Tussah Silk and Ice water lye solution

[Firefly24]

I love tussah silk. It gives my soap a silky feel with lots of slip. I add a cotton ball size per 2lb batch of oils. Some add the same amount to a 5lb batch of oils. I get my silk from Amazon.

I don’t use ice when making my lye solution. I just put the silk in my water and then add lye. I don’t even strain it unless I’m using the silk that wasn’t cleaned of debris before purchasing.

Thank you~ I am going to try this as I think the ice would slow down the process of dissolving the silk. I'll be back soon with my results.

 

[cmzaha]

I always purchased my silk in cocoons from Aliexpress and just dropped how many I wanted to dissolve in Hot lye solution. They simply will not dissolve in cold solutions. https://tinyurl.com/yc2ej2by

 

[AliensrReal]

I always purchased my silk in cocoons from Aliexpress and just dropped how many I wanted to dissolve in Hot lye solution. They simply will not dissolve in cold solutions. https://tinyurl.com/yc2ej2by

The only reason I don’t use those which are Bombax mori cocoons (Mulberry Silk) is because I liked the cruelty free aspect of tussah silk for making soap. Although, the Bombax larvae are considered a nutritious meal and are very a popular food source for some, so nothing technically goes to waste when using them. I am also a big hypocrite because I prefer Mulberry over Tussah silk when knitting.

 

[Firefly24]

I made this Calendula soap on the left, using the Tussah silk. I used pureed carrots, calendula powder, kaolin clay, and colloidal oatmeal flour. I used an Oatmeal stout FO and then put some calendula petals on top. Using that silk in Hot Lye is definitely the key as it really took time to dissolve. Now to wait to try out the soap.....