# Ideas instead of water



## Flutter (Jun 11, 2017)

If this topic is out there somewhere else, feel free to merge and/or point me in the right direction. Otherwise ...

One of my first recipes used herbal tea in place of water for the lye mixture. I found another recipe using rosewater.

I started wondering what other things you could use to add fragrance and/or skin loving goodness to your soaps.

Surely other floral waters would work. Aloe juice maybe (could you use it even if it states refrigerate after opening)? I think I read somewhere that you can even use organic fruit juice ... anyone tried that?

Any other ideas? What have you used in place of water that worked well for you?


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## Obsidian (Jun 11, 2017)

My favorite water replacement is aloe juice. I use the kind made for drinking, comes in a gallon jug. I've tried carrot juice and cucumber juice, didn't like the carrot much but the cuke was nice. I also like coconut milk, the kind that comes in a can. Beer is also good too but remember to cook it until all the alcohol is cooked off the the bubbles are gone.


I don't bother with animal milks or teas anymore, I don't see that they add anything. The scent from teas or floral waters won't come through in the soap.


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## Steve85569 (Jun 11, 2017)

Aloe juice.
Vinegar ( reacted with lye since there is acid in vinegar).
Coconut milk.

In that order work for me. I use the vinegar in recipes with lots of soft oils to help harden up the soap. Helps to not get too much soap on my skin from a bar that's just too soft.
Coconut milk adds sugars so it tends to boost lather a bit.


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## Flutter (Jun 11, 2017)

I really want to make a wine soap.  I found a recipe where you cook down the wine and freeze it and let the lye melt it later.

I don't really want to use coconut milk (or any other milk); the smell of milk is not appealing to me.

I have some aloe juice (meant for drinking and/or in smoothies), but it says to refrigerate it; that won't matter in the soap then?


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## The Efficacious Gentleman (Jun 12, 2017)

As has been stated, not much of the scent comes through. When you add the NaOH to the frozen you'll be quite glad of that!


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## anshika154 (Jun 12, 2017)

Aloe Juice or coconut milk which i will prefer..


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## shunt2011 (Jun 12, 2017)

I like aloe jucie, coconut milk, beer or buttermilk.  My favorites in soap.


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## earlene (Jun 12, 2017)

I've used a variety of other liquids instead of part of all of my water.   Now that I master batch my lye (with water at 50%  concentration), I tend to use only partial water replacement, however.  But before I started masterbatching my lye solution, I often used a full replacement.

Coffee was the first liquid I used in place of plain water for making soap.  My husband loves coffee soap and I was very disappointed that the smell of coffee doesn't carry through into the soap.  So I went in search of a good coffee fragrance oil.  '

Tea was the next liquid I used as I am an avid tea drinker and have an abundance of teas from which to choose.  Marshmallow tea was probably my first tea I used to make soap (made with dried marshmallow root.)  Mostly it is useful for coloring the soap tan, as nothing much survives the  chemical changes that happens when it interacts with lye.

Kombucha Tea was for my SIL, who is very fond of the tea and cultivates her won Kombucha tea.  Others besides my SIL have used this soap and I get positive feedback on it.  I'm sure it's more about the sugar in the tea than the tea itself that makes the soap bubbly, and that it's a 'label appeal' thing going on.

Beer tends to make a very strong odor when mixing the lye solution, but some people really seem to like the idea of Beer Soap.  The smell sticks to the soap for awhile, but eventually mostly mellows.  Some people say the smell goes away, but I can still smell a faint hint of beer or hops over a year later.

Aso aloe, coconut milk, buttermilk, goats milk, carrot juice, tomato, vinegar, and I'm sure some others that are not currently coming to mind, have all been used in my soaps.  Egg yolk is my actually my favorite addition to soap.  It's not something to replace all water, obviously, but when using tempered egg yolk, it does replace some of the water.  I think buttermilk is another of my favorites, but that's more about the fact that I just love buttermilk.

I also like using vinegar in soap, but found that it cannot be a 100% water replacement.  Too much vinegar made my soap brittle and it would fall apart when cut if I waited too long.  Perhaps it was more an issue with timing when I cut the soap as opposed to using too much vinegar.  But for me, the solution was to use less vinegar.  It helps harden the bars up quite nicely.

I understand about not wanting to smell something that doesn't appeal to you.  I felt that way the first time I soaped with lard.  I am not in the least fond of the smell of lard.  I'm not particularly fond of the smell of beer or wine, either.  Probably why I've only made beer soap once and never made wine soap at all.

Oh, and I have read about people using potato water (I think here on this forum in an old thread) and want to try that someday myself.  It occurred to me that if one can use potato water, what about pasta water or rice water?  All seem feasible, but I have yet to experiment with them myself.  I tend to make soup with my pasta water, and I almost never boil potatoes, and since I don't make congee much anymore, haven't had any rice water around to use in soap.  Still, it may be interesting to see what the soap would be like.  I read that those who do the potato water soap seem to really like it.


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## Primrose (Jun 13, 2017)

I use goats milk but that's mostly because I breed goats so need a way to utilize some of the milk. Goats milk doesn't have a smell for me at all. 

I'm going to try using goats milk made into coffee and tea soon too


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## SunRiseArts (Jun 13, 2017)

I LOVE experimenting, I am crazy like that.  I have use coffee, beer, wine, tomato or carrot or cucumber juice.  Adore using baby food as part of the water (just make sure you read labels as is purely vegetable or fruit, some have lemon and cornstarch), goats milk, buttermilk, coconut milk.

I have not use tea, but I am not much of a tea drinker.

My next one I will use aloe, been meaning to.  And I wonder if anyone here ever used evaporated milk?

earlene, egg yolk?  yikes, does it shorten the life of the soap?


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## earlene (Jun 13, 2017)

SunRiseArts said:


> earlene, egg yolk?  yikes, does it shorten the life of the soap?



Not in my experience.  I have egg yolk soap over a year old and it looks and smells fine.  Great lather.

There is no viable egg left in the soap once it is soap.  The saponification process alters the fatty acids in eggs the same as from any other source.


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## dixiedragon (Jun 13, 2017)

Flutter said:


> I really want to make a wine soap. I found a recipe where you cook down the wine and freeze it and let the lye melt it later.
> 
> I don't really want to use coconut milk (or any other milk); the smell of milk is not appealing to me.
> 
> I have some aloe juice (meant for drinking and/or in smoothies), but it says to refrigerate it; that won't matter in the soap then?


 
I too dislike the smell of animal milks in soap - I always pick up a baby-vomit smell. Coconut milk doesn't have that though, I assume b/c it doesn't have proteins in it.


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## dixiedragon (Jun 13, 2017)

I would not choose to use a dark-colored fruit juice b/c I imagine it will turn a dark brown in your soap, but a light colored juice, like apple juice, might be okay.


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## Flutter (Jun 16, 2017)

Hey, anyone ever used rice water in soap?  It's supposed to be good for your skin.  I've been using a rice water toner recently and like it so far and just wondered about trying it in soap.



dixiedragon said:


> I too dislike the smell of animal milks in soap - I always pick up a baby-vomit smell. Coconut milk doesn't have that though, I assume b/c it doesn't have proteins in it.


 
LOL at the baby vomit comment - I usually say it reminds me of baby formula, so yeah


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## Zany_in_CO (Jun 17, 2017)

earlene said:


> ... I have read about people using potato water (I  think here on this forum in an old thread) and want to try that someday  myself.  It occurred to me that if one can use potato water, what about  pasta water or rice water?





SunRiseArts said:


> I wonder if anyone here ever used evaporated milk?


Yes! Evaporated milk has the most wonderful carmelized smell during HP.



Flutter said:


> Hey, anyone ever used rice water in soap?


I went thru a phase a loooooong time ago where I tried all the starches -- potato, rice, pasta -- water and they did make a difference in the feel -- it's the sugar in starches that gives the soap a lather boost and I would say a silky/creamy feel. My fave was rice water. Well worth experimenting with.


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## Flutter (Jun 17, 2017)

Zany_in_CO said:


> Yes! Evaporated milk has the most wonderful carmelized smell during HP.
> 
> 
> I went thru a phase a loooooong time ago where I tried all the starches -- potato, rice, pasta -- water and they did make a difference in the feel -- it's the sugar in starches that gives the soap a lather boost and I would say a silky/creamy feel. My fave was rice water. Well worth experimenting with.


I would have never thought of evap milk; I will add that to the list to try.

I think I am going to use rice water or aloe juice next, maybe both 

I just have come up with more space for drying soaps :-?


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## dibbles (Jun 17, 2017)

Flutter said:


> I would have never thought of evap milk; I will add that to the list to try.
> 
> I think I am going to use rice water or aloe juice next, maybe both
> 
> I just have come up with more space for drying soaps :-?



Aloe juice is nice in soap. The stackable shelves that are used in kitchen cabinets work well and are available lots of places. Like these: 

https://www.bedbathandbeyond.com/st...lf-in-white/3261068?Keyword=stackable+shelves


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## Zany_in_CO (Jun 18, 2017)

Walmart has the best price on Aloe Vera juice. Here's a link:

http://tinyurl.com/y9zanoqh


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## SunRiseArts (Jun 18, 2017)

Thank you all.  I have aloe vera gel I got at market st.  Is a huge bottle. I use it under my eyes, keeps dark circles away.  Is 100%, so I think it will work.

I am going to freeze evaporated milk and try it


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## ibct1969 (Jun 18, 2017)

SunRiseArts said:


> I use it under my eyes, keeps dark circles away.



Seriously?  Hmm.  Totally distracted by this.  I am on it since I have had dark circles forever.


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## Flutter (Jun 18, 2017)

So why do some recipes say to freeze a liquid before adding the lye?  Is this just to lower the heat or something else?


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## Britannic (Jun 18, 2017)

Yes, if the liquid is heat sensitive (milk, cream, etc.) and can spoil or discolour, freezing it will ensure the lye doesn't raise the temperature to scalding/scorching levels and ruin the water substitute.


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## Dahila (Jun 18, 2017)

No aloe vera will not keep dark circles away but light oil and a few drops of Frankincense helps but use not more than half of percent in oil dilution


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