Beer and wine soap

[kelly2019]

Hello everyone! I've made a few batches of HP beer soap, which I have included 5% castor oil in.
I saw somewhere that a soapmaker left off the castor oil when using beer, because it makes great lather on its own.
I'm getting ready to make more beer soap...and also wine soap, which I assume would have similar qualities?
Any thoughts on this? Can I/should I leave off the castor oil?
Also, would it produce the same lather when using HP and CP?

Thanks!

 

[earlene]

I don't always use castor oil in my soap, and don't see it makes much difference even in soaps without added sugar. There have been times I just did not have any on hand or available for purchase, so just adjusted my recipe without it. So it's not really essential, in spite of what some things you may see around which suggest it is needed.

 

[KristaY]

I dislike the feel of castor in my soap so stopped using it several years ago. Plus, it accelerates trace for me even at 5%. With the natural sugars in beer and wine you'll still have plenty of good lather without the castor if you decide to eliminate it. I think you should try a batch without castor then you can compare the two different recipes and see if there's a difference for you and which one you might prefer. I make a lot of beer and wine soap without castor and get nice suds. For soap that doesn't have beer or wine, I add sugar to my water before adding lye and I like the lather!

 

[msunnerstood]

I HP and Typically use Castor Oil. I have made both beer and wine soap and used Castor in both. Its just been in my standard recipe so I did not exclude it for those.

 

[Dawni]

I also HP and typically do not use castor oil hehehe

I have it and use it when I *think* my recipe needs a lather boost, like when using a lot of butters, or when I CP a brine soap (lots of salt in the water).

The beer soap I made has dense, abundant, small bubbles without additional sugar and castor oil

 

[KiwiMoose]

I've made beer, wine and cider soap and used castor in all of them. I once made soap (not with alcohol) without castor and added sugar to the recipe for more bubbles, but I didn't like it as much as the castor, which to me is more creamy.

 

[Lin19687]

Castor alone does not make the bubbles, it enhances the bubbles from other oils

 

[DeeAnna]

I don't think it makes a great difference whether you use castor or not. If you have a recipe you like, I'd stick with it even if using beer or wine rather than water.

Frankly, castor has not been a game changer for me -- I don't see a great difference either way in how the soap performs after it's cured whether the soap has castor or not. Perhaps there are subtle differences, but I'm apparently not perceptive enough to pick up on those differences and neither is Renae, my experienced soap maker friend, or other people who give me feedback.

I like beer in soap because it's fun, it adds label appeal, and I really do think beer makes soap more bubbly.

I can't speak about wine -- never tried it. I would not assume it would add the same qualities as beer, however. Beer and wine both contain alcohol, but that's about it for similarities.

 

[Marilyn Norgart]

I have made a few different beer soaps and I think they are my favorites--great bubbles and love the scent I get from them!!!

 

[kelly2019]

Thanks so much for the replies!! I think I'll do a little small 10 oz recipe and see how it goes without the castor oil.
I'm not a soap expert...so I appreciate any info you all provide.

I've read about some soapmakers adding maple syrup...is this the same premise as beer/wine sugars? or is it something else in the beer?

 

[earlene]

Thanks so much for the replies!! I think I'll do a little small 10 oz recipe and see how it goes without the castor oil.
I'm not a soap expert...so I appreciate any info you all provide.

I've read about some soapmakers adding maple syrup...is this the same premise as beer/wine sugars? or is it something else in the beer?

I have used maple syrup (only because we visited Vermont and bought way too much of it!) basically for the sugar content.
Too much maple syrup makes soap spongy and it stays that way. If you ever use it, be cautiously stingy with the syrup.

Beer has sugars, but also alcohol. If you don't boil the alcohol out, you would be adding alcohol to the soap as well. Do the hops bring anything to the beer? Some think so; I don't really know, but maybe.