Using tea in soaps

[caramock]

I made some peppermint tea soap and it turned out beautifully. I know this can be done, my question is if you wanted to use say, Green Tea, in soap, would you still retain any of the teas great qualities (antibacterial, antioxidants, etc.) after going thru saponifaction?

Anyone know the answer?

 

[krissy]

i dont think so... i think it gets too hot, but i am not sure. :?


lol, i wasn't much help at all was i?

 

[caramock]

Well, that's what I was thinking, but then again you boil the tea before you drink it to release its goodness into the water so why would it not survive the heat of saponification? That's why I'm in sort of a quandry. Not really sure.

 

[krissy]

Well, that's what I was thinking, but then again you boil the tea before you drink it to release its goodness into the water so why would it not survive the heat of saponification? That's why I'm in sort of a quandry. Not really sure.

yes, but boiling water doesnt eat things! lye does... :shock:

 

[AmyW]

I'm not sure if anything survives the lye, but maybe some, because many of the beneficial oils retain their goodness?

You inspired me to make some though.
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=8 ... =529342663

 

[caramock]

True enough about the lye eating stuff! I think I'll make some anyway, even if it doesn't retain much if any of those qualities I think it will make some nice soap. Amy yours looks great. Did you use any E/O or F/O or just the tea in yours?

 

[AmyW]

Thank you =) I used just the tea. I used a chai blend that has a bunch of spices and want to see if any of the scent holds. It smells nice right now, kind of chocolate-y.

 

[HeartToHeart]

TEA SOAP

I made soap from "Sleepy Time Tea". I had little supplies at home and wanted to make soap.

The bars turned out a nice rugged brown. Lather well. But you have to put your nose to the bar to smell anything. To have a do over, I would add some peppermint fragrance oil and possibly chamomile. I also opened up the tea bags after infusion and added the contents before pouring into my mold.
I enclosed a pic, but the flash kinda washes it out.

 

[HeartToHeart]

Tea Soap

Trying to add my photo....

I'm usually good at uploading photos..... Not working here... :-(

 

[caramock]

Good to know. I used a tiny bit of peppermint e/o with my peppermint tea soap. It has a very pleasant but very (and I mean very) subtle peppermint scent. The color turned out great though. Trying to add my pic to this post. I hope it comes through.

 

[caramock]

Maybe it'll work this time, I hope.

Nope, it didn't work. Don't know what I'm doing wrong.

 

[busymakinsoap!]

What a great idea to use tea in soap. I'm finding all the FO and colourants to be pretty expensive and love the idea of using whats on hand.

I've experimented with coffee, and my next attemp (just waiting on supplies to arrive) is going to be with rum and toffee flavoured coffee that I had sitting at home.

I've got a vanilla and rose tea in the pantry.....that would be lovely!!

 

[judymoody]

What a great idea to use tea in soap. I'm finding all the FO and colourants to be pretty expensive and love the idea of using whats on hand.

I've experimented with coffee, and my next attemp (just waiting on supplies to arrive) is going to be with rum and toffee flavoured coffee that I had sitting at home.

I've got a vanilla and rose tea in the pantry.....that would be lovely!!

I have used various teas, coffee, beer and cider and almost no scent survives but they can impart interesting color or exfoliating elements to your bars. Most herbs/teas will turn brown or black over time with few exceptions. Coffee grounds are very scratchy unless you grind them up very fine and/or use grounds that have already been brewed.

 

[caramock]

Here's a pic of my peppermint tea soap!

Happy soaping everyone!

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid= ... 41&theater

 

[SilverFox]

Nice soap caramock! I just made a tea soap myself. Can't wait to try it out.