Charcoal soap questions...

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mcleodnaturals

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I've see so much about charcoal soaps in the past couple days and I'm wondering if anyone would care to share their secrets....

How much activated charcoal do you use ppo?

Is it the same thing you buy at the pet store for fish aquarium filters??

I know that charcoal has some skin benefits, but what exactly are they? Is it good for oily skin? (always on the lookout for something to pamper my face with! :D )

Thanks again!
 
I've made 2 charcoal batches so far and both came out great. I use 1 tsp ppo of activated charcoal that I bought at the health food store (made by Nature's Way Herbs). It comes in capsule form, and I just break the capsules open and pour the charcoal out. It takes 5 capsules to equal 1 tsp.

I've heard on other soaping forums of people using the charcoal bought from the pet store with good results, too.

IanT, one of the moderators here knows a lot about the benefits of charcoal. I remember him writing some of the benefits down on one of the threads floating about on the forum. My knowlege is not as complete as his, but from what I do know, charcoal is very good at binding toxins and carrying them out of the body. You may be able to find what IanT wrote if you do a search here under 'charcoal'.

I realise it's only anecdotal and that a lot of times what works for one person doesn't necessarilly work the same way for another, but the son of one of my friends who was dealing with teenage acne on his back said that my soap made with charcoal was able to help cut down on his acne, and they asked me if I could make some more for them.

It's definitely worth a try at any rate, and at the very least, if you try it and you find that it doesn't do much very for you, you'll be left with an awesome-looking, black colored soap. I really, really love how classy looking and black my charcoal soap is, and also how it still lathers white in spite of it being so black.



IrishLass
 
I just made a batch this morning. I am actually doing a half clay and half charcoal swirl. I used the fish store stuff. I just put it in a coffee grinder until it is powder. Do this outside since the powder should not be inhaled and it is very light and lofty after being ground.
 
IrishLass said:
I've made 2 charcoal batches so far and both came out great. I use 1 tsp ppo of activated charcoal that I bought at the health food store (made by Nature's Way Herbs). It comes in capsule form, and I just break the capsules open and pour the charcoal out. It takes 5 capsules to equal 1 tsp.

I've heard on other soaping forums of people using the charcoal bought from the pet store with good results, too.

IanT, one of the moderators here knows a lot about the benefits of charcoal. I remember him writing some of the benefits down on one of the threads floating about on the forum. My knowlege is not as complete as his, but from what I do know, charcoal is very good at binding toxins and carrying them out of the body. You may be able to find what IanT wrote if you do a search here under 'charcoal'.

I realise it's only anecdotal and that a lot of times what works for one person doesn't necessarilly work the same way for another, but the son of one of my friends who was dealing with teenage acne on his back said that my soap made with charcoal was able to help cut down on his acne, and they asked me if I could make some more for them.

It's definitely worth a try at any rate, and at the very least, if you try it and you find that it doesn't do much very for you, you'll be left with an awesome-looking, black colored soap. I really, really love how classy looking and black my charcoal soap is, and also how it still lathers white in spite of it being so black.



IrishLass
Click to expand...

:D 8) ...You are quite correct lass :)

here are three excerpts from posts I made when we first started batting around the use of AC (activated carbon aKa charcoal)
Activatec carbon (or charcoal) has a wide range of uses, because of its structure it has 4 covalent bonding sites on the carbon molecule that are able attach to any molecule, thereby changing the molecules structure into something it was not previously. (this is why they dont work well with fragrances/EO's), it is revered for its abilities for toxin absorption (both internally and externally) and I highly reccommend its use in body products as well as ingested (you can buy it in caplet form or make your own caplets), it will absorb toxins, poisons, and other unwanted nasties in the system.

I love this stuff
Click to expand...

IanT said:
I have been thinking that a very good ingredient to use for deodorizing would be activated carbon (ground up)...its pretty much charcoal... ((beware...chem stuff ahead!) Since the carbon molecule has 4 bonding sites available, in its activated state it will basically latch on to any other contaminating molecules in the air or surrounding atmosphere (ie if you used it in soap it may work on your skin!).. By latching itself to these molecules it in essence changes the molecule from its normal state, into an altered state that no longer has the odor!))


charcoal is also said to absorb toxins from the body! (this would be a soap you would NOT want to add scent to as it would most likely neutralize it...but it WOULD neutralize the odor (in theory!)



Hows that idea!
Click to expand...

Charcoal has been used for centuries for detoxification of the systems of the body...I think on skin it has the same use and since it bonds with darn near anything (4 covalent bonding sites per carbon molescule meaning it wants to bond to molecules and change them) means it works wonders for toxins on the skin!! most of which cause acne!
Click to expand...
 
Thanks for all that great info IanT!! Wow...I did so awesome in Chem in high school but now it's all for nothing...can't remember a **** thing!

I hit the fish store today to find activated charcoal and all I could find was activated carbon. I'm assuming this is the same thing....??? I didn't buy it just in case I was wrong. The healthfood store was closed by the time I got there... :cry:

Can't wait to give this a try! Sounds like an amazing spa experience!
 
Yep it is the same thing. I went through the same thing when I bought mine. I asked the store if it was and I bought. I then did the research to see if it was the same thing:) And it was. And it is a hell of a lot cheaper than the health food store. Activated carbon, also called activated charcoal or activated coal, is a form of carbon that has been processed to make it extremely porous.

They turn out soo cool. I posted pics in the project forum of my first batch...

Have fun!!!
 
:D (yeaaah I think I spelled activated wrong in the post somewhere lol....)


all activated carbon really means is that the charcoal is in its free-est bonding state (ie no impurities and hence better for toxin/odor removal)
 
Ahh, I KNEW I should have gotten some at the pet store just in case!!! I would have asked, but the girl at the till couldn't even figure out how to ring in my coupon for my cat food....pretty sure she wouldn't have know what activated charcoal/carbon was! :D

Thanks for all the great info!!!
 
Personally, I don't use Charcoal. I read somewhere that it has been linked to toxicity in some cases.

When it comes to make a coal tar type soap (although I know that's probably not what you're referring to)...I decided to go with Pine Tar instead.

That may not have helped any. LOL
 
:) in order to swirl you would set aside a small amount of charcoal (lets say your using 1bsp per pound of oils in your recipe)...youll want it to be powedered so its smooth when its in the soap. (or it would be a cool scrub effect I guess if it was chunky.

make your soap as usual, i use cold process so for me this would entail adding the lye solution (h20 plus NaOH) into the oils, stirring for a bit so its incorporated, then i remove a section to be used for swirling...somewhere around 1/3 of the batch of batter add the charcoal to this and stir so its all incorporated. put this aside....continue stirring the other 2/3 soap batter until a very light trace is reached and pour into your mold.

then you take the 1/3 you took out pour it back into the 2/3 in a zigzag sort of design. (a pictoral description can be found here: http://beauxeaux.com/swirltutorial/howtoswirl.htm)

and take a chop stick and drag it through the whole mold to swirl the colors around...

:)

hope i didnt make that sound too confusing.

dont get discouraged if it doesnt work the first time. im still perfecting it, and from what ive learned it also depends on how large the mold is you have because sometimes you just cant get the swirl to go through using that method... for a mold like pauls 1lb minimold, I try to swirl in the soap pot and then pour this into the mold.


:)
 

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