Potato soap update

[DeeAnna]

I can't say I've heard of anyone saying they have added iodine containing chemicals to soap, and I think I'd prick up my ears if a discussion like this got started.

I estimate there's something around .0003 gram (0.3 milligram) of iodine in 1 teaspoon (6 grams) of Morton iodized table salt. That's obviously enough to have an effect on human health, but I find it hard to believe it would have much if any effect on soap.

 

[Peachy Clean Soap]

You mean like this? I tried it with Povidine Iodine, (1% Iodine in solution) but it does not contain KI (potassium iodide), so it didn't work - the turning blue part, it did turn black, however, but no tint of blue in any light source. Who knows what else it did do as I was only observing for color.

But if you are referring to the color change, it's due to her FO, which contains vanillin.



I did find an interesting article in Scientific American that addresses how starch contributes to bubbles in the presence of cold water, in an article about Boba Tea, of all things. But it also contains information about how starch decomposes in the presence of hot water, which I would never have considered, since in my experience starch thickens water even in the presence of heat, as that is exactly how I make Congee (heating water in gelatinous creating starch).

Another interesting tidbit when it comes to creating a gelatinous liquid from potatoes, rice or other starch, is that salt interferes with the way starch creates gelatin. (Link) So another thing to think of when adding starch to soap to create more bubbles.

Perhaps it is the combination of starch and high salt, however, those two together might be what Peachy was talking about. Put them together and the salt interferes with the starch, then that would likely decrease the expected bubbles, hence the bubble buster statement. Makes sense to me. I know if I add salt to my Congee concoction it does loose some of the gelatinous nature, depending on how much salt is added. So I tend to make it salt-free.

I'm not sure if or how Iodine itself contributes to hardening soap, though. I think that might be a misconception of what the soap calculators list as Iodine, when in fact it does not indicate a presence of Iodine in oils or soap. The iodine value in soap calculators is NOT the amount of iodine in oil, but the propensity for oxidation based on what is called iodine-uptake.

If anyone can show me studies where Iodine itself is added to soap, as it pertains to hardness, I'd like to read them.

Love all your information' Wow. Thx for taking the time much appreciated very interesting. . I think I was confusing Salt along w/ Iodine cause often they add it to salt. I meant to say "starch" is a bubble enhancer.

Glad you mentioned Iodine' when it comes to color change' I noticed when I grated the " raw potato & ground it up w/ distilled water it was milky in color" as the raw potato juice oxidized it turned a dark purple in color so interesting! thats the oxidized iodine in the potato, though not enough to color soap or w/ stand the Lye.
I do recall reading somewhere the Higher the iodine the softer the soap & vise ah versa, the Lower the Iodine the harder the soap. Thats interesting oxidation & Iodine Up-Take. Thx again for your information. Soaping is so scientific. Thank you for all your clarification.

 

[RDak]

I don't know if this has ever been mentioned before but...........

I finally remembered where I saw the article written by a soaper discussing ginger tea + a bit of sugar boosting the lathering better than both ingredients do alone. (I have used it and she is right from what I have seen anecdotally; about on par with potato water.)

It's an article written last summer and here are the mixing instructions, (the link posted after the quote takes you to the full article).

"To a large pot on your stovetop, add your distilled water. Be mindful to count how many 8oz cups of water you’ve added to your pot. For every 8oz cup of distilled water, we’ll incorporate ½ tablespoon of sugar and two tea bags. For example, in the picture below, I’ve added five 8oz cups of distilled water to my pot. To this, I’ve added 2 ½ tablespoons of sugar and 10 bags of tea. As your distilled water warms, add the sugar first so that it begins to dissolve. Once the water is hot, you can add the ginger tea. Be sure to remove any paper tabs attached to the tea bag’s string first, so that you don’t end up with bits of paper floating around in your tea. Remove the pot from the heat source and allow the tea to steep for at least 10 minutes."

Link

 

[Peachy Clean Soap]

I don't know if this has ever been mentioned before but...........

I finally remembered where I saw the article written by a soaper discussing ginger tea + a bit of sugar boosting the lathering better than both ingredients do alone. (I have used it and she is right from what I have seen anecdotally; about on par with potato water.)

It's an article written last summer and here are the mixing instructions, (the link posted after the quote takes you to the full article).

"To a large pot on your stovetop, add your distilled water. Be mindful to count how many 8oz cups of water you’ve added to your pot. For every 8oz cup of distilled water, we’ll incorporate ½ tablespoon of sugar and two tea bags. For example, in the picture below, I’ve added five 8oz cups of distilled water to my pot. To this, I’ve added 2 ½ tablespoons of sugar and 10 bags of tea. As your distilled water warms, add the sugar first so that it begins to dissolve. Once the water is hot, you can add the ginger tea. Be sure to remove any paper tabs attached to the tea bag’s string first, so that you don’t end up with bits of paper floating around in your tea. Remove the pot from the heat source and allow the tea to steep for at least 10 minutes."

Link

Thats very interesting. I'm sure it has a pleasant scent too.

 

[penelopejane]

Thats very interesting. I'm sure it has a pleasant scent too.

Not likely. The NaOH will eat the scent.

 

[soapmaker]

After reading all this and wanting to try it, I thought, wait a minute...I use sugar and colloidal oatmeal in every batch, so that's should be pretty much the same. I do have lovely lather.

 

[Peachy Clean Soap]

Up Date on my " Potato Juice Soap" My Hubby Loves It' & Its not fully cured but my curiosity got the best of me and I had to test it out lol . Though its wonderful in that its moisturizing' nice big bubbles' Hubby says its the best soap thus far!!! " It has an underlining pungent scent, I don't like. When I use aqua faba it does the same thing, I know its from that same stinky molecule thats in "Dairy" that can & does lend to a pungent scent in soap, I cant think of the name right now' I Mentioned it in a thread above.

I wanted to mention Hubby cant smell the " Pungent scent" I can. Maybe my Nose Knows & i'm more acute to scents. dunno??

 

[Peachy Clean Soap]

Not likely. The NaOH will eat the scent.

Agree Lye Eats Up Scent's More Often Then Not, But yah know Once I was making soap "CP" had my Spice Tea which had a cinnamon stick in it' & thought I'd add some tea as a water replacement' wondering if it would scent the soap' surprisingly enough I was able to smell a very slight scent of spice tea in my soap after I cut it the next day.

 

[soapmaker]

Not likely. The NaOH will eat the scent.

I make a soap with Rooibos tea as the water portion for the colour. It definitely smells in the cured soap.

 

[Peachy Clean Soap]

I make a soap with Rooibos tea as the water portion for the colour. It definitely smells in the cured soap.

I'm going to look up your tea. I love using stuff that scents soap. If its natural all the better. Wow that tea sounds amazing on a holistic point of view' What does it smell like??

 

[The_Phoenix]

After reading all this and wanting to try it, I thought, wait a minute...I use sugar and colloidal oatmeal in every batch, so that's should be pretty much the same. I do have lovely lather.

At the end of the day, sugars and starches are saccharides.

 

[Babyshoes]

I'm going to look up your tea. I love using stuff that scents soap. If its natural all the better. Wow that tea sounds amazing on a holistic point of view' What does it smell like??

I can't stand rooibos tea, the smell to me is very reminiscent of the school trip to the tobacco sales floor that we went on in primary school... (Can you imagine kids these days being taken to such a place?) Raw tobacco smells quite different to cigarettes! Less offensive but definitely distinctive.

Rooibos is fairly strong smelling and a lot of people love it. It's hard to describe, to me it seems quite earthy with a slight honey note. It's also pretty healthy as tea goes.

 

[The_Phoenix]

I can't stand rooibos tea, the smell to me is very reminiscent of the school trip to the tobacco sales floor that we went on in primary school... (Can you imagine kids these days being taken to such a place?) Raw tobacco smells quite different to cigarettes! Less offensive but definitely distinctive.

Rooibos is fairly strong smelling and a lot of people love it. It's hard to describe, to me it seems quite earthy with a slight honey note. It's also pretty healthy as tea goes.

[off topic] My husband LOVES Rooibos tea. I've grown to tolerate it, but, to me, it smells like gym shoes at the bottom of a locker after a full year of use. He never developed confidence on the pronunciation, so he just calls it "red tea." He is adorable. [/off topic]

That said, I cannot imagine the fragrance of steeped teas lasts in CP soap. I used hibiscus tea in soap some time ago and can't say it added anything to the finished product. I do love me a mug of hibiscus tea after dinner, though.

 

[Peachy Clean Soap]

I can't stand rooibos tea, the smell to me is very reminiscent of the school trip to the tobacco sales floor that we went on in primary school... (Can you imagine kids these days being taken to such a place?) Raw tobacco smells quite different to cigarettes! Less offensive but definitely distinctive.

Rooibos is fairly strong smelling and a lot of people love it. It's hard to describe, to me it seems quite earthy with a slight honey note. It's also pretty healthy as tea goes.

The scent sounds interesting & I like the scent of pipe tobacco's.

 

[RDak]

Thats very interesting. I'm sure it has a pleasant scent too.

I don't notice the scent in the finished soap. But my sense of smell isn't that great.

 

[RDak]

Up Date on my " Potato Juice Soap" My Hubby Loves It' & Its not fully cured but my curiosity got the best of me and I had to test it out lol . Though its wonderful in that its moisturizing' nice big bubbles' Hubby says its the best soap thus far!!! " It has an underlining pungent scent, I don't like. When I use aqua faba it does the same thing, I know its from that same stinky molecule thats in "Dairy" that can & does lend to a pungent scent in soap, I cant think of the name right now' I Mentioned it in a thread above.

I wanted to mention Hubby cant smell the " Pungent scent" I can. Maybe my Nose Knows & i'm more acute to scents. dunno??

^^^^Here's a classic example of my sense of smell not being that great. I can't smell the potato or bean water in the finished soap. But NO DOUBT I can smell those two ingredients when mixing with the lye initially.

Off topic: You really should try the ginger tea + sugar recipe the soaper described in her article I linked to above. Together they do add good lather.

 

[RDak]

After reading all this and wanting to try it, I thought, wait a minute...I use sugar and colloidal oatmeal in every batch, so that's should be pretty much the same. I do have lovely lather.

Yeah that would probably be pretty close but with soaping and how things don't always turn out "logically" (LOL) who knows???

 

[soapmaker]

I don't know if this has ever been mentioned before but...........

I finally remembered where I saw the article written by a soaper discussing ginger tea + a bit of sugar boosting the lathering better than both ingredients do alone. (I have used it and she is right from what I have seen anecdotally; about on par with potato water.)

It's an article written last summer and here are the mixing instructions, (the link posted after the quote takes you to the full article).

"To a large pot on your stovetop, add your distilled water. Be mindful to count how many 8oz cups of water you’ve added to your pot. For every 8oz cup of distilled water, we’ll incorporate ½ tablespoon of sugar and two tea bags. For example, in the picture below, I’ve added five 8oz cups of distilled water to my pot. To this, I’ve added 2 ½ tablespoons of sugar and 10 bags of tea. As your distilled water warms, add the sugar first so that it begins to dissolve. Once the water is hot, you can add the ginger tea. Be sure to remove any paper tabs attached to the tea bag’s string first, so that you don’t end up with bits of paper floating around in your tea. Remove the pot from the heat source and allow the tea to steep for at least 10 minutes."

Link

This is so off topic...not sure where to post this but ginger also increases carbonation in kombucha so it's kind of the same.

 

[Peachy Clean Soap]

^^^^Here's a classic example of my sense of smell not being that great. I can't smell the potato or bean water in the finished soap. But NO DOUBT I can smell those two ingredients when mixing with the lye initially.

Off topic: You really should try the ginger tea + sugar recipe the soaper described in her article I linked to above. Together they do add good lather.

I can smell it in the soap batter & in the soap' Ugh . I'll defiantly try Ginger Tea & Sugar' for bubble boosting, I'll look up who it is above. Thx again.

 

[user 49910]

WOW! In the 6-1/2 years since the OP, this thread has really drifted off the topic.

Of course, never in my wildest imagination would I have ever conceived of adding potato to a soap recipe.
Then again, some people like to push the envelope.