What natural, easy to find additives have you experimented with?

[AliensrReal]

I use tussah silk in every batch of soap I make.

 

[Zing]

For solids, I like poppy seeds, shredded loofa, and coffee grounds. I've also added honey and beeswax.

 

[Firefly24]

I love carrot soap! I shred baby carrots, blanching them in boiling water for a few minutes, puree in blender and strain into my water container. I chill that strained blend to almost slushy consistency and then add the lye. I also maintain a jar of annatto seed infused OO....perfect carrot color soap! Stays orange for 2 years plus.

My cucumber puree (water portion) soap has been my most requested soap, as has my avacado (water and fat). Both stay fairly green without colorants for a few months, then fade to tan. These i color with spirulina infused OO, green clay and TD if I do a swirl.

I am wondering if anyone has used raspberry powder infused OO and if the color stays true? I have a bunch of leftover strained raspberry puree from a dessert that I just made and wonder if I can use it in soap. As another poster said here, i don't want any more tan soap. Lol.

How do you make the cucumber puree if you don't mind me asking?

 

[vnikolic]

How do you make the cucumber puree if you don't mind me asking?

I wash baby cukes, cut into chunks, add about 1/4 c either distilled or filtered water and get them first pulse chopped, then all the way to highest blender setting for a minute or two, pour into a fine mesh strainer over a bowl and work it through with a spoon or spatula. Discard the pulp, (in my experience the pulp is a nice green at first, but then begins to speckle brown after a full cure) . I strain all my purees .

I have tried both putting lye directly into cuke puree, and adding it after emulsify, ( always doing a direct swap for water weight). I prefer the direct lye method. I find that I have less brown speckles after cure.

6 SF
33 lye
1/2 straight water
1/2 chilled or ice cubed puree
1 tsp s lactate/ppo
1 tsp sugar/ppo
1/16 tsp silk peptide/ppo

Soap around 90 F

37 OO
30 CO 76
15 rice bran
7 avacado oil
7 shea
2 castor

1 tsp sifted green clay/ppo
1/2 tsp snake island mad mica ppo
1-2 T kaolin/ ppo
1 tsp TD dissolved in 2tsp water/ppo

Too many eo/fo combos to list, however I do like bb cucumber melon. 0.7 usage rate.

Here is a pic of 2 batches. The one on the left was 33 lye, the one on the right was soapcalc default 38.

The one on the left has some air bubbles because i was heavy handed with the stick, otherwise I prefer the 33 lye solution.

 

[Firefly24]

Thanks for the information.

 

[natik]

I did the yellow passion fruit juice instead of water. Add a nice yellow color that lasts. Somewhat worried about high acidity that most likely increasing the superfat, but the soap feels nice

 

[natik]

Did anybody try to put chicken feathers in the lye solution instead of silk? I didn't try silk yet, don't want to buy yet another ingredient to try.
Keep looking at all those feathers laying around my chicken coop, got me thinking. Will it be similar to the silk?