# Banana, oats & honey gone wrong



## Derpina Bubbles (Dec 28, 2013)

Messed this one up a wee bit. My honey had crystallised a tad and in a rush I mixed it in anyway. The dark nasty looking bits are the not so sexy results. The worst part is it might look like off banana to people which isn't something you really want to rub all over yourself. Normally. Still can't wait to try it.


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## Hazel (Dec 28, 2013)

I think it looks good! You shouldn't worry about the look of it. You learned a lesson and in the end, how the soap makes the skin feel after using trumps looks.


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## TVivian (Dec 29, 2013)

If you didn't say anything, I'd think you did that on purpose! Looks like banana bread!


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## seven (Dec 29, 2013)

derpina, did u use real banana? i didn't have much luck with banana (i used banana + milk. in fact it was such a dismal failure i was deathly afraid to soap with banana milk ever again), but i personally think yours looks good and the specks were intentional. oh god, i still vividly remember that overheated soap oozing banana pus :crazy:


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## savonierre (Dec 29, 2013)

Soap does not have to be perfectly beautiful to be awesome soap..I an sure your soap will feel awesome on your skin.


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## yadonm (Dec 29, 2013)

I just had to rebatch some banana soap because it never got hard and it was weepy.  After the rebatch it's much better.  Not as pretty but it smells great and should make a decent soap.


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## lpstephy85 (Dec 29, 2013)

I agree with everyone else, looks good to me. We are always our own worst critic


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## Skatergirl46 (Dec 29, 2013)

I think it looks exactly like frosted banana bread!


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## Derpina Bubbles (Dec 30, 2013)

Cheers all for the feedback. I agree it should be nice to use (smells surprisingly like porridge) and as Hazel said, lesson learned.  My daughter also thinks it looks like iced banana cake so I'll go with that but I still think it looks like off nana lol. Again, I can't wait to use it and will gladly use it with joy no matter how it looks.

 *Seven - omg banana pus, I'm going between  and :sick: and then back to . Oh, yep real banana, but pus free I'm happy to report.


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## fuzz-juzz (Dec 30, 2013)

It looks great to me. But if you still have doubts, as long as it smells and feels great, who cares what it looks like.


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## Derpina Bubbles (Dec 30, 2013)

I think it will feel good, the lather when cleaning the soap pot was extra creamy and felt great. Might sneak a try early on the daggy end piece.


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## yadonm (Jan 4, 2014)

I was a little skeptical about banana soap but I tried mine the other day and oh my it's wonderful.  When I rebatched it I added powdered GM and it's great.  Not pretty but but so creamy.


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## The Efficacious Gentleman (Jan 4, 2014)

Looks good - I like the contrast with the darker parts.  But if it's caramalised, is that going to be a little bit scratchy on the skin?


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## KitchenDruid (Jan 4, 2014)

Looks good enough to eat!  I often tell my boys my test for putting something on my skin is if you can eat it, it is likely safe to put on your skin - the soap looks like a loaf of banana bread and I agree with others, had you not posted your displeasure, none of us would have been the wiser!


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## hlee (Jan 4, 2014)

I agree it looks good, like banana bread. I love the creaminess  that comes from banana.


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## AshPea (Jan 12, 2014)

Bumping this thread, I wanted to know if I can use mashed banana added at trace in any old soap recipe or if it's important to use a certain combo of oils when using banana? 

Also how to I estimate how much banana to use ppo?


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## AngelMomma (Jan 12, 2014)

I discount the water in my recipe by the # of ounces of banana puree I am going to use. So a 50oz batch has 5 ounces of banana puree along with the other additives. I stick blend the banana like crazy and then strain it.....sometimes twice. I use a recipe I like and it works great. It does gel quickly though. So there is no way I would wrap it up and leave it for 8 hrs like I do other soaps. I wrap and check, keeping a close eye on it and when its complete I cool it down by taking off the lid and/or even sticking it in the fridge for a little bit. It only takes mine about 2 hrs to be completely through gel and then I have it in cool down.

eta....sometimes I don't gel it though.  It comes out prettier if I prevent gel.


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## Derpina Bubbles (Jan 12, 2014)

AshPea said:


> Bumping this thread, I wanted to know if I can use mashed banana added at trace in any old soap recipe or if it's important to use a certain combo of oils when using banana?
> 
> Also how to I estimate how much banana to use ppo?



I used a recipe that is just a tried and true one for me, so yep, any recipe as far as I know. I added vitamin  E for luck lol. I used banana that was going to the dark side and went with 1/2 a small banana per pound.

 Funny enough, I used a bar of this for the 1st time last night. It's an ugly soap but sure does feel nice. I want to try this again and add my honey right this time plus strain the banana so it looks better, because it really is a nice soap to use. With closed eyes.


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## Derpina Bubbles (Jan 12, 2014)

AngelMomma said:


> I discount the water in my recipe by the # of ounces of banana puree I am going to use. So a 50oz batch has 5 ounces of banana puree along with the other additives. I stick blend the banana like crazy and then strain it.....sometimes twice. I use a recipe I like and it works great. It does gel quickly though. So there is no way I would wrap it up and leave it for 8 hrs like I do other soaps. I wrap and check, keeping a close eye on it and when its complete I cool it down by taking off the lid and/or even sticking it in the fridge for a little bit. It only takes mine about 2 hrs to be completely through gel and then I have it in cool down.
> 
> eta....sometimes I don't gel it though. It comes out prettier if I prevent gel.



And this is what I should have done in the 1st place .  I'll try and follow this next time


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## AshPea (Jan 12, 2014)

Derpina Bubbles said:


> I used a recipe that is just a tried and true one for me, so yep, any recipe as far as I know. I added vitamin  E for luck lol. I used banana that was going to the dark side and went with 1/2 a small banana per pound.
> 
> Funny enough, I used a bar of this for the 1st time last night. It's an ugly soap but sure does feel nice. I want to try this again and add my honey right this time plus strain the banana so it looks better, because it really is a nice soap to use. With closed eyes.




Thanks for the response  I ended up altering one a bit that I found online, I used olive, palm, and coconut oils and shea butter, and added about 1/4 small ripe banana and 1.5 tsp finely ground oats (I use a tiny 1 pound silicon mold for all my soap making). And sprinkled some whole oats on top. The consistency was in line with every other soap I've made so I'm feeling optimistic!


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## AshPea (Jan 12, 2014)

AngelMomma said:


> I discount the water in my recipe by the # of ounces of banana puree I am going to use. So a 50oz batch has 5 ounces of banana puree along with the other additives. I stick blend the banana like crazy and then strain it.....sometimes twice. I use a recipe I like and it works great. It does gel quickly though. So there is no way I would wrap it up and leave it for 8 hrs like I do other soaps. I wrap and check, keeping a close eye on it and when its complete I cool it down by taking off the lid and/or even sticking it in the fridge for a little bit. It only takes mine about 2 hrs to be completely through gel and then I have it in cool down.
> 
> eta....sometimes I don't gel it though. It comes out prettier if I prevent gel.



That sounds like a good idea.  I was worried about discounting the water but didn't know how much I should, so I didn't this time. We'll see what it looks like when I unmold it.  I also didn't strain my banana, just mashed it/whisked it with a fork for a while.  I used a very small amount so I figured that was good enough.


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## AngelMomma (Jan 12, 2014)

AshPea said:


> That sounds like a good idea. I was worried about discounting the water but didn't know how much I should, so I didn't this time. We'll see what it looks like when I unmold it. I also didn't strain my banana, just mashed it/whisked it with a fork for a while. I used a very small amount so I figured that was good enough.


 

You can add lots of different purees by discounting the liquid and sub the puree for the amount discounted. But the thing I would worry about with the straining is that if there were big-ish pieces of whatever the fruit is then that may give a place for mold to take hold somewhere down the road. So, it may be a shorter shelf life. Especially if no water discount is taken. Of course that doesn't mean it WILL happen. But that is what runs through my over analytical thoughts. I have some soaps done with the method I described that are about 9months old. They are nice and hard and no DOS or anything like that.

eta.....I have some persimmons that I just scooped out today......I'm trying to decide what fragrance/design to use with it  :smile:  I even had a weird idea the other day to do a PB&J soap.  Crazy I tell ya!  LOL


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## cmzaha (Jan 12, 2014)

AshPea said:


> That sounds like a good idea. I was worried about discounting the water but didn't know how much I should, so I didn't this time. We'll see what it looks like when I unmold it. I also didn't strain my banana, just mashed it/whisked it with a fork for a while. I used a very small amount so I figured that was good enough.


 
you are really not discounting your liquid, you are only subtracting from your amount of liquid and replacing with your puree. Water discounting is using less water than is considered full water. When using soapcalc it would be set at 38% for full water which is about 6oz liquid ppo. 
I use banana a lot in soap when I have a bananas going to waste. Same with avocados


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## Derpina Bubbles (Jan 12, 2014)

AshPea said:


> Thanks for the response  I ended up altering one a bit that I found online, I used olive, palm, and coconut oils and shea butter, and added about 1/4 small ripe banana and 1.5 tsp finely ground oats (I use a tiny 1 pound silicon mold for all my soap making). And sprinkled some whole oats on top. The consistency was in line with every other soap I've made so I'm feeling optimistic!



Sounds awesome.  This is making me hungry :smile:


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