using clays in CP soap

[JLem]

I noticed the other day that my local herbalist shop carried a bunch of clays...including bentonite and French green clay (among others). I understand that some of these clays can be used to color CP soap, but really don't know how to use them. Which clays are useful in CP soap (for color or other reason)? How much is used and how are they added? At trace?

Thanks!

 

[jenneelk]

I tried them a while back to see if they changed the feeling and quality of my soaps but I'll be honest, i didn't really notice a difference. Maybe some use more but I believe I did what I read most which was 1 tbs PPO. I have Kaolin, Bentonite, 2 green and a red (forget which exactly). I know many use them and like the differences, I just couldn't notice them so I use those clays for natural coloring when I need it or for other products.
For coloring I have some premixed I use.

 

[mintle]

I really like to add clays to my lye water; I have read that it helps to 'release' all the minerals into the water. You could then strain your lye solution and have colourless soap with benefits of clay (theoretically), but I never do that because I have a vision of my lye splashing everywhere while I play with the straining.

In the past I have also added clay:
- to my oils (I can mix clay with oils and get an even colour, however often the bubbles appear if I use my stick blender)
- at trace (the clay can be hydrated in water prior to that or dissolved in oils, both work well for me).

It is believed that the clay will absorb the water and therefore speed up trace, so probably it's good to soak it/hydrate in water first if you want to do any superswirls .

I use clays for colour and I like the feeling that I have added something special to my batch , but I also notice they make some difference in terms of bubbles (a slippery feeling?). I add around 1 teaspoon ppo (I have just browsed through my notes and I used 2 teaspoons of green clay in one batch ppo with good results, too).

 

[lsg]

I like French green clay and rose clay for subtle, muted colors in soap. I do think that clays help anchor fragrance and they are supposed to add silkiness, slip and absorbency to soap according to David Fisher.

http://candleandsoap.about.com/od/soaprecipes/a/claysoapcombo.htm

 

[Seawolfe]

I mix my clay to a slurry with some of the water allotment, and then add it to the oil/lye emulsion so it gets some good stick blender time. Unlike Jenneelk, my husband and I really do notice a difference in soap with clay, and really like them. In fact once he tried it hubby has demanded clay in all of "his" bars. While curing they have a certain "bounce" to their texture when you squeeze them - I guess it makes them more plastic if that makes sense? Once cured the clay is noticeable as a bit of slip in the lather, a smoothness to the lather. Using Moroccan red clay in soap makes my skin feels very clean, but not dried out at all. The French green seems more cleansing and I like it when I'm grubby or as a face bar if I'm breaking out.

Oh and apparently clay helps with making the scent stick.

I typically use 1 TBsp PPO, and so far have used bentonite, Moroccan red and French green. As far as coloring, my French green is very subtle, but when used with hemp oil the color is quite nice. The Morrocan red is more noticeable - but more of a pink than a red, if you want more red use a madder root oil infusion as part of your oils.

Heres some pics - the two layer bar is the one with Moroccan red and madder root.

This green is French green clay and hemp oil.

 

[jenneelk]

Seawolfe maybe I need to try mine again.. now that I am more in tune with a few of my regular recipes and how they feel. Back when I really tried them, I was also still trying out new recipes I'd put together but I'm no longer doing that. I have about 20 I use now and 5 I use very often.
I looked and have kaolin, bentonite, sea clay, yellow/dark red/purple and natural brazilian, green zeolite, rose clay.
No moroccan or french.. maybe that's why and those seem to be better? I don't recall specific clay qualities any longer. :/ I do have madder root.

 

[Seawolfe]

I would be interested to hear what you think in a tried and true recipe jeneelk. Bentonite seems to be the most adaptable of the few clays I have tried - no real color change, no significant drying, but it does add that bounce, lather feel and scent sticking.

 

[Seawolfe]

In a quick glance at my recipes, my use may be as low as 2 tsp in 25 Oz oil, up to 1 TBSP ppo - so obviously it depends on the clay and what I think Im doing...

 

[MadMadamMim]

I added some clay to my last batch of shampoo bars and they were noticably more slippery. I didn't realize that was the cause until I read the other comments here. I added french green clay; it was a very pretty color. However, I didn't premix my clay and just dumped it in near trace so I ended up with a few clumps. To my dismay they were not evenly distributed enough to look intentional

Seawolfe- that two layer bar is gorgeous!

 

[Seawolfe]

Thanks! I can't take credit for the 2 layer bar, I got the idea from a soap queen melt and pour tutorial, only I did it cp, but it's a definite make again. The scent is rosemary & anise and I adore this soap.

 

[Obsidian]

I love clay in shaving soap, not only does it help the razor glide across your skin but it helps all the gunk not stick to the razor. I don't care for it too much in regular CP, it seemed to dry my skin out a lot. I might have used too much though.

 

[Crombie]

Clay in Soap

I love using clay in soap. It helps to anchor the scent, and it feels good on the skin, especially the face. I use 2 tsp clay ppo. I HP. For each 2 tsp of clay, I mix well with oil (taking some from my crockpot before I add lye water). At light trace, I mix a little of the soap batter with the set aside clay-oil slurry, then I mix it all back into the soap batter. Here are two of my clay soaps. The green uses French Green Clay (the swirl is a green oxide) and the pink is French Pink Clay. I also like using white kaolin clay in other soaps.

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www.sadiesmissionsoaps.com

 

[JLem]

Thanks all for the ideas and tips. I picked up some clays the other day and will give them a try in the next couple of weeks - I picked up both French green and French red clay. I'm excited to try them out!