The fridge

[Black soap n candle lady]

Does anyone out there just love to go into the fridge and see what they can put into their soaps as a skin nourisher? Things like avocado, bananas and so forth? Let me hear your ideas. Thank you!

 

[reallyrita]

I've used fresh buttermilk and baby food carrots, coconut milk, seaweed, orange peel and a bit of ripe avocado. Not all in the same soap!!! LOL!

 

[GrumpyOldWoman]

Me too I look in fridge & cupboard for "inspiration" all the time

Add ins that I've tried-

baby food carrots
coconut milk
coconut cream powder
eggs
Avocado
citrus peel (lemon, orage, grapefruit, and blood orange)
rice powder
cornmeal
grated ginger
wheat & oat bran
powdered egg shell (I don't like it, won't be doing that on again)
coffee grounds

I think there's more....

 

[IrishLass]

I've used baby oatmeal, coconut milk, goat milk, cow's milk carrot juice and egg yolks (not all in the same soap! ). All came out great except my soap with the cow's milk. It developed a nasty, sour smell over a few weeks.

Lately, I've been bouncing the idea around to put cucumber pulp in a soap, and also using mashed avocado and pumpkin puree in other soaps. I've been doing a lot of reading up on foody soaps at the different forums I go to and am getting really tempted to give it a try.



IrishLass

 

[Godiva]

I've used baby oatmeal, coconut milk, goat milk, cow's milk carrot juice and egg yolks (not all in the same soap! ). All came out great except my soap with the cow's milk. It developed a nasty, sour smell over a few weeks.

Lately, I've been bouncing the idea around to put cucumber pulp in a soap, and also using mashed avocado and pumpkin puree in other soaps. I've been doing a lot of reading up on foody soaps at the different forums I go to and am getting really tempted to give it a try.



IrishLass

When you use food in soap, do you have to use some type of preservative to keep the food from going rancid? Or does the sap process preserve it?

 

[IanT]

yep ive done it alot too

 

[IrishLass]

When you use food in soap, do you have to use some type of preservative to keep the food from going rancid? Or does the sap process preserve it?

From my experience, it seems that the lye takes care of preserving things. I've not ever had a 'foodie' soap go rancid on me (so far). Although my cow's milk soap did take on a sour note, it didn't grow mold or anything like that. It's funny because I was the only one who could smell the sour note in it. Everyone else that smelled it said it smelled fine. Go figure!

I used to have the same concerns as you (about things possibly going rancid), but so far it hasn't happened to me with the things I have used. My soaps made with carrot juice, oatmeal, coconut milk and goat milk are all fine going on almost 2 years now. My soap with egg yolks is 6 months old and is also still doing fine.

I've been reading posts on other forums by people who regularly use food in their soaps and the consensus is that if you use chunks of fruits or veggies as opposed to pureed fruits or veggies, that the chunks will go bad and grow mold, but not so for the pureed fruits and veggies. The pureed food soaps never go bad for them, even after 3 or more years have gone by. From this interesting fact, I gather that the particles of pureed foods are small enough for the lye to completely encompass them, staving off any yuckie bacteria that might want to form, while it's much harder for the lye to penetrate big chunks of food enough to have such a possitive affect. At least that's my theory anyway. HTH!



IrishLass

 

[Black soap n candle lady]

Hey everybody! Thanks for all of the yummy ideas. I never use a specific preservative in my food soaps. I use a lot of food too. Like I have said, I make in very small batches so they get used up fairly quickly. I expect they should last 2-3 years without going bad. I have rendered my own tallow but the soap I made smelled not as good. It performed nicely though. I would like to become better at the tallow soaps. I want to try it all!

 

[IrishLass]

I would like to become better at the tallow soaps. I want to try it all!

I love tallow in soap. Lard, too. They make some of the best soaps, and both are indespensable ingredients in my soaping cabinet, for sure.



IrishLass