and dont do a thing to the body. I may have to start coloring, just so that i can keep them separated!

 

[Hazel]

Those look great! It will be interesting to hear what you think of the lather after the cure. I'd actually have a hard time waiting for a full cure and would probably test a small portion in a couple of weeks.