# Cornstarch as an additive ....



## Lion Of Judah (Jan 31, 2013)

Hi everyone,
i have a quick question and search as i might i still can not find a concrete answer. i wanted to add some cornstarch to my soap that i will be making later on today for the silky feel that it brings to soap. now i was trying to find out exactly where/when to add it in my soap. within searching i kept coming up with using cornstarch to anchor EO's & FO's  to the soap . if i go that route will it still  lend itself to the silkiness quality in the soap. i see where the EO/FO is added to cornstarch to make a slurry and added at light trace. 
anyone who uses it on a regular that can give me a clear insight i would gladly appreciate it .


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## squigglz (Jan 31, 2013)

Mix the cornstarch and EO/FO together to make a paste and put it in the oils before adding the lye. That's the only suggestion I could find, and that was on this forum


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## 2lilboots (Jan 31, 2013)

I was watching a you tube video and the lady added her cornstarch with her eos plus she was also using clay.  She made a slurry then added it to her oils before adding her lye/water mixture.


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## lsg (Jan 31, 2013)

I would probably add a little of my base oils to the cornstarch and mix it together well before blending back into the base oils.  Either that or add a little thinly traced soap to your cornstarch and blend well before adding back into the batch.  That is the way I add clays.


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## DWinMadison (Jan 31, 2013)

2lilboots said:


> I was watching a you tube video and the lady added her cornstarch with her eos plus she was also using clay.  She made a slurry then added it to her oils before adding her lye/water mixture.



My hesitations would be that 1) corn starch is a natural thickening agent.  The last thing I want it one more thing to make my soap trace.  2) and this goes for honey, milk, etc.... corn starch is basically sugar.  Wouldn't sugar tend to ferment as the soap cures leading to potential weeping, discoloration and fragrance changes?


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## lsg (Jan 31, 2013)

I have used milk, cream, sugar and honey.  If used correctly none of these should ferment after saponification.  Keeping the soap cold after pouring in the mold should prevent overheating.


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## Lion Of Judah (Jan 31, 2013)

thank you everyone for your speedy reply's . i took a tablespoon of my combined oils and added that to my cornstarch and added my EO/FO and mixed it to a slurry, then added that to my oils before i add my lye mixture. everything went smooth so i now got to wait until tomorrow to see what i end up with.
outside of that i was a little disappointed with my colorant , i used paprika and tumeric and also a little combination of the two to try get a orange color. so i tried a in the pot type swirl but looking at it in my opinion there was not enough contrast so it came out looking like tomato soup ....lol, you got to love trial and error , but i will see tomorrow as well what i end up with .

again : thank you all very much for the speedy reply's

p.s (i just saw that there was two reply's while i was typing my message )
 @DwinMadison ... it all depends on your amount , if done correctly each one of those ingredients will enhance your final product, sugar adds to bubbly lather, cornstarch give your soap a silky feel , which is what some people use in place of silk for vegans , salt adds to the hardness of your soap and so on. its all really about finding the right amounts that makes it all safe and worth while.


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## Lion Of Judah (Feb 1, 2013)

well i un-molded and cut my soap today. i can definitely say that the scent is non-existent... can't smell a thing . but being the good note taker that i am i know where i drop the ball.....i did not add enough FO nor did i add enough EO. i did one tablespoon of FO  and combined EO'S  to make up one tablespoon as well . i was going for something different in the looks department also, it was to be a "in the pot swirl" , instead i got ....... don't know what to call it . lolol, i still like it though 
funny thing is , i do not like scents so when i was putting the EO/FO together it give off this rush to my nose , left me thinking i did not want to over do it , so what did i do?.... i under-did - it  lololol 
here are some pictures , enjoy

[ame]http://img713.imageshack.us/slideshow/player.php?id=img713/5181/1359763753ah6.smil[/ame]


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