Pumice (again!)

[KiwiMoose]

Sorry - I've read all the old threads about how much pumice to add, but I want to ask again. The pumice powder I have is very fine. I want to make a 'foot scrubby' soap. I see that @IrishLass recommends 2 tablespoons PPO, which is what I'm tending towards. I think any less than that wouldn't be scrubby enough.

It is not intended that I use the soap all over my body - just on my feet as one would with a piece of pumice. And/or maybe as a gardeners soap as a second option?

Could I use even more than 2 Tb PPO or do you think it would make the bar too crumbly?

TIA.

 

[Dennis]

I used 1 Tablespoon/ppo and it is not irritating to me. Mine is fine, not very fine, works well and can be felt. More than 2 might be pushing the envelope but perhaps a small test batch is called for.

 

[lsg]

You could try it in a one lb batch to see how it works.

 

[dxw]

My pumice is also quite fine. Not quite rock flour but much finer than I'd anticipated or was used to.
I used 75g pumice and 25g of dried kiwifruit seeds in a batch made with 1kg of oil. The seeds provide some visual impact as well as some slightly coarser exfoliant.
The resulting soap has a very light abrasive feel to it, but works well. It is nothing like the Solvol I remember from childhood grease-monkey work.
I have also used powdered dried citrus peel, which is finer and gentler again.

 

[KiwiMoose]

My pumice is also quite fine. Not quite rock flour but much finer than I'd anticipated or was used to.
I used 75g pumice and 25g of dried kiwifruit seeds in a batch made with kg of oil. The seeds provide some visual impact as well as some slightly coarser exfoliant.
The resulting soap has a very light abrasive feel to it, but works well. It is nothing like the Solvol I remember from childhood grease-monkey work.
I have also used powdered dried citrus peel, which is finer and gentler again.

I've got a 100g bag of pumice powder - reckon it would measure out to about half a cup or a tad more. Yes! I want solvol level of scratchy! Maybe some poppy seeds as well as the pumice?

 

[dxw]

My 'soap of doom' was like solvol, perhaps even more scratchy. I used black volcanic beach sand, moderately coarse, in it.
I used 150g dried sand and 100g pumice in that one, and it is a serious stripper.
If I could find (or make) a finer sand, and perhaps use less, I reckon It'd get a bit more like solvol.

 

[KiwiMoose]

Oh? I could do a drive out to Raglan which is all black sand - only 30 mins away. what do you reckon? Just give it a good clean and strain?

 

[dxw]

I just scooped a double-hand full and plonked it on a tarp in the back of the car. When I got home I hand washed it in a bucket with a hose - not much visible contamination to start with, and put it into a plastic container. I then dried a small bowl full to get my weights and water amounts about right.

I'd like it finer, maybe your Raglan sand is finer than my Baring Head sand.

You probably have a garden centre or similar, nearer by. Maybe get some fine sand there to test, and gather some wild sand at a more convenient time.

 

[SaltedFig]

Heeeyyyy ... you guys have the pumice under your feet!

(It's mined a couple of hours from you )

Check this out ... https://www.ausperl.com/pumice/
Australia: +61 2 8318 7824 | New Zealand: +64 9 810 9627

 

[dxw]

Heeeyyyy ... you guys have the pumice under your feet!

Absolutely! The same beach I got my black volcanic sand from also yields the occasional pumice boulder. It will have floated in as the main volcanic spouts that produced our pumice were both quite away north of here … much closer to KiwiMoose. Next time I see one in the wild I am going to capture it and see how I go grinding my own pumice flour.

 

[SaltedFig]

Kiwi, I know what rock I want!

 

[Misschief]

I've got a 100g bag of pumice powder - reckon it would measure out to about half a cup or a tad more. Yes! I want solvol level of scratchy! Maybe some poppy seeds as well as the pumice?

I have a recipe for a gardener's hand soap that you might like. It contains pumice, orange peel, poppy seeds, and corn meal. A few of my market customers, who just happen to be gardeners, buy it and LOVE it! They've purchased two or three bars at a time and are repeat customers. My husband, who is also a gardener, loves it, too.

 

[KiwiMoose]

Heeeyyyy ... you guys have the pumice under your feet!

(It's mined a couple of hours from you )

Check this out ... https://www.ausperl.com/pumice/
Australia: +61 2 8318 7824 | New Zealand: +64 9 810 9627

yes - Atiamuri is about an hour and a half drive from here - but how do i grind it into little pieces? Easier just to buy it already done - and it gets delivered ;-)

I have a recipe for a gardener's hand soap that you might like. It contains pumice, orange peel, poppy seeds, and corn meal. A few of my market customers, who just happen to be gardeners, buy it and LOVE it! They've purchased two or three bars at a time and are repeat customers. My husband, who is also a gardener, loves it, too.

That sounds good @Misschief - I have all of those ingredients right here anyway. Except for orange peel. Do you think it would be suitable as a foot-smoother soap?

 

[Misschief]

That sounds good @Misschief - I have all of those ingredients right here anyway. Except for orange peel. Do you think it would be suitable as a foot-smoother soap?

It's pretty scrubby. I don't use it because it's a little too scrubby for my hands. The other thing you could do is make a cream soap that incorporates pumice. I made some for my husband (even though his work season is over).

 

[penelopejane]

I have a recipe for a gardener's hand soap that you might like. It contains pumice, orange peel, poppy seeds, and corn meal. A few of my market customers, who just happen to be gardeners, buy it and LOVE it! They've purchased two or three bars at a time and are repeat customers. My husband, who is also a gardener, loves it, too.

How much powdered dried citrus peel ppo do you use in soap when it’s combined with the other ingredients please? I guess it doesn’t hold the orange/yellow colour - dies it turn brown?

 

[Misschief]

How much powdered dried citrus peel ppo do you use in soap when it’s combined with the other ingredients please? I guess it doesn’t hold the orange/yellow colour - dies it turn brown?

I use about 15 grams (3 tsp) to 900 grams of oil (approximately 2 lbs) of each ingredient (orange peel, pumice, poppy seed, and cornmeal). So far, after almost 5 months, the orange peel hasn't discoloured. It did, however, bleed some colour.

 

[KiwiMoose]

Right - well today I made my pumice and poppy seed soap only a matter of hours before my son returned from his dad's for the day, having made a trip to the beach. He had very kindly collected for me a three litre bottle of sea water and a container full of black sand! Oh no! That means I'll have to make some MORE soap tomorrow. I shall call Raglan Sea and Sand Soap (Raglan is where the stuff was collected from) https://www.newzealand.com/int/raglan/

Here's the water and sand:

 

[dxw]

I can send you some "Soap of Doom" labels if you want. Much cooler, or hotter, than Raglan anything

Good use of the boy to gather and support the soapmaking.

 

[KiwiMoose]

Supporting his mother's addiction? Don't know if that's good thing in a lot of other contexts.

Going back to look at your Soap of Doom labels - is that your black sand soap? Wait til you see what I have planned for mine! Then we'll see who is coolest

 

[dxw]

Supporting his mother's addiction? Don't know if that's good thing in a lot of other contexts.
Going back to look at your Soap of Doom labels - is that your black sand soap? Wait til you see what I have planned for mine! Then we'll see who is coolest

Yeah. They were my volcanic black sand and pumice etc. I figured the LOTR / Hobbit theme would be appropriate and only had a short time to think of, design, build, and implement labels.