Sweet Potato Soap?

[BlondeSquirrel]

I have some leftover mashed sweet potatoes from Thanksgiving. There's a little butter, brown sugar, and bourbon in them. If I added it to soap, should I decrease the SF to 5% instead of my normal 7-9% so there's a bit more lye to eat the butter?

 

[carebear]

naw, I'd leave the lye discount the same. but be aware that it could overheat more easily with the sugar from the sweet potatoes plus the added sugar, so watch it carefully!

i've soaped baby food sweet potatoes and it came out great. have fun.

 

[judymoody]

I read sweet potato soup at first!

Butter can impart a stinky scent to soap but it sounds like the amount involved is trivial so I say give it a shot.

I'm about to do the same with some leftover pumpkin puree.

 

[BlondeSquirrel]

Yeah, it's not too much butter. I used 1/3 c in a 9x13 casserole dish filled to the brim with potatoes. I baked it, so the alcohol evaporated out of the bourbon, too.

If it works, I'll get a pic! Too bad all the food-y fragrances I have are filled with vanilla, so there's going to be some browning going on.

 

[ericllucas]

What do sweet potatoes add to the soap? What is the resulting soap product like?

 

[BlondeSquirrel]

Eric, I have no idea. Just sounded like a good idea at the time.

Honestly, though, I think maybe the sugars will increase lather, and the vitamins in the potato will be nice on your skin. And it's also a topic of conversation..."There's what in that soap? A side dish?!"

 

[dieSpinne]

Also, the cellulose in the soap may contribute as a very mild exfoliant.... kind of like oatmeal would.

 

[BlondeSquirrel]

I'm almost certain that I'm going to have an ugly partial gel.

I insulated my last batch that had sugars in it, and it overheated and separated. I was able to rebatch and save it, thankfully, but I didn't want to repeat that episode again. I covered this batch lightly and it looks like it'll be partially gelled. The mold is still warm, so hopefully it'll be able go gel all the way and be OK. Looks pretty nice with little orange flecks in it from the potato!

 

[Maythorn]

I tried potato lotion one time and it was so nice. I think I read that starch adds something to soap in the way of texture.

 

[ToniD]

Good to know others have used sweet potatoes, I have a few jars of the baby variety sitting on my shelf that our granddaughter is not going to ea t. And naturally I wondered if I could soap them. ( I wonder how most of the products in my house relate to soap). I know pumpkin is nice and figured that sweet potatoe should work.

 

[BlondeSquirrel]

Nope, no partial gel! Looks great!!

 

[Hazel]

Nope, no partial gel! Looks great!!

Pic?

 

[dcornett]

Nope, no partial gel! Looks great!!

That's great! I hate a partial gel :x LOL...and pics would be nice.

 

[SchenckOrchard]

When do you add the sweet potato? I want to try this with baby food.

 

[ToniD]

When do you add the sweet potato? I want to try this with baby food.

You can add it at trace, but I like to add it to my oils and mix well before I add the lye solution.

 

[honey4phenix]

I need a recipe of soap to smell like rotten sweet potatoes. It’s a joke someone is pulling on a friend. Anyone have any ideas??