Your thoughts on Tussah Silk?

[hungryhawaiian]

I was gifted a large bag of tussah silk, amongst other things, and the person who gave it to me emphasized on it quite a bit. Tonight I decided to add it to a batch of soap to see what the fuss is about. It scared me at first because she said to add a small amount to the lye mixture and it’ll dissolve right up. Well it didn’t dissolve as fast as she implied so I freaked out! I had to wait for the mixture to cool anyways so I just stepped back and let it do its thing and sure enough, by the time it cooled down, the silk dissolved into the mixture. Now all I’m waiting for is to cut and cure so I can check it out! =)

 

[Misschief]

I haven't used silk yet but I'd love to. I may have gotten a stray hair or two in my lye solution, though. Let us know what you think of it.

 

[Dawni]

I haven't used silk yet but I'd love to. I may have gotten a stray hair or two in my lye solution, though. Let us know what you think of it.

Lols does that count? I've probably gotten those too, and maybe cat hair also ughh

I'd also love to use real silk though.. I've only once tried it in soap and I remember it was a nice bar of soap.

 

[hungryhawaiian]

I haven't used silk yet but I'd love to. I may have gotten a stray hair or two in my lye solution, though. Let us know what you think of it.

I may be new but I too have gotten my hair in both the lye and the oils (before mixing). And I own dogs so I’ve even had to fish out dog hairs. My hair is about 4.5-5ft long so I’ve gotta used to putting it in a bun when soaping. It ain’t easy for a guy with long hair! lol

 

[reeeen4]

I've seen bamboo silk too, curious to see if it makes a noticeable difference to the feel of the soap.

 

[Kafayat Adebowale oyeniyi]

would silk.peptide powder also have the same effect as tussah silk....really curious

 

[JuliaNegusuk]

I use tussah silk in one of my soaps. I think it might make a slight difference to the silky feel of the soap but not a lot. The value is more in the luxury sounding ingredient.

I use about 2% oil weight, which I think on reflection is too much. If your using for the first time I'd try 1% and work from there. I find it difficult to dissolve, maybe because I am using too much, you have to cut it up tiny and stir and stir. I also strain the lye solution through a seive into the oils to make sure there are no loose bits as I am bit nervous that tufts of silk in the soap might contain lye heavy patches. But I do kind of press the gunk through the seive as much as possible till I only have a trace left. It is worth a try and sounds great but I don't think it changes the soaping world.

 

[snappyllama]

I use tussah silk in pretty much all of my recipes. I only skip it if I'm making vegan soap or one that needs frozen liquids (e.g. beer, pumpkin). I *think* it adds some silkiness, but that could be just my imagination. It does sound nice on my labels. I have a bunch of it... so why not?

One tip: pull apart the silk into strands instead of a giant wad and put into your water to soak while measuring out your lye.

Plus (and this will sound weird), I really like how silk smells when it dissolves. I'm not head-down over my lye-solution container sniffing away, but I swear it knocks back some of that acrid smell out of the air.

 

[Dahila]

I use it in some of the soaps, I do like it, It adds to slip. The advice is to measure the water and add it to soak , I usually do 12 hours, much easier to dissolve it,

 

[Angela Zeigler]

I use tussah silk in pretty much all of my recipes. I only skip it if I'm making vegan soap or one that needs frozen liquids (e.g. beer, pumpkin). I *think* it adds some silkiness, but that could be just my imagination. It does sound nice on my labels. I have a bunch of it... so why not?

One tip: pull apart the silk into strands instead of a giant wad and put into your water to soak while measuring out your lye.

Plus (and this will sound weird), I really like how silk smells when it dissolves. I'm not head-down over my lye-solution container sniffing away, but I swear it knocks back some of that acrid smell out of the air.

I agree ! It definitely takes the choking smell away. I use a cotton ball size in every soap that I don't master batch my lye (I stopped doing this because I don't like it)

 

[shunt2011]

I too use it in most of my soaps. I do the same as snappyllama. I let it soak for a bit then pour my lye over it. It always dissolves well. And I too like the smell. I do master batch my lye most times.

 

[jcandleattic]

I add it to my masterbatch lye so all my soaps have it - unless I'm making a special vegan order then I make fresh lye. It's the only ingredient that negates my soaps from being vegan. I'm not sure how much I use, because it is basically weightless unless you use a lot, so I only use a couple big pinches for my masterbatch.

With that said, I do like it, thus why I use it. I feel a nice slick in the end product that really isn't there without it.

 

[Dawni]

I've already told the hungry big guy I was a little envious of his whole bag of tussah silk, coz I cannot find it here, and now that you guys are talking about the smell I'm a little bit more than just a little envious haha

Can someone describe the smell please? Does it smell of something or does it just tone down the lye water smell? I'm curious..

 

[cmzaha]

I use silk cocoons and just toss them into the bucket when I am masterbatching my lye, for my non vegan soaps.

Honestly I do not see any difference but they add label appeal

 

[bohunk]

I've used tussah silk in the past for a few years in all my soaps. I'd have my son pick out all the gunk before I used it. Honestly, I never did notice much of a different in slip and feel between silk soap and none silk soap. Lately, I've been adding a bit of kukui nut oil to my soaps after the cook. With kukui nut, I have noticed a difference in the feel of my soaps; much more silky feeling than when I added tussah silk.

 

[earlene]

I've tried silk a few times, but haven't tested any of the soaps yet to see if I notice a difference. I need to get around to testing them, as surely they have cured sufficiently. Same for the corn silk I tried toward the end of last year. My gosh, it's already March and I haven't tested any of my latter 2018 soaps yet!

 

[jcandleattic]

I should have mentioned that I have to use quite a lot (ish) to actually notice the difference, but the pinches of silk I use are pretty generous. It ends up turning my masterbatch lye a murky yeasty beige/tan color instead of the milky clearish white.

As for the smell, I guess I never really paid attention, but it's definitely not an unpleasant smell.

 

[snappyllama]

The smell is a little hard to describe... it's softly protein-y... maybe like wool mittens?

 

[LadyM]

I LOVE tussah silk in my soap. I use it in one special bar. I use a cotton ball sized ball and cut it up finely with scissors then stir and stir into the lye. It's a hassle but it has a great effect. I'm going to try the long soak to see if that makes it easier to dissolve. Thanks for the suggestion folks!

 

[hungryhawaiian]

I LOVE tussah silk in my soap. I use it in one special bar. I use a cotton ball sized ball and cut it up finely with scissors then stir and stir into the lye. It's a hassle but it has a great effect. I'm going to try the long soak to see if that makes it easier to dissolve. Thanks for the suggestion folks!

I was told that for a 5lb batch, a cotton ball size is more than enough, so that’s what I used in last nights batch. Now to wait 4-6 weeks for it to be ready and me to test it out. Then again, I suspect I could test it after cutting, since it doesn’t add anything on a chemical level, but rather a textural level, right?