Hi everyone. I have a quite a lot to learn before I'd feel comfortable trying this, but I was browsing soapqueen and saw a recipe for a buttermilk bastille soap that contained carrot. I am intrigued! It looks lovely however I really wonder if adding carrot puree would have an effect on the shelf life or would promote rot. What has been your experience with adding purees? I also wonder about the buttermilk. I suppose lots of people have had success with milk soaps but I still can't wrap my mind around carrot especially when no preservatives are involved. Does the lye truly neutralize it? Thank you for sharing!
"shelf life" of soap with carrot puree?
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I have more issues with milk in soaps versus purees. To my nose, many soaps at the 8 months to a year mark with milk and/ or lard can start smelling old, even if they are not showing signs of DOS rancidity. I have never had a soap with puree go rancid or old smelling. The trick is to use baby puree since it has no chunky in it. If you choose to use your own puree just make sure it is as smooth as you can get it. It is chunky puree that can mold.
As long as you don't have chunks, you're good! I've made lots of batches with pureed food....carrots, cucumber, avocado, etc.... and they've never gone bad, even after several years have passed.
IrishLass
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I've made coconut milk soaps with carrot puree, they keep well as long as stored properly - the only time I have problems with my food puree soaps is when they get a lot of sun and humidity exposure at shows. I can tell exactly which soaps were displayed and which were kept in the box under the table - the soaps that were displayed develop DOS within a month. (And that's why I don't take puree soaps to shows any more) The color from the carrot puree will fade after a few months, so if you want to keep the lovely orange color consider adding some mica.
artemis
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I have made this recipe many times. Lately, though, I have reduced the OO by 15% and replaced it with avocado oil. I also use powdered buttermilk, mixing it with a little water and then adding that to my oils. I have never had a problem with DOS or any off smells while making it. It's not my favorite soap, but I have a good friend who lives it, so I make it for her.
I had some soap that I rebatched with tea leaves and peach purée.
A little over a year ago I found some of the abominations and my cheap self just used them.
Disclaimer: they were horrid when I first made them 10 years ago. The rebatch was awful and the bars before I rebatched were some of the hardest bars ever. They were at least two years old when I decided to rebatch. All you experienced people know this was a nightmare. I put in whole loose leaf tea leaves and mixed purée. I then poured the lumpy mixture into plastic molds from some food thing. So not only lumpy and nasty, they were a pita to remove from the plastic. Ugh. I hated those bars of soap, and so I tossed them into the bottom of a hamper hoping they would magically disappear, spoiler alert, they did not.
All the organic ingredients turned brown. The soap turned brown from the scratchiest tea leaves and the peach purée bars never got hard. They stayed super smashy soft. And turned chocolate brown and didn’t suds very well. I ended up making a soap sandwich from the harder pieces and the smashy stuff and that helped.
The smashy soap, while super brown, did not smell like anything other than soap. No off odors, no mold, just soft. There was transfer from the organic material to the soap which means tons of DOS.
My estimation, long term, not great, but if you plan on using them in the short term, go for it!
If you’re making it for yourself, just do small batches at a time.
A little over a year ago I found some of the abominations and my cheap self just used them.
Disclaimer: they were horrid when I first made them 10 years ago. The rebatch was awful and the bars before I rebatched were some of the hardest bars ever. They were at least two years old when I decided to rebatch. All you experienced people know this was a nightmare. I put in whole loose leaf tea leaves and mixed purée. I then poured the lumpy mixture into plastic molds from some food thing. So not only lumpy and nasty, they were a pita to remove from the plastic. Ugh. I hated those bars of soap, and so I tossed them into the bottom of a hamper hoping they would magically disappear, spoiler alert, they did not.
All the organic ingredients turned brown. The soap turned brown from the scratchiest tea leaves and the peach purée bars never got hard. They stayed super smashy soft. And turned chocolate brown and didn’t suds very well. I ended up making a soap sandwich from the harder pieces and the smashy stuff and that helped.
The smashy soap, while super brown, did not smell like anything other than soap. No off odors, no mold, just soft. There was transfer from the organic material to the soap which means tons of DOS.
My estimation, long term, not great, but if you plan on using them in the short term, go for it!
If you’re making it for yourself, just do small batches at a time.
artemis
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However, the recipe in question is for CP, not rebatch, so the lye has a a chance to affect the carrot puree. In a rebatch, there is no longer lye present (unless you are rebatching to correct a lye problem).
Right... and if you read a lot peoples accounts with a lot of purees (strawberry, carrot, etc) over time they turn brown and too much can affect the hardness of the soap.
So if we take the chemistry involved, the lye is going to react with the oils in the soap and not with the purees. If your soap is superfatted, then you have an excess of oil and all the lye will interact with the oil, and in essence, you have the same situation as a rebatch, because all the soap is surrounding purée and no excess lye. Soap is a salt and will ‘preserve’ the purée to a certain extent because that’s what salts do. However this purée is inedible because the ‘salt’ is inedible. And like other organic material preserved in salt, oxidation will present itself(turn the purée brown) and will still be ‘good’ but lose its esthetic quality.
But, the internet is available and research is readily available, so believe what you want.
So if we take the chemistry involved, the lye is going to react with the oils in the soap and not with the purees. If your soap is superfatted, then you have an excess of oil and all the lye will interact with the oil, and in essence, you have the same situation as a rebatch, because all the soap is surrounding purée and no excess lye. Soap is a salt and will ‘preserve’ the purée to a certain extent because that’s what salts do. However this purée is inedible because the ‘salt’ is inedible. And like other organic material preserved in salt, oxidation will present itself(turn the purée brown) and will still be ‘good’ but lose its esthetic quality.
But, the internet is available and research is readily available, so believe what you want.
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