water discount for aloe gel?

[kelilah]

Hello!

I am interested in using aloe in a recipe that I already like, and I'm torn between replacing water with aloe juice and adding the aloe at trace, to keep it from getting too chemically altered by the NaOH. If I do add the aloe later, I understand that I should subtract the same amount of water from the NaOH solution. But will increasing the concentration of the NaOH solution cause problems? Help!

 

[The Efficacious Gentleman]

Adding at trace in cp is useful for many reasons - but stopping things from being altered by the lye is not one of them.

In normal cp (no ovens or freezers) your soap will need about 24 to saponify. In that time the lye is still very much active. The amount of active lye will reduce over time, of course, but if you think about how much time is between adding the lye to the oils and then adding things at trace, that is usually less than 30 minutes, which isn't much time compared to 24 hours

 

[DeeAnna]

NaOH will fully dissolve in water only if the water weight is at least equal to the NaOH weight, so that is a hard limit. You can use more water than that, but not less. Most people use aloe juice/gel equal to the water called for in the recipe. Just dissolve the NaOH directly in the aloe juice, since aloe juice is about 99% water.

As Craig pointed out, adding an ingredient at trace doesn't do much except make it more likely you will forget to add it.

From what people say, aloe is nice in soap, but don't expect aloe (and most other additives) to keep its "nourishing" properties. And even if it did, soap doesn't stay on the skin long enough in large enough amounts to have much benefit to the skin.

 

[kelilah]

Thanks

Thanks for the info! I have heard that aloe can help with lather - is that true? Or would I be torturing my plant for basically no reason?

 

[cmzaha]

I use fresh aloe for the label appeal. If you are using fresh aloe you cannot dissolve the lye directly into it. My method is to clean and process my aloe, make a 50/50 lye solution and use the aloe as the remaining required liquid amount. If you are using a juicer instead of a blender to process the aloe you may get away with adding the lye to it, but that I do not know. I like to use Aloe Juice from Walmart as my 50/50 solution then the fresh aloe as the extra liquid. I do fully agree with DeeAnna that you are not really going to get any great properties from the aloe for the skin, but it is good label app appeal. Also it does seem to help lather bubble a bit more, the liquid drinking type not the fresh aloe

 

[DeeAnna]

Oops. I assumed you were wanting advice about the commercial aloe juice, not about aloe from your plants. My apologies -- I should have asked for clarification. Carolyn has the right advice for you.

 

[Susie]

I make a aloe juice/sugar solution that I use in my soap for label appeal. I don't really think it adds anything that any sugar source does not already add. It does, however, alter the color of my uncolored soap to a tan, so you will need to account for it with colorant plans.

 

[SunRiseArts]

Sorry to bud in, but would the aloe gel (or juice)act like when you put milk or juice? Is there a risk or scorching or anything? Or is like coffee?

Thanks.

 

[cmzaha]

The aloe will usually turn yellow when mixed with lye, especially the fresh yellow. I also find it slightly alters the color of my soap, to a light tan