Snake Skin Soap

[amd]

The other day a friend of mine gifted me with a 7 foot snake shed from one of her 11 (!!) snakes. I had two thoughts on this...

1) I want to make a silicone impression mat for soap
2) I want to make soap with the shed skin in it

and then 3) I might be taking my soap obsession way too far...

So my friend is totally on board with me experimenting with this and if I get something to work she would like to gift it to the members of the local Herpetological Society.

For the impression mat, I've seen a few videos on the process, but they were really terrible for explaining what to do. I've also read Auntie Clara's blog post about doing it, but it was a while ago and at the time it made zero sense to my little brain. I'm going back to read it again, now that I have an actual project in mind it may make more sense.

For incorporating it actually into the soap, I was thinking of shredding it to see if it dissolves in lye, or getting it down to a close to powder form. Not sure what will happen when I throw it into the coffee mill (reserved just for DIY, please don't suspect me of brewing snake coffee for my husband, lol). I'm not sure how much to use though.

Is this the weirdest thing in soap? Completely repulsive? Has anyone done this before and is brave enough to tell me about it?

 

[cmzaha]

I would go for the impression mat, snake skin in soap somehow grosses me out. Funny thing I love almost any and all lizards but do not like snakes, although they can be beautiful.

 

[Soapprentice]

I’m all in with impression mat... but snake skin in soap, yeah, I don’t want to even think about it.. sorry I can’t be of any help !

 

[DeeAnna]

I make gun slings with decorative inlays of snakeskin. It just so happens that most of my skins are snakes harvested in South Dakota (all are not endangered species). Snakeskin looks good in things like this, although it's not the most durable. More for pretty than for harsh use.

An impression mat would be cool if the skin had a lot of distinctive texture. Not sure what I think about snakeskin dissolved and put in soap, but I'm sure stranger things have been used. Have fun!

 

[shunt2011]

I say go for all of it. Do the impression mat and give it a try in soap. I personally couldn't do that as I have a horrible fear of snakes. No way, no how!

 

[toxikon]

Wouldn't the shed be too thin and papery to make a proper impression?

I'd probably just keep the shed as a cool keepsake, then maybe buy this texture mat to use for soap: http://a.co/dQlYItN

 

[SoapAddict415]

Maybe you could crumble/shred the shed & sprinkle some on top as a decoration for the snake lovers society.

Sent from my Z828 using Soap Making mobile app

 

[Primrose]

I'm pretty sure there are people dissolving it in lye and adding to soap that way. I think it would be very neat for snake enthusiasts

 

[Seawolfe]

I am so much less grossed out by snake skin soap than some other ideas I've seen (I am looking at you new mothers!!) - I say go for it!!

 

[Obsidian]

I'd try and dissolve it. I'm a snake lover but the idea of skin powder or bits is a little much.
I agree, I've seen worse in soap. I even tossed around the idea of using blood.

 

[Zany_in_CO]

Adding snake skin to soap is similar to using tussah silk or silk cocoons.

Snake Skin Soap (Spoiler Alert, if you don't like snakes, best not to look; but it is lovely soap. )

http://wikitalks.com/2013/01/how-to-make-soap-from-snake-skin/

 

[shunt2011]

Still gross to me. Sorry, no way. Looks gross to make too. I still say go for it. Just not me. [emoji12]

 

[earlene]

The method used in this video is the one my granddaughter & I used to create a flattish silicone scales mat-like piece for her Hallowe'en costume a couple or so years ago. The part about creating the silicone paintable material starts about halfway into the video. The first part is about building up a cast upon which to paint the material that creates the silicone mold. It is not the only way to make a silicone mold, but I think it would work very well for a flattish snake mat.

[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vfH_HCI0G4I[/ame]

 

[Obsidian]

Adding snake skin to soap is similar to using tussah silk or silk cocoons.

Snake Skin Soap (Spoiler Alert, if you don't like snakes, best not to look; but it is lovely soap. )

http://wikitalks.com/2013/01/how-to-make-soap-from-snake-skin/

Thats pretty gross lol. I would only use a little of the skin so it would all dissolve. Having to strain skin goop isn't something I'd like to do.

 

[SunRiseArts]

Soap queen has a tutorial about making a mat with a pineapple. Going to see if I find it.

At first your idea gross me out, but then I thought about cowboy boots, so why not? After you make your mat, maybe you can make yourself a nice belt!

 

[SunRiseArts]

Found it!

https://www.soapqueen.com/bath-and-body-tutorials/pineapple-cold-process-soap-tutorial/

 

[amd]

Oh my... zany that link was interesting! I never thought to Google snake skin soap! I'm on The fence about actually putting it in the soap at the moment. Not from y'all, just from my brain calming down and actually thinking about it.

Great video for the silicone mold. Thanks for sharing that. I'll Google the pineapple mold too (although I think I did see that).

 

[Kittish]

Thats pretty gross lol. I would only use a little of the skin so it would all dissolve. Having to strain skin goop isn't something I'd like to do.

I don't think it would all dissolve. You'd still be left with bits that were insoluble in the lye, no matter how little you used (unless you used zero, which kind of defeats the purpose).

 

[CaraBou]

Good find, Zany. Between that, Deanna making snake skin gun slings, earlene's creepy mask video, and Obsidian's fantasy of blood soap, I'm feeling pretty vanilla right now. Oh, and of course amd's desire to make snake soap!

 

[Saponificarian]

Oii!!! Some very adventurous people here!!:shock::shock::shock: