Fruit Juices in Soaping

[Krickett]

I know this question has probably been asked someplace already and I am sorry for asking it yet again but here goes---Can you use fruit juices like V8-Fusion or just like frozen concentrate juices if you use some sort of preservative to keep the juice from going rancid? I have seen posts about using Aloe Vera juice are the other types of juices much different? Many Thanks in advance for the info and help!!


Krickett

 

[IanT]

Yes you can, simply substitute either a portion of your water for the juice (pecentage-wise, because some juices weigh more than others)

you can also sub the water for milk such as goats milk (or add a combination of water+juice and powdered goats milk
hope that helps!

 

[Krickett]

Thx Ian!

Krickett

 

[antella]

I actually don't see any point in adding fruit juices to soap. I tried different ones and they went tan or brown. It sounds nice but the lye robs them of any vitamin content. Also, shouldn't you be careful about adding acidic substances to soap, since it needs alkalinity to saponify?

 

[Black soap n candle lady]

I used to always add various juices to my soaps as part of the liquid solution. It is fine to do but I am quickly turning into a coconut, almond and 'dairy' queen! I find these items far more beneficial than adding some expensive juice in that will get eaten right up by the caustic lye. Now what I do add also is pureed produce. Oh i love it!

 

[7053joanne]

Be careful with acidic juices as they may mess with your lye

 

[jenmarie82]

can i put pureed produce in M&P? doesn't it turn brown or mold?

 

[IrishLass]

I make 2 special soaps with a few different juices in them. One is a carrot juice soap, and one is a cucumber juice/aloe vera juice/avocado puree soap.

My carrot soaps are made with 1/2 of my liquid amount as fresh carrot juice. I add the carrot juice at trace and get a nice pumpkin/orange color with it. I have soaps with carrot juice over a year old and they are still a nice pumpkin/orange color (not brown at all). I like using the carrot juice because it's a natural orange colorant that works for me that has remained orange-y.

The cucumber/aloe juice soap with avocado puree is a new experiment for me. I've made 4 batches so far over the past 2 months or so and the soaps have come out really nice. I knew beforehand that over time the beautiful shade of green from the fresh cucumber juice and avocado puree will fade, so I added a smidge of chromium hydroxide green to them. So far they are holding up great. They are still such a pretty shade of green going on almost 8 weeks now.

There are soapers on another forum I frequent who make soaps with tomato juice with very good results. Some use it for all their liquid amount and some use it only for a part. I've not used it myself, but I've seen pictures of them, and the soaps are a beautiful reddish/orange, or yellow/orange, depending on the amount of tomato juice used. The people who have made them say that their soaps have not morphed into brown, even after a year. They've pretty much stayed the same pretty reddish/orangy/yellow color over time. One soaper who uses 100% tomato juice for her liquid says her tomato soap feels wonderfully creamy and mild. She uses it as a facial soap and absolutey loves it. I'm guessing that the extra mildness might be coming from the acid in the juice eating up some of her lye and giving her a higher superfat percentage. It sounds like I might just have to try tomato juice soon to find out!

can i put pureed produce in M&P? doesn't it turn brown or mold?

You can always experiment to find out , but it's not something I'd personally risk with M&P. Where food is concerned, M&P doesn't have the same advantage of the chemical reaction that lye brings to CP (somewhat acting as a preservative). This is very important, especially when one considers that even CP soaps made with foods can go bad if the fruit and/or veggies are not pureed finely enough.


IrishLass