Tomato soap!

[El_Granado_Loco]

First of all, huge thanks to gaerwen for the great blend she (?) shared!!!

I dislike patchouli but am in love with patch/lavender/clove blend. Very sensuous smell. Sells really well as a men's shave bar.

I was thinking id make some kind of patch/cedar and something... soon.

I had a hunch I was going to like it but couldn't imagine how much!!! So great and yes, it 's perfect for a men's scent which is always a problem... THANK YOU!!!

And now my question. I made this double experiment soap two days ago. The first part, scenting, worked out great (although this scent would be better on a non-pink soap...) The second experiment was the use of iced tomato puree instead of water, that I had never tried before. I used pre-weighted puree in icecubes as a 38% of oils. I am totally positive that there wasn't any trace of tomato skin or seeds in there. Everything mixed up smoothly, added some poppy seeds as well, poured and insulated although I was a little afraid the tomato would burn. But hey, it was supposed to be an experiment...

After an hour, I checked the soap which had the color of cooked tomato sauce (I admit I was a bit hungry) and some white bits as well (that looked like grated cheese).

Next day, the color was back to peach (sigh of relief...) but the white parts were there. Cutting it up, I noticed it was normal inside.

So, does anyone have an idea what could that be? It 's not soda ash, it 's not even totally on the surface, more like small white pieces just underneath, but then not one inside...

Posting pics that hopefully can be seen...

 

[lsg]

It could be tomato skin or pulp, if you pureed whole tomatoes.

 

[Seawolfe]

Could it be palm stearic streaks? Otherwise I'm guessing tomato seeds - those are whitish.

 

[El_Granado_Loco]

Isg, Seawolfe, thank you... But no, it can't be neither skin nor seeds, I was extremely careful to take them ALL out (it took me some time...). Nor palm stearic streaks, didn't use any.

It only has oo, co, shea and castor, it 's the recipe I usually do. Also, one tsp (the oils were 500g which is a little more a lb) of kaolin totally mixed in some oo with a mini whisk, so I don't think it could be it either.

Almost 24h after cutting, I can see little white things inside too, that were not visible yesterday. Washed my hands with a thin slice and it doesn't feel like there 's anything inside, it's smooth and melts evenly... The only strange feeling is the itching afterwards...

Uf! Anyway, thank you both!!

 

[Ruthie]

So, you are saying you mixed your lye "water" using the tomato puree?

 

[The Efficacious Gentleman]

Do they zap?

It's not just Palm oil that has stearic - shea butter is 40% stearic iirc.

Out of interest, what ratio of those 3 scents did you use?

 

[El_Granado_Loco]

So, you are saying you mixed your lye "water" using the tomato puree?

Yes, the tomato puree ice-cubes.

Do they zap?

It's not just Palm oil that has stearic - shea butter is 40% stearic iirc.

Out of interest, what ratio of those 3 scents did you use?

No, no zap at all. As for the shea, yes, could be I suppose although it 's the recipe I (almost) always do and haven't noticed anything like this before. (I did this recipe to be sure of the outcome as far as the oils were concerned... Didn't help much... ) Don't have a clue how these stearic streaks are formed... According to soapcalc, stearic at this soap is at 6. Do you think it could be that?

As for the scent, the ratio was 5:7:3 (patch:lavender:clove). Beautiful prime numbers! I was going for a 2:3:1 but needed 15g so I adjusted it a bit... I think next time I 'll reduce clove a little as I can clearly notice it today.

Thanks for the help!

 

[CaraBou]

It could be that your lye solution was cold from the tomato ice, which could have caused the soap batter to cool and force the the stearic to solidify before anything else did. Under this scenario, the exact same recipe could produce different results. Do you know if your soap gelled? This would be more likely to happen if your soap did not gel.

 

[El_Granado_Loco]

Oh it gelled alright!! But the lye solution was indeed cold... And this was my first try with iced "water", so it makes sense that it 's never happened before... In fact, I poured the NaOH in three parts, stirring in between until it was totally mixed and was very proud I managed to keep the temp down! My only concern was not to end up with a tomato sauce...

So what would you suggest in this case? Maybe I should warm my lye solution a little before throwing it in the oils? The oils themselves should be above room temperature as I had just melted co and shea and threw in the liquids.

 

[Ruthie]

I think Carabou may be on the right track.

The reason I asked to be sure when you were adding the tomato puree is because it reminds me of a batch I did once with an accelerating f.o. I tried to add the color after the f.o. and ended up with spots that look a lot like those in your soap. It was because I did not have time to get it all stirred in. Since that is not the case with yours, I would go with what Carabou has suggested.

 

[El_Granado_Loco]

Yes, makes sense... I have another equal part of iced tomato, I 'll make another try heating the lye a little before adding it to the oils to see what happens...

Thank you all for your help!! :smile:

 

[CaraBou]

Or just let the lye come to room temp. By the way, forgot to say those are pretty cool looking bars!

 

[El_Granado_Loco]

Yeah, I thought about it too, when my mind returned to its functioning mode, haha!! Thank you for your kind words, I think their shape is awful, but surely they look handmade! I am very pleased with the color and the scent though!