Hmmm.........maybe I shouldn't be straining the potato water so much!!! LOLI think your right bcause both have starch & starch has sugar which equals "bubbles".
Good point though.....I never thought of that. It probably does help.
Potato soap update
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Good point though.....I never thought of that. It probably does help.
When I make hash browns and latkes (which are basically hash browns), I "wash" and drain the grated potato, reserving the liquid in a bowl. The starch sinks to the bottom of the bowl, which I use (only) in latkes to bind the ingredients together. It is this starch (which, like sugar, if basically carbohydrate) that would be useful in soap-making.
So, you could reasonably grate the potato (to increase the surface area that is exposed to the water, thereby releasing more starch), give it a thorough soak in water, drain the liquid into a bowl, and use that collected starch that has sunk to the bottom of the bowl. You can also just buy potato starch from the supermarket (as @AliOop suggested above) and save your potatoes for yummy goodness!
So, you could reasonably grate the potato (to increase the surface area that is exposed to the water, thereby releasing more starch), give it a thorough soak in water, drain the liquid into a bowl, and use that collected starch that has sunk to the bottom of the bowl. You can also just buy potato starch from the supermarket (as @AliOop suggested above) and save your potatoes for yummy goodness!
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Hummm, I use a lot of potato starch, I think I will add in some to my oils and see what happens. Thank you all so much for this thread!
Well, then, if you use potato starch instead of potatoes how much would you use, say, percent of pounds of oil?
Another Latke Lover! My family loves when I fry up a batch! I go through 20 to 40 pounds of potatoes during the holidays, but make them year round as a comfort food.
Oh gosh, I daydream about latkes. I daydream about potatoes in general, but latkes....... I like to add grated shallots to my latkes to give it more flavor. This is probably sacrilegious but I top my latkes with shallot yogurt (maast o moosir) that’s made at a local Persian market.
I also make them year-round. In fact, I just decided on what we’ll be having for dinner.
We aren’t Jewish but I enjoy teaching our daughter about different food traditions and the meaning behind it. Basically, when I’m not thinking about soap stuff, I’m thinking about food stuff.
Basically, when I’m not thinking about soap stuff, I’m thinking about food stuff.
Right there with ya girlfriend!
Now where did I read about adding mashed potatoes to the batter too? @cmzaha was it you?
So I could boil or soak my potatoes and use that water for the lye water, then I could mash or puree some potatoes and add that too? To the oils? And then discount the water by the same amount?
It sounds like what I do for my rice soaps @Misschief and @Dawni. Maybe I should just follow a similar process.
Peachy Clean Soap
Well-Known Member
Wonderful idea' great way to get "potato juice". It's been years since I ate hash browns, never had latkes.
Today I replaced 4oz of water for frozen rice water' my lye was really gelatinous & I remember straining the rice really well before freezing it.
Yup. Starch granules bind to water and expand when heated. As the lye solution heats up those granules burst and the solution becomes gelatinous. Perfectly normal.
Peachy Clean Soap
Well-Known Member
I did some research on potatoes this morning & interesting to discover " potatoes have "Butyric Acid" the same chemical acid that is in Dairy' Cheese & Butter which is a resistant fatty acid good for gut health, but its description is its colorless liquid w/ an unpleasant order. 
Which can cause soap to stink like barf 
or very unpleasant & stinks as some describe it to be on another thread when using butter or dairy in soap..
Which can cause soap to stink like barf or very unpleasant & stinks as some describe it to be on another thread when using butter or dairy in soap..Ok good' I was thinking it didn't look normal concerned the lye was ruined.
New thought, a soap that represents each state or wherever you live! Cheese soap from WI! yuk!
Peachy Clean Soap
Well-Known Member
Like @Dawni uses sweet rice flour (which is pretty much the starch), using potato starch might be an easier way to accomplish the same thing. I usually have that around for some of our gluten-free flour mixes. Potato flour is much heavier than potato starch, so I probably would not use that.
[/QUOTE Good Idea
I'd probably start with 1 Tbsp PPO like I would with other starches. Might have to give that a go one of these days!
Jstheidi
Well-Known Member
Did you use regular potatoes
or sweet potatoes? I’d like more information on this. It sounds like something I want to try. 
You could use any potato, sweet or otherwise.Did you use regular potatoes
Aromasuzie
Well-Known Member
I just suddenly clicked, tried rice flour in soap as an exfoliant, great lathering, thought it was the recipe rather than the rice starch (face palm). Potato water easy enough to try though
Oh gosh, I daydream about latkes. I daydream about potatoes in general, but latkes....... I like to add grated shallots to my latkes to give it more flavor. This is probably sacrilegious but I top my latkes with shallot yogurt (maast o moosir) that’s made at a local Persian market.
I also make them year-round. In fact, I just decided on what we’ll be having for dinner.
Basically, when I’m not thinking about soap stuff, I’m thinking about food stuff.
I here by make you Jewish! I put other things in mine as well. I will get the left over roast chicken or beef and zap it in my food processor to make it about the same size as the Matzo meal. Add it in and you have your protein and starch! A salad will add the veggies and you have a meal even the pickiest kid will eat!
Wonderful idea' great way to get "potato juice". It's been years since I ate hash browns, never had latkes.
You are missing one of the best things around! My family is ruled by their stomachs, food is ever a good thing to use as leverage. Clean your room and we can have Latkes for dinner!
That is exactly what you could do. I have only done the boil water part though.
It has probably been mentioned over the years here that the residual particles of potato that remain in the water/juice will thicken up the lye water into a semi gel. The more the particles the more the gel. (In fact, that might have even been mentioned earlier in this thread years ago.)
Either way I have never noticed a bad effect on saponification though. (However, you gotta remember I strain my boiled potato water. Some particles still end up in the strained potato water but not too much and the gel is still pourable.)
Also if people extract the juice it will be full concentrate and I have no idea how that will react with the lye (i.e., gel wise). I have never done that.
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According to this website: Understanding starch functionality
All plant starches are made up of varying proportions of amylose and amylopectin. I did not know this! I read on another website that starches break down to simple sugars in acidic conditions. That could mean that using powdered starches with vinegar as a water replacement would produce different results compared with using starch water from cooking or starch mixed with water.
All plant starches are made up of varying proportions of amylose and amylopectin. I did not know this! I read on another website that starches break down to simple sugars in acidic conditions. That could mean that using powdered starches with vinegar as a water replacement would produce different results compared with using starch water from cooking or starch mixed with water.
