What is the weirdest thing you've put in soap ?

[Elise]

I'm wondering what king of unusual or surprising things have been turned into soap.
For me it's... wool !
I had seen that silk can be dissolved in the lye solution many times. And then I came across a video on Youtube by Tellervo where she dissolves cashmere into her lye ! I thought to myself "So, we're adding animal hair into soap now ?"
I have access to sheep wool just out of the carding machine, so I figured I could give it a try. After all, it is mainly made of keratin, as cashmere is. And I know that the type of protein that silk is made of is also similar to keratin (but called fibroin). And so I did gave it a try.
I used a very small ball which weighed 0.30g (for 500g of oil). I hope it is enough to be noticeable in the finished soap. But I never found a recipe that gave precise measurement for silk or cashmere and didn't want to over do it.
The lye solution stank while dissolving the wool. It smelled a bit like burned hair (which makes sense). I still had some very very small bits that went undissolved. Either I wasn't patient enough or 0.30g was too much already.
The soaps are curing, I'll let you know how they went



Edit : here is the video by Tellervo I was mentionning

 

[AliOop]

Very cool! Awhile back, someone here was putting snake skin in her soaps. Apparently those are also very high in keratin, and the local snakery (snakeatorium?) provided her with their sheds for her to use. The soaps sold well in their gift shop.

I've used tussah silk and corn silk; both add a nice slip to the lather. I am due to make a batch of shave soap, and I plan to add more silk than usual to see if the difference is noticeable.

 

[Elise]

I had to go and search for that thread about snake skin. I found it, not sure I would try it. I also came across one thread about people collecting spiderwebs for soap making . I wonder how that came out.
Anyway, I don't feel that weird about having added wool in my soap now.

I wanted to try corn silk this summer but forget to ask some to my friends growing them. I don't think they still have any. I'll wait for next year. (I have enough on my "to try list" for quite a while)

 

[CatahoulaBubble]

Mine's not so odd in that I add a whole egg shell and all to my soaps sometimes but I had an acquaintance that added her cats' and dogs' fur to her soap on purpose. She also added her own hair. Here I am cleaning everything to make sure I don't get pet hair in my soap and she was adding it deliberately.

 

[Savage Daughter]

Mine's not so odd in that I add a whole egg shell and all to my soaps sometimes

What does the egg shell do for your soap? Any issues with DOS due to the mineral content or any such problem? Usual cure time or?? Discoloration?

but I had an acquaintance that added her cats' and dogs' fur to her soap on purpose. She also added her own hair.

Uhhhh.... I know I keep telling people to push the envelope....but dear mother of all that is holy.... WHYYYY

Here I am cleaning everything to make sure I don't get pet hair in my soap and she was adding it deliberately.

Again... Please tell me she is NOT selling her baby abominations....

 

[Zuleika]

Mine was Ginseng tea and Ginseng bits. Loved the tea part, not so big on the bits. I dislike bits and pieces coming off in the shower so it's a personal thing. Although I must say the bits made a good massager in the shower as they were soft instead of scrubby. I would make a Ginseng tea soap again. Lovely light Ginseng scent even after 4 weeks.

 

[Elise]

Mine's not so odd in that I add a whole egg shell and all to my soaps sometimes but I had an acquaintance that added her cats' and dogs' fur to her soap on purpose. She also added her own hair. Here I am cleaning everything to make sure I don't get pet hair in my soap and she was adding it deliberately.

I haven't tried egg soaps yet, but it's on my list . First time reading about the shell though how did you incorporate it into the soap ? Crushed ? Did you end up liking it?
I guess dog's hair wouldn't be so different from any other animal hair. Or human hair. Yeah, I wouldn't be comfortable gifting these ! But if she liked it for herself, why not.

 

[Elise]

Mine was Ginseng tea and Ginseng bits. Loved the tea part, not so big on the bits. I dislike bits and pieces coming off in the shower so it's a personal thing. Although I must say the bits made a good massager in the shower as they were soft instead of scrubby. I would make a Ginseng tea soap again. Lovely light Ginseng scent even after 4 weeks.

Interesting that the sell remained, event very slightly. I tried ginger infused oil a while ago. The smell was also still present after cure.

 

[TheGecko]

I am boring as all get out because I haven't put anything 'weird' by even the tamest stretch of imagination. Putting pet and human hair in soap...that is just nasty. There are things that just shouldn't be done.

I've consider playing with adding pumpkin, carrot, avocado, cucumber, etc but when it came down to it...I just didn't think the label appeal was worth the effort.

 

[lsg]

I think using an egg in my soap was as weird as I got.

 

[Savage Daughter]

I haven't tried egg soaps yet, but it's on my list . First time reading about the shell though how did you incorporate it into the soap ? Crushed ? Did you end up liking it?

Yes, inquiring minds want to know!

I guess dog's hair wouldn't be so different from any other animal hair. Or human hair. Yeah, I wouldn't be comfortable gifting these ! But if she liked it for herself, why not.

For herself, giddyup & enjoy, but still - even the thought of this is gagtastic

Gawd....I hope the people selling 'yoni soap' - seriously now? - are NOT putting unimaginable bodily 'harvested' things in there because.... :shudder: and :uugghhh:

Emojis need some serious upgrades in order for people to be able to more precisely express themselves!

 

[AliOop]

Breast milk soap is a thing, esp custom soap with one’s own milk to wash one’s own baby.

I’ve had no requests so far, but I would make it if someone requested it and provided their own breast milk for that purpose. Milk is milk, IMO. So breast milk in soap doesn’t bother me — except for those who put it into M&P rather than CP or HP. Definitely need a strong emoji for the M&P idea as it would become rancid rather quickly due to not going through the saponification process.

 

[Blufuz]

I know it’s quite common, but what I think of as the weirdest ingredient I’ve used so far is spirulina which is “cyanobacteria” and I wouldn’t have thought bacteria could be an ingredient in soap!

 

[TheGecko]

Gawd....I hope the people selling 'yoni soap' - seriously now? - are NOT putting unimaginable bodily 'harvested' things in there because.... :shudder: and :uugghhh:

There would be no way I could sell this given that the purpose (to fight odor, restore pH balance, tighten skin, fight bad bacteria and even reduce inflammation) of said soap would require me to licensed by the FDA and that's a road I have no intention of traveling.

Breast milk soap is a thing, esp custom soap with one’s own milk to wash one’s own baby.

I know that milk is supposed to be milk...cow, goat, camel, donkey, etc, but there is something about using human milk that is a bit unsettling for me. And as you describe it, smacks a bit of being a fad.

 

[AliOop]

I know that milk is supposed to be milk...cow, goat, camel, donkey, etc, but there is something about using human milk that is a bit unsettling for me. And as you describe it, smacks a bit of being a fad.

I cannot disagree with you. To me, there would be an "ick" factor for me to use soap that contained someone else's breast milk, for sure.

That might be irrational, as women do donate breast milk to other women who cannot produce enough for their babies and don't want to (or can't, due to allergies) use formula. We all have things that do or don't bother us (needles, blood, etc.) and that is ok.

 

[Georgeandstella]

Mine's not so odd in that I add a whole egg shell and all to my soaps sometimes but I had an acquaintance that added her cats' and dogs' fur to her soap on purpose. She also added her own hair. Here I am cleaning everything to make sure I don't get pet hair in my soap and she was adding it deliberately.

Hi, is this for exfoliant? I’m drying and grinding eggshells, but not fine enough to not be exfoliating thank you

 

[Elise]

I know it’s quite common, but what I think of as the weirdest ingredient I’ve used so far is spirulina which is “cyanobacteria” and I wouldn’t have thought bacteria could be an ingredient in soap!

You're right ! Spirulina is a kind of bacteria ! Totally forgot about it. When I tried it in soap as a colorant I only thought of it as an algae (which it also is, right ?)

 

[Lyche]

Cell phone...didn't really mean to.

 

[Jorah]

Call phone...didn't really mean to.

I had a binder clip fall into the oil on a batch on Tuesday; I just stood there and stared at it for a moment in shock before fishing it out.

 

[glendam]

Once I put grass (or boiled grass water I guess). It was for the garden inspired challenge hosted here I think. For another I added cilantro to see if made the soap green (it did but very little). If I remember correctly, Jen from Jen Spice in YT, added some of her rabbits fur (angora rabbits) to the lye solution. Which I guess is also a type of wool.