banana purée in soapmaking

[Deeore2017]

Hi,

I have got this crazy not so crazy idea of wanting to make a sandalwood banana soap.

Both are really good hydratants for the skin, and traditionally we are using both as facials.

This will be based on my 100% seawater ylang coconut soap - which i am very happy with. I haven't worked out yet if i'll be using another EO but I'll see to that one later on - and anyways the sandalwood powder should provide a strong enough scent.

So using this coconut bar, i want to work with banana purée and sandalwood powder. I would add the sandalwood powder right at the end at trace... but as for the banana - I am bit lost and in need of advice.

It seems like there are two options :

one being to used iced banana cubes with lye . wondered about the loss of benefits?
and two, incorporating the purée at trace. Seems a good idea , but does it mean i need to do a water reduction? any advice on how to do this, as i am bit lost on the calculation for this one....

Another option as i am writing may be dried banana powder.... sounds a bit crazy but seems to make sense...

Any advice welcome !

 

[toxikon]

I've never tried it so I won't be much help, but it does look like there are quite a few threads on it floating around that may provide you with some info.

Just copy/paste this into Google:

site:soapmakingforum.com banana puree

 

[Nao]

I don't know what kind of sandal wood powder you have, but the one I have and the one most others have is the red one that will bring color and some exfoliating/scratchiness but no fragrance whatsoever.
I also doubt there would be any health benefits of using banana in the soap. Whatever way you chose to add it.

You can use puréed banana as all or part of the water, it's just doing the math: how much watcher do you need/want to use in that particular recipe and how much of that water do you want to replace with banana purée.

You can freeze the purée and add the lye to that, or add the non frozen. purée at trace, it's mostly a matter of personal preference.

I was also overcomplicating and overthinking adding purées to soap until I actually tried it, and it's really no big deal, just go ahead and try and it will turn out fine.

 

[cmzaha]

I would not add the banana to your lye. Puree up your banana well and use it as some of your water, but mixing the puree into your oils, before adding your lye solution. I would not use it a full water replacement. I will mention that it really adds nothing to soap, but little black specks from the tiny banana seeds, and sandalwood powder will not scent your soap, just color it some. Yes I have made banana soap only to use up some very bananas, and I forgot to mention do not use green bananas they really do not puree up as well as ripe ones.

 

[dixiedragon]

You may want to look on the site for threads on banana milk, which is just banana and milk blended together. I made a soap with that. I've never done a soap with banana only. It lathered nicely but it did have a bit of sour smell from the milk, but I always notice that sour milk smell in dairy milk soaps. I would not add it in the lye water. I would add the banana puree in with the oils when the oils at ate the desired temp for soap, blast with the stick blender and then pour lye while stick blending.

Also check out threads on pumpkin soap. I think banana puree and pumpkin puree would be very similar in that way.

 

[Deeore2017]

Banana and Rice milk soap .... feedback n a month!

Thanks everyone for your feedback. Today is D Day and i am going to try a banana and rice milk soap.

I don't have any fragrance or essential oils (only the ylang EO) so will not use any for this soap. Which makes me think I need to order some.... :-?

Rendez-vous in a month time for my feedback on this!


D.

 

[earlene]

Deeore2017, I think it's useful to make a new-to-you soap without fragrance to see how it smells on its own. Not all unscented soap smells the same (to me) so it gives you an idea of what you are dealing with with the additional ingredients. And you can observe how the natural scent of the soap changes over time with the cure.

Then if you like the soap after cure and you make it again with a fragrance, you can evaluate if a particular fragrance mingles well with the ingredients.

I am looking forward to hearing more about your banana and rice milk soap. Are you using home made rice milk or purchased rice milk? If purchased does it contain sugar (some do, which is why I don't drink it anymore.)

 

[Deeore2017]

Hi earlene,

I am planning to do my own rice milk - we do have rice flour made from locally grown rice. So no added sugar or anything....

 

[amd]

I've made several banana puree soaps. I do like Carolyn (cmzaha) does and add it to the oils. I use 1oz ppo. Although I disagree that it doesn't add anything. I think the soaps feel alot more silky, and definitely more lather.

 

[Deeore2017]

Thanks. This is what I did as well - although wasn't sure about how much i could use. So i used 100% coconut oil base (20% fat, 2:1 ratio water/lye) with 35 oz coconut oil , and added to that 7 oz banana purée and 7 oz rice milk ( homemade).

Very brownish , chocolatey color. I unmolded it about two hours later - thinking it would become stone-like ( this is what happened with the 100% coco soap). But it was toffee-like.... i left it cure since then and I am on my third day of curing. I'll be back home this evening so should find out how it turned out ...

 

[Deeore2017]

4 weeks down the line - feedback

Hi,

Just thought that to loop the loop i'd give some feedback.

I hadn't had any particular problems during the making of the soap. It resulted into a very brown, toffee-like coloured soap.
Let it cured , but noticed a couple of weeks later that the edges were ashed ... probably what people called soda ash. Still researching how to prevent this for next time...

so unscented soap... and yes, got that soured scent from the rice milk... but it didn't deter me!

Tried it this week, and loved the soap.. very foamy and silky and really good as as a face soap ( not greasy but not drying for my skin). My hubby fell in love with my first 100% coconut and ylang soap, and is using also this one! so this is a good start.... I personally love it and will retry the experience, and will perhaps change a few things around to improve the final result :

1/ research how to prevent soda ash
2/ will try it with a fragrance oil ( dixit hubby)
3/ will perhaps use the milk rice at a cooler temperature to avoid the scorching

If anyone has any tips to avoid the milk scorching thing, i'll take it...as i want to try coconut milk next. :bunny::wave:

 

[BattleGnome]

I haven't experimented with milks yet but they say lower water can help with ash. Gel can also help with ash.

Do you have pictures of how it looks like now? I'd like to see how the banana has changed color.

 

[Deeore2017]

I haven't experimented with milks yet but they say lower water can help with ash. Gel can also help with ash.

Do you have pictures of how it looks like now? I'd like to see how the banana has changed color.

Hi,

Here are some pictures... not looking great as i said but feels wonderful on the skin!

 

[Soapprentice]

Does purée s add anything to the soap? Or just label appeal?... sorry for hijacking

 

[Deeore2017]

Personally, i really think it added to the soap. Unsure whether it was the rice milk or the banana, but this is a soap that feels very hydrating, lathering and rich but not greasy. And banana is generally good for greasy/acne prone skin...


my only other experience with handmade soap is my 100% coconut soap - which i love... but not as good for my sensitive skin. For bodywash, great though ...

 

[cmzaha]

Instead of the rice milk scorching I would guess it was the banana, since they contain a lot of sugar. When I soap banana and coconut milk I mix the two together and cool them down then use slightly chilled or at least room temp 50/50 lye solution, depending on my fo selection my will usually be a bit lighter in color but still
tannish with little black specks from the banana seeds.