African black soap

Soapmaking Forum

Help Support Soapmaking Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

Sunibee

Well-Known Member
Joined
Oct 9, 2020
Messages
172
Reaction score
113
Location
India
Hello
I got raw African black soap from a friend in Africa. I want to make them into bars .as this is all like lumps of soft mud. I want to send them with my son to college . He has acne. But I can't imagine him using a round soap ..
Can I just make it like a rebatch soap. Take my recipe for ABS and add 35 % of this soap to make it into bars .. .
 
Do you know the recipe for the soap you were gifted? That would help with figuring out how to incorporate it into another soap.
Nope she got it from Africa..it looks like soft lumps of clay. I decided to use it in the rebatch way with my body butter bars . Easier to use. I use 30% of soap for rebatch
 
Do you know the recipe for the soap you were gifted? That would help with figuring out how to incorporate it into another soap.
i saw this african black soap in Whole Foods that says to make it they 'add ash extract to hot oils, cook the mixture until it becomes charcoal, & then cure it in the sun for three weeks'

the 'ash extract' is potash, a lye substitute, specifically cocoa pod (or plantain) ash, which is still available on Etsy, but not Ebay: Cocoa Pod Ash - Etsy

that natural potash is very beautiful and i am curious how soap made from that natural lye would differ qualitatively from the soap I currently make from white and i presume less natural lye
how to measure potash or cocoa pod ash per lb of oils? Does SoapCalc do that?
i just realized i'm not sure i properly know the difference between KOH & potash Lye vs Potash - What's the difference?
this article suggests mixing a 5 lb bag of potash w 5 lbs of cooking grease to make soap, so a 1:1 ratio?
https://homesteady.com/12300683/how-to-make-soap-indoors-from-potash
Just messaged this seller on Etsy to ask him or her to please give me some idea of how much of their potash do I need to mix per pound of oils. They are charging $63 for 500g of 'Organic cocoa and plantain ash for soap making':
https://www.etsy.com/listing/974225...&organic_search_click=1&variation0=2834768020

curious if curing soap in the sun for three weeks really makes it better and if so why they had to use the surfactant Lauryl Glucoside that doesn't sound particularly authentic to me

after watching this vid it finally sunk thru my thick skull they have to use sun and fire because they are essentially making solid soap out of potassium, rather sodium, hydroxide- cocoa pod ash will naturally create a very soft soap...
also sun curing gives the soap a lighter appearance

0i155r.jpg


made primarily from neem, a powerfully medicinal oil, then shea butter, and then palm kernel oil

MR3wKu.jpg


am i trippin' or is it slightly offensive to put on the ingredient label that african black soap is orangutan safe?
quite the risqué attempt at humor, wouldn't you say?
 
Last edited:
Note the + symbol after palm kernel oil and also before the orangutan safe footnote. They are saying the palm kernel oil they use does not come from plantations that have been established in deforested forest areas that destroy orangutan habitats. Orangutans are an endangered species.
 
@johnnyusa orangutan safe means the making of the soap doesn't have a impact on the orangutans habit, not that its safe to use on one though it probably is lol.

One reason many people won't use palm products is due to the destruction of orangutan habit in order to grow the palms
 

Latest posts

Back
Top