Curious about adding food to soap

[neeners]

how do you process aloe into the soap? I have fresh aloe plants, and have been eyeballing them to put into a soap (maybe aloe & avocado goats milk soap...all of which I can get on my property). I would assume puree the flesh, can either add at trace or use as part of lye solution?

 

[Ancel]

For aloe I split the leaves and scrape the flesh out. I don't discount my water for the aloe as I already do a 2:1 water lye ratio. I add it at trace. I also chop the scraped leaves and add those too. Do you have noni in Barbados? Noni and aloe make a nice soap together, I also do an aloe and nettle together, or aloe and yogurt.


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[neeners]

yes we have noni! (have some fermenting on my counter right now). do you put it fresh or the fermented liquid?

 

[djk17]

The first time I used aloe from my plant, I sliced it lengthwise and scraped out the gel. A couple of weeks ago I thought, oh, why bother! And simply washed it and threw it in the blender with my liquid. No green flecks remained (I blended it for quite a while)
I used red palm in that recipe so I don't know if the green would come through at all in a white bar.
The soap is already great to use. I couldn't resist trying a bar before the full cure
HTH!

 

[Ancel]

For the noni I've used puréed fresh (strained out the seeds), dried and the fermented juice. Of all I prefer the dried - but just because it's easier and I don't have to mess around with discounting my water any further. Having said that I think the best comes from using the fresh puréed. And none of the smell makes it through saponification I tend to put in about 3 tablespoons fresh ppo.
Have you ever tried noni leaves for a green tea? It's a nice, fresh tasting tea and has many of the properties of the fruit.
You must have sugar apple too? What about that in a soap?


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[neeners]

sugar apples are harder to find here in Barbados. there's a local soap company that puts breadfruit into their soaps, and creates a nice lather. they also do a guava one. neither of the smells come through, and they're both kind of browny.

i'm definitely going to try the noni. will have to do some noni hunting....

 

[Ancel]

Was searching for breadfruit soap and came up with akee being listed as suitable for use in soaps - the green fruit, rind and seed. Do you have akee there? Seems odd to me, and I'd be scared of using the seeds, but it's in the soapberry family, so it might produce some beneficial component. Is the soap company you mention Earth Mother Botanicals?


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[MooreThanBags]

I recently made my first "food" soap using pumpkin puree and turmeric for color to make a nice fall soap. I haven't used it yet but it turned out very pretty.

 

[neeners]

Was searching for breadfruit soap and came up with akee being listed as suitable for use in soaps - the green fruit, rind and seed. Do you have akee there? Seems odd to me, and I'd be scared of using the seeds, but it's in the soapberry family, so it might produce some beneficial component. Is the soap company you mention Earth Mother Botanicals?


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yes! earth mother!

um, not sure about akee. are you taking Jamaican akee (the one where it's toxic until it opens) or the little green ones that are mostly just pit?

I was thinking guava would be nice with the seeds as exfoliant...

 

[MooreThanBags]

After thinking about all the comments regarding whether adding food or anything else to soap adds to its value I had to share one of my customers recent comments. Tara suffers from a debilitating disease at a young age and can no longer hold a job. She had been using my soap for awhile when she lost her health insurance and money was very tight at her house. She told me that using my goat milk soap made every shower a soothing experience. Her husband vowed to make buying the soap a priority. Since then I have decided to just give her the soap. My point is this: for some a luxury bar of soap is about more than just getting clean. I have to say I enjoy my shower much more with my own soap.

 

[Ancel]

The Jamaican akee. I imagine the guava would be nice, the seeds are round aren't they?

MooreThanBags - beautiful!

 

[neeners]

oh, Jamaican akees are hard to find here. no one grows them (i'm trying to keep things local).

they're roundish....I would imagine the guava seeds would break a little when pureeing the fruit?

 

[Ancel]

Oh that's too bad. With the guava seeds you'd have to be careful they wouldn't be too scratchy: round is smooth and good, broken seeds have to be pretty much ground up to make them nice on the skin. Earth Mother just says pureed guava, maybe if the guavas are still green and the seeds are soft when pureed. Would be interested in finding out. Respect your desire to keep everything local :clap:

 

[Stinkydancer]

Hi Donna! Your posting set-off my pet-peeve response about soapmaking - adding food items and whole organic materials to soap. I am probably a minority but I think soap should be soap without added fleshy, pureed or whole materials. Food items should be eaten and not smeared all over the body or hair. The sole purpose of soap is to clean - that's it.

I have absolutely nothing against milk-based (it is fat and water) soaps nor soaps made by infusing color into the oils via various herbs and spices since those materials are strained out but adding un-strained, pureed vegetables and fruit makes me ill. I have a mental image of plopping baby food into the soap batter. Over time those items will mold and rot. Sorry - its not for me. I want soap to clean me and make me feel absolutely refreshed without the worry of having unidentified organic materials clinging to my body and hair or clogging the drains. That's the way I feel on this subject. I am now off the soapbox.

You have obviously never tried a well made Pumpkin or Cucumber soap or for that matter a soap with honey in it. Google Pumpkin in soap..there are benefits to it even in a rinse off product. I have Pumpkin soap that has lasted years and years with no mold or rot same with milk soaps. I would think a milk or Yogurt soap would rot faster. You know lye is used as a preservative in some foods right?

Not to sound harsh but open your mind man.

 

[dalsignum]

I'm Curious about this... what does adding food in soap benefits? do you still benefit the goodness of the food after adding it to CP soap?

 

[cmzaha]

I'm Curious about this... what does adding food in soap benefits? do you still benefit the goodness of the food after adding it to CP soap?

This is a very old thread and many of the posters have not been seen in a long time. It is better to start a new topic

 

[dalsignum]

I already did... can you reply to it in my new thread? thanks

This is a very old thread and many of the posters have not been seen in a long time. It is better to start a new topic