Tussah silk alternative?

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Shellonian

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Here's a random question! Could I use tencel or another vegan 'silk' in the same way that I would use tussah silk? Has anyone tried it? To be fair I haven't actually tried tussah yet ;)
 
Silk proteins just gives the bar more "slip," but there are lots of ways to do that. I'm not sure how Tencel, composed of cellulose, would interact with Sodium Hydroxide, but I imagine it might have the effect of a starch, not a protein. You could try a little and see what it does.
As far as "silky" goes, vegan options include Canola oil, sugar, sorbitol, Kaolin clay, Aloe Vera Juice or gel, or including a small percentage of a Linoleic oil such as Safflower, Sunflower, and I forget what else.
I'm sure there are plenty of other who know more things, but if you post your current formula, I'm sure we'd be happy to help you "silkify" it.
 
I would think there would be any point in using it as a replacement since it is a cellulose product, not a protein product. The main point of using silk is the proteins in the silk. Gemstone got to the answer before me but I will finish my short answer anyway.
 
Someone else in this forum - or maybe on FB? - used corn silk from the husks of corn on the cob.

Reportedly, it worked just as well, was vegan, and was easy to source, esp during summer. Even during winter, I can find cobs with partial husks on them in the freezer section at the grocery store. Bonus is that you get to eat corn on the cob for dinner 😁

My original bag of Tussah silk will last till Jesus returns, so I’ve never gone to the sticky trouble of saving the corn silk to give it a try. Hopefully someone who has tried it will chime in.
 
I have used corn silk, but I gathered it myself from corn on the cob, so since we don't eat cob corn much, I have only tried it once. I can't say I noticed any difference between it and silk. So in that respect, I'd say it was successful.

But you can also buy corn silk without the cob at various online stores.
 
Wow, this is brilliant, thank you all! I haven't planned a recipe yet. I'm veggie but hoping to cater to my vegan friends. My first action will be putting corn on the shopping list!
 
I just ordered some eri “peace“ silk to try in soap. I also dried corn silk from corn we used to make corn pudding For Thanksgiving. Corn silk is mostly carbohydrates, with less than 20% protein. I expect it will be a bit more like adding colloidal oats than adding silk.
 
You know, I still haven't either! My OH still hasn't bought any corn on the cob home, despite me regularly putting it on the WhatsApp shopping list. But I now use canola and have tried aloe vera juice and sugar.
 
I now use canola and have tried aloe vera juice and sugar.
About a year ago I started using canola in place of OO. I love it.. its inexpensive but still makes a good soap and I just made a soap with aloe juice I cant wait until it cures to try it out! Other than my honey and Hempseed oil soap...I've never put sugar in my soap. it helps with bubbles, yes?
 
I have used corn silk, but I gathered it myself from corn on the cob, so since we don't eat cob corn much, I have only tried it once. I can't say I noticed any difference between it and silk. So in that respect, I'd say it was successful.

But you can also buy corn silk without the cob at various online stores.

My next several soaps since that post and beyond will be made with masterbatch lye that has cornsilk in it. So far, it's too soon to tell if I will notice a difference between it an silk.
 

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