Fruits and Veggies

[Traumabrew]

I have used cucumber and avocado in my soaps, but what other veggies and fruits have people used and what results have you gotten? I was thinking of trying strawberries or other berries and maybe apple. What about citrus? Would the acid in citrus affect the soap? Also, what essential oils would you use with them? I only use "natural" ingredients and avoid fragrance oils and non natural colorants.

 

[SunRiseArts]

I do think citrus can affect it, but others probably can explain that. Strawberries sound great but you will have a lot of seeds you may not want in the soap.

Besides that I have used: tomatoes, cucumbers, avocado puree, pumpkin, butter squash, and carrots. I do have a very old juicer that spells the seeds and skin on one side, and pure juice on the other. Then I use the juice only.

Apples I have not used. But soap queen has a video using apple sauce. I think real apples might get brown? Not too sure about that.

I have also use lots of baby food in my soap. I like that it has the fruit or vegetable already, and gives the color a pretty tint. If you go that route, make sure you read labels. Good baby food is only water and the fruit or vegetable. Some others have citric acid, corn syrup (as if a baby should eat that), and other things sometimes.

Make sure you freeze your fruit juice if it has sugar, and follow the same method as if using milk, or beer.

You can follow your process normally, any EO probably would work. The smell of the fruit does not survive the lye process in my experience.

 

[earlene]

I have used lemon juice as part of water replacement and it does have the capacity to alter the SF some, but in a small batch with only partial water replacement, it wasn't noticeable.

I tried spinach as a colorant, and at first it was a nice green, but eventually that faded to no color. Here's a photo of how it look while it was still young. I really liked the look, but it didn't last, as the soap all ended up the same white, until I put it in boiling water. In boiling water the bright spinach green returned.

I have used tomato sauce, papaya, carrots (strained), avocado, parsley and infusions of other herbs, maybe some others that aren't coming to mind at the moment. Only carrots kept the color for long.

I have not used any fruits besides avocado, papaya and tomatoes. I have not used apple or other fruit juices except what was included in kombucha tea (store bought).

As for any tangible differences in the soap with or without these ingredients, I just can't say positively. For me it was more the novelty of it and a love of experimenting. Did any of them alter the shelf life of the soap in any way? No, not at all except one incidence. I may still have a couple papaya soaps left which are fine at about 2 years old. I think I may have given away the last of the carrot soaps I made, but at about 2 years, they were also still fine. By fine, I mean no 'spoilage' or other adverse effects.

However, I did not really like the avocado soap I made with avocado puree. The soap started out a lovely green, but turned an ugly brown. I ended up throwing that one away because it also smelled odd, as though the avocado was turning. I have not used avocado in soap since, partly because of that, but more because I'd really rather eat an avocado than use it in soap. For me they are one of my favorite fruits.

 

[BattleGnome]

SoapQueen’s Natural Soapmaking book has several ideas for food additives. The recipes in it aren’t super special but you may be able to look at the book description for ideas. If I remember right she uses, blueberries, carrots, and various infusions in her recipes. I have also seen references to papaya, I think there was a member a while ago who was attempting to make a skin whitening soap

I haven’t experimented with foods yet to see what they add to soap.

 

[Obsidian]

Those if you who used tomatoes, does it turn brown? That's the one fruit I've always wanted to try.

 

[madison]

I had extra plums and celery so I used them in my soap, they were good for long time, no spoilage, but the color won't survive the long cure . For the next time using vegetables and fruits I'd like to use mica.

 

[lenarenee]

I've used baby food carrots and the color was very yellow. It faded quite a bit, but the color was still "clear" - as in didn't brown.

 

[SunRiseArts]

Earlene that soap looks gorgeous. So sad you had to throw the avocado one away.

I wonder is baby avocado puree would turn brown too.

 

[earlene]

Those if you who used tomatoes, does it turn brown? That's the one fruit I've always wanted to try.

No, but I didn't use a large amount of tomato sauce in the two different soaps I made. Photos before. After approximately 22 months, the colors remain the same in one, while a bit darker in another, but that was FO related discoloration. Both are dual lye soaps with 5% KOH, using [40% Lye] Concentration and both have a bit of buttermilk included as well.

I called this one 'Green Tomatoes' even though I used red tomato sauce. I used 2 shades of green micas and plain uncolored batter to get the three color swirl. Also buttermilk was in the formula. This one in fragrance-free.

This one was also with red tomato sauce as well, darker micas, but the FO was Dragon's Blood, which caused darkening of the colors within the soap. At 22 months of age, the DB still smells wonderful even though I only used 1.5% (much less than I normally use for FO's) so the discoloration is minimal for a DB soap. The photo shows the uncolored portion as an off-white to light beige, but now it is about the color of taffy, so the discoloration isn't much, which I believe is totally related to the amount of DB used.

I titled the soap 'Cosmic Swirl' but I don't recall why because it wasn't a Cosmic Swirl that I used. It was really a modified funnel pour using a cardboard TP Roll. I think my mind was on the Cosmic Swirl when I went to name the soap because I had recently watch a video tutorial and wanted to try it out. It's confusing, but that's all I can conclude was why I named it that when I labeled them.

 

[earlene]

Earlene that soap looks gorgeous. SO sad you had to throw it away.

I wonder is baby avocado puree would turn brown too.

I actually didn't throw the spinach soap away. I used some and put the rest into a salted out soap project, which is how I learned that spinach in soap brightens back up in the presence of boiling water (just like fresh spinach).

Interesting question about the baby avocado puree. I didn't know you could even buy such a baby food. Thinking back about the avocado soap I made, maybe the avocado was too ripe to start with or maybe I may have used too much for the amount of soap, although it didn't seem like a lot at the time.

 

[Traumabrew]

Are there any real benefits to adding fruits or vegies to soap? I know avocado can bump up the SF but do any of the vitamins or other special properties of fruits and veggies survive saponification?

I am going to try to use pomegranate juice and soak pomegranate seeds in olive oil for an infusion to see if I can get a nice red color from them.

 

[Relle]

I've added papaya to my soap and then used a papaya FO to go with it.

 

[MySoapyHeart]

I really liked the look, but it didn't last, as the soap all ended up the same white, until I put it in boiling water. In boiling water the bright spinach green returned.
View attachment 29785

Lol, gotta ask... how did you come to think to put your soap in boiling water??
Beautifull soaps btw!!

 

[SunRiseArts]

I actually didn't throw the spinach soap away. I used some and put the rest into a salted out soap project, which is how I learned that spinach in soap brightens back up in the presence of boiling water (just like fresh spinach).

Interesting question about the baby avocado puree. I didn't know you could even buy such a baby food. Thinking back about the avocado soap I made, maybe the avocado was too ripe to start with or maybe I may have used too much for the amount of soap, although it didn't seem like a lot at the time.

I was writing in a hurry, I fixed my answer. Sorry. Been so busy lately. Probably will take a break until the fall. I did get that. The spinach returned with hot water, the avocado got bad.

Yes you can buy baby food with avocado. I specially like using this brand for soaps. Never had a problem. I think there is one for avocado alone in the store. .

 

[earlene]

Lol, gotta ask... how did you come to think to put your soap in boiling water??
Beautifull soaps btw!!

I was making salted-out soap because I wanted to try the process, plus I had some soaps I wanted to rebatch. So I decided to toss a couple of the spinach soaps in since the color had faded, so I cut them up a bit and lo and behold, the spinach color began to return!

 

[MySoapyHeart]

I was making salted-out soap because I wanted to try the process, plus I had some soaps I wanted to rebatch. So I decided to toss a couple of the spinach soaps in since the color had faded, so I cut them up a bit and lo and behold, the spinach color began to return!

Ah, I see, thanks! How fun the color came back, wonder why.. Perhaps because the spinach was rehydrated in the water? Kinda`like when I soak my Orchid under water to rehydrate it, and see the roots go from greyish dull to green in like 2 seconds. Who knows, but interesting none the less

 

[madison]

I am going to try to use pomegranate juice and soak pomegranate seeds in olive oil for an infusion to see if I can get a nice red color from them.

I tried using the hibiscus in the past, the color didn't survive, I didn't try the pomegranate, but my thinking that it may not survive. Pomegranates are very expensive here, I'd rather save them to eat them.