Loofah in soap?

Bonnie · Feb 16, 2011

Hi guys,

I have noticed some people have been making soap with a loofah in it. I want to have a go at it but unsure if you cut the slices before or if you can cut the soap and loofah at the same time.. does anyone know the best way t make it? Thanks!

AmyW · Feb 16, 2011

The only loofah soap I've personally seen has powdered loofah in it, like this stuff: http://www.brambleberry.com/Shredded-Loofah-P3252.aspx

newbie · Feb 16, 2011

I've had the impression that you cut it afterward but on thinking about it, it seems like it could be pretty messy. It's possible the lye softens the loofah up enough that slicing isn't problematic. It just seems like all the pics I've seen show the loofah in the exact same plane as the soap, which I think would be hard if you were pouring over a slice. I hope someone who's done it responds. I've thought about this on occasion myself.

soapbuddy · Feb 16, 2011

I've cut the loofah with a serrated knife into 1" pieces. Right before I wanted to use them, I softened them with water, squeezed out the excess, then put them into individual round molds. Then poured raw soap over them. Some people like them, but I find them too scratchy.

newbie · Feb 16, 2011

I did a brief search and saw a youtube video of someone who had softened the loofah and put it in a PVC mold, then poured the CP soap in over it at a light trace, and tapped it for some time on the counter to assure that the soap saturated the loofah and filled the mold. Unmolded it and she was able to slice through the soap and loofah pretty easily with a butcher knife.

There was another video of someone who sliced the loofah into 1- 1 1/2 inch slices, then wrapped them in parchment, kind of like the cello wrap over a basket of fruit- gathered at the top. Then she rubberbanded the parchment over the loofah to make the mold and poured M&P soap over it.

I suppose either could work.

margarita · Feb 17, 2011

I don't know if this will be any help, but I used to work at a small shop here in Lithuania who sold MP, and they had tons of MP soap with whole loofah in them. We got them in loaves and simply cut them in smaller bars of soap. You had to put a little bit more weight on the knife with the ones with loofah, but it wasn't all that hard :roll:

I think it would work with CP too.

By the way, people always complained about how scratchy those were :roll:

musiccitysuds · Feb 17, 2011

I do my process the same as Soapbuddy. I use silicone muffin pans and lay a slice in each cavity, then just pour soap over them. Works like a charm. I've gotten good feedback on them, and people request them a lot, but like SB said, they're a little harsh for me.