What is your favorite scrubby additive?

[Becky]

What is your favorite exfoliant in soap? I occasionally want to use a really nicely scrubby soap & have been trialling various things.

Ground walnut shell - sounded good, but was too scratchy.
Ground apricot kernal - even more scratchy! OW OW OW!!
Fine ground pumice - not scrubby enough.
Salt - OK, but I prefer not to use it, I don't like the way it makes my skin feel.
Oat bran - not bad, the best I've found so far.

I have yet to find something that makes me go 'Ahhh, that's good'. Any ideas?

 

[Guest]

I like oatmeal alot. I take 1 cup and blast it in the coffee grinder, 1 cup and sort of blast it, and one cup of whole, put it in a quart jar and shake. It makes a nice blend of exfoliant and conditioning oats. I also use cornmeal for hand soaps.

 

[opalgirl]

I've used finely ground coffee. That with a little Vanilla FO.....love it.
Opalgirl

 

[coral]

My favorite is oats finely grounded.
Second fine cocoa shells.

 

[Soapmaker Man]

1. ground old fashioned oats
2. slightly ground dried sage
3. cornmeal
4. coffee finely ground
5. strawberry seeds

 

[Lane]

A 50/50 of Chamomile & Calendula Petals. Not harsh and it softens skin wonderfully!

 

[pepperi27]

I love oatmeal, poppy seeds, and chamomile and calendula.

 

[Lane]

I love oatmeal, poppy seeds, and chamomile and calendula.

Poppy seeds is a great one too! In Lemon EO soap...YUM! and looks cool...

 

[mcleodnaturals]

My two fav soaps are Tea Tree Oatmeal with finely ground oatmeal and Mocha Java with finely ground coffee beans...smells yummy too!

 

[Tabitha]

Poppy seeds are good & scrubby. I like sugar in soap bars too.

 

[IrishLass]

I love using finely ground pumice @ 2 tablespoons ppo. It makes the perfect scrubby kitchen or gardeners soap. We find it to be nice and scrubby without being too harsh and uncomfortable (like coffee grounds or poppy seeds were to us- ouch! :shock: )


IrishLass

 

[Barb]

ground oats for a facial or soft body exfoliation.

jojoba beads

ground coffee grounds
ground orange peel (coffee grinder this or it will take your hide off )
ground pumice, all three in a hand dirt/grime bar

i personally don't like extra scrubby stuff in a soap bar, if i need extra exfoliation besides the nylon poufee i will use a sugar scrub or a salt bar. i don't like the extra bits on the bottom of the shower stall, but that's just me.

that doesn't mean i don't make soap without them, or add chunks or scraps to the top of soaps. but i've found that while people think they look nice, ( rosebuds on top, etc ) they lean more towards making the purchase for a decorative soap rather then one that gets used. if they don't use it they don't come back for more.
used

 

[Simply Divine Soap]

Ground oatmeal and dried chamomile. I LOVE THEM and so do my costumers!

 

[CupcakeKisses]

I love oatmeal, coffee, and green tea! (peppermint too)

 

[Martin]

Poppy seeds, cornmeal, also grits. I make a buttermilk and grits soap.

GRITS= girls raised in the south

Sonja

 

[ydpubs]

I like:

Poppy Seeds
Oat Flour
Exhausted Vanilla Bean Seeds

 

[busymammaof3]

I love the oatmeal as an exfoliant. I have also used Cinnamon, in small amounts. ot ground up any finer than it is when you buy it off the spice rack at the store. Paprika. Ground rosemary. I have started seeing a trend of adding slice up, dried out gourds to soaps now. Great idea! I read on one soap maker's site's testimonies...this lady reuses the gourd slice once the soap is all used up, by exfoliating her feet with it.

 

[divaknitting]

My favorite is oats finely grounded.
Second fine cocoa shells.

Where do you find the cocoa shells? I haven't seen those anywhere.

 

[GrumpyOldWoman]

I fine coffee grounds & poppy seeds too scratch for my wimpy skin too

So far of the ones I have tried I like -

* ground citrus peel (I dried lemon, blood orange, & grapefriut peels & run them thru the coffee grinder)
* grated ginger (pop one piece in the freezer for a few hours then grate with fine spice/cheese grater)
* finely ground oatmeal

some I tried but didn't like so much are -
* powdered egg shell - very scratchy OUCH
* rice powder - I'm still trying to decide whether I like it or not in soap. I like it in scrubs but just not as much in soaps I guess....

I have a batch with oat & wheat bran curing right now, will see how those work out

 

[lolaroxyb]

I am new to soap making...how do you get the scrubby ingredients to suspend in the soap??? I just tried finely ground oatmeal and it sunk completely to the bottom!!!