Loofah Soap Help?

[ManyMoons]

I have been making tarts for years, and am ready to take the leap into the bath, body, and home part of my line. I feel uber comfy and excited to try my hand with loofah soap. After much research, the four questions I have that I can't seem to find answers to are these:

1)Do I just have to use glycerin or clear MP base, or can I use pretty much any?

2)If yes, can I use more than one at once?

3)If I add oils and or butters at the suggested measurements for regular MP soap, can I in loofah soaps? I ask this because I am not sure if the loofah itself will hold up/keep it's form if I do add them?

4)Can I use or sprinkle body safe glitters on MP? I know that one sounds silly, but I wish to cover as many bases as possible :mrgreen:

__________________

 

[Hazel]

I don't do a lot of MP but I can answer some of your questions.

Yes, you can use any MP base. It just depends on what you prefer. BTW, the glitter question doesn't sound silly at all. You can sprinkle body safe glitter on MP but you don't want to spritz with rubbing alcohol after the glitter is on the soap. It destroys the glitter. I don't remember who mentioned this tip because I'd like to give that person credit for it. Unfortunately, I didn't remember this tip until after I spritzed the soap. Oh well... :roll: However, you can mix the glitter into clear soap, then spritz and it will be fine since the glitter is coated by the soap. I don't bother with putting glitter in opaque bases since it can't be seen but you could sprinkle it on top.

For question #2 - Are you asking if you can blend 2 different MP bases together? If so, people have mentioned they've blended MP bases and I've blended a shea base with a goat milk base which turned out fine.

About adding extra butter or oil to MP bases - Genny has written about this several times but here's a link to one of the discussions. http://www.soapmakingforum.com/f38/additions-m-p-29337/

You'll find a lot of helpful information and tips if you look for Genny's posts in the Melt and Pour section. She knows a lot about MP.

 

[ManyMoons]

Thank you so much, Hazel!

 

[Hazel]

You're welcome! I forgot to mention you can scroll to the bottom of the page to see related discussions about loofah soap. You could also search for the word loofah or luffa to bring up more topics.

Slightly off topic - I've used CP soap to pour over loofahs and they were kind of nice. They didn't get as hard as MP but most of my recipes are a little on the soft side.

 

[Shannon_m]

I will give you a tip I learned the hard way with MP. If you're going to mix two different bases (ie. clear and shea bases) it's best to work with two (or more) bases from the same manufacturer. The reason? I have found (and big duh to me after hearing Anne-Marie state the same in several of her MP tutorials after the fact) that they are prone to separate, even with liberal alcohol spraying between layers. It probably has something to do with the composition of the different manufacturers recipes.

 

[ManyMoons]

You're welcome! I forgot to mention you can scroll to the bottom of the page to see related discussions about loofah soap. You could also search for the word loofah or luffa to bring up more topics.

Slightly off topic - I've used CP soap to pour over loofahs and they were kind of nice. They didn't get as hard as MP but most of my recipes are a little on the soft side.

Great idea! I've been a space cadet all week lol I will do a search that way as well. I want to move into CP later on. Like many others just starting out, I want to get comfy before delving into it. Rest assured, when I do I am going to be bugging everyone with my questions. I am worse than a 5 year old with that lol

 

[ManyMoons]

I will give you a tip I learned the hard way with MP. If you're going to mix two different bases (ie. clear and shea bases) it's best to work with two (or more) bases from the same manufacturer. The reason? I have found (and big duh to me after hearing Anne-Marie state the same in several of her MP tutorials after the fact) that they are prone to separate, even with liberal alcohol spraying between layers. It probably has something to do with the composition of the different manufacturers recipes.

Thank you so much for the heads-up! I am glad to know that ahead of time, because at some point I am sure I would have tried lol

 

[Hazel]

Great idea! I've been a space cadet all week lol I will do a search that way as well. I want to move into CP later on. Like many others just starting out, I want to get comfy before delving into it. Rest assured, when I do I am going to be bugging everyone with my questions. I am worse than a 5 year old with that lol

I tend to forget about the related links at the bottom of the page since it's a relatively new feature and I'm so used to using the Search function. It's a good thing someone asks questions occasionally and jogs my memory.

 

[ManyMoons]

I tend to forget about the related links at the bottom of the page since it's a relatively new feature and I'm so used to using the Search function. It's a good thing someone asks questions occasionally and jogs my memory.

I didn't see them, either