Soap Makers Help!

[Backyard Buddies]

Quote:
That sounds cool (as a cucumber - ha ha, OK, dumb joke!

).
Is this the same recipe that Ninja posted a ways back? We're growing Persian cucumbers in the garden (so yummy) and have plans for a cucumber soap using the garden cukes. I know that recipe called for shea butter, which I don't yet have.
Does it have a scent with just the cucumbers added?

 

[chiknwhisperer]

I'm pretty sure I've been using this one before the recipe swap thread got put up. But yes there is a small amount of shea butter in it. I like it, it is nice and creamy. I'm wondering if I could use kiwis. That sounds yummy. I love kiwi

 

[Backyard Buddies]

Quote:
Ninja posted that recipe before the swap. It was called something like "Slice of Summer" or somethingorother. She found it online.

The cool thing about kiwi (if you can use it) is that it has the little black seeds in it that could be a nice little exfoliating addition. My only question about kiwi is whether it's too acidic or not. My guess is that it'd fall under the same category as oranges and such.

 

[ametauss]

Not sure how old you are but way back when there was a product called black slave that you would put on all sorts of things to draw out the posion/puss/sting.... it was a cream/gel.

I found a reciepe on line for black slave. It contains activated charcoal to make it black.... I added some lavender EO and Tea Tree EO to make it more antibactial... You don't use a lot of the stuff....

Here's the directions from soapcrafters:
Submitted by Soapcrafters on Thu, 10/02/2008 - 14:22 Lip Balms & Solid Lotions
2 Tablespoons Bee's Wax
3 Tablespoons Cocoa Butter
3 Tablespoons Shea Butter

2 Tablespoons Olive Oil
1 Tablespoon Vitamin E
1 Tablespoon Honey Powder (optional)
2 Tablespoons Activated Charcoal Powder
3 Tablespoons Rhassoul Clay
Optional: Herbal Extracts, Essential Oils - depending on what you're using the salve for

8 1/2 ounce clear jars

Black Salve is touted to do everything these days, including curing cancer. I will be staying off the cancer topic, but this is the old fashioned salve everyone used to have in the house. What it does best is absorb toxins. The common use for it is to put a glob of it on a bee sting, slivers or a cut. It sucks out the poisons! No home should be without it.

First Step:
Put Bees wax, cocoa butter and shea butter in a small pot and heat. You want to keep it at 180 degree for at least 15 minutes. This is easier than it sounds. Just heat it on medium high until it is melted. Turn off the burner and let it sit. It should still be over 180 in 15 minutes.

Second Step:
Add the rest of the ingredients and stir until well blended. The easy place to buy Activated Charcoal is in your local health food store or herbal medicine store. You'll probably have to open a lot of capsules, but it is the stuff you need for this.

Third Step:
Feel free to add any relevant herbal extracts to the formula just before you spoon it in. You want to make sure it is very cooled off before adding any extracts, essential oils, or fragrance.

Fourth Step:
Once it is smooth, spoon into 1/2 ounce jars. Give a jar to everyone you know. They will thank you for it!

 

[ametauss]

I also made the cuc soap and used goat's milk with no scent... It came out a bit soft due to DH adding water to the oil sitting in the sink cooling.... but it is lovely with the green flecks...

I also didn't have Shea butter so I used extra coconut and it still came out nice....

I also put some loofa in some and although I don't think I chopped the loofa up enough, as it is a bit chunky, the exfoliant qualities are very nice...

I'm planning on making some loofa cups where you hollow out the middle of a loofa and pour the soap in the middle of course you have to pre-cut the loofa's the the depth that you want your soaps but it comes out very pretty.... I think I'm going to do this with watermelon juice instead of goat's milk..... should be interesting...

 

[Morgaine]

I have never heard of that, Thanks. Did you get your package yet?

It was so HOT at yestedays market. It was reading 101 degrees. Thankfully we were unde a big pavillion. We did ok, enough to make it worth it any way. I really hope it cools down.

Has anyone here used quilting mylar for your liner? That's what they use in FCS mold and I found if I pop them in freezer, just enough to get the soap cold and hard, it peels right off and leaves the sides as smooth as glass. Right now I use the funky foam and they work great in the sense that they peel righ off, but the sides are not super smooth.

We are working on making a portable booth for the ren faire. I think it is going to look likethis

 

[Backyard Buddies]

ametauss - OK, NOW I know what you're talking about! I remember seeing my dad use something like that when I was really little. I can't wait to try the cucumber recipe. It really does sound lovely.

Morgaine - That booth is very cool looking! How hard is it to put together at the fair? Will you have to set it up each night? each weekend? or will you be able to leave it up the whole time?

I just cut the soap from yesterday. It definitely didn't swirl, but it still looks OK. It wasn't quite the look I was going for, but it worked anyway despite my quickly thickened soap.

 

[chiknwhisperer]

Quote:
Ninja posted that recipe before the swap. It was called something like "Slice of Summer" or somethingorother. She found it online.

The cool thing about kiwi (if you can use it) is that it has the little black seeds in it that could be a nice little exfoliating addition. My only question about kiwi is whether it's too acidic or not. My guess is that it'd fall under the same category as oranges and such.

OK. I must have been on the same sight at one itme because I found that one not to long after I started making soap. I'll have to go back and see if I have that site saved. But yeah that should be the same one. I love that recipe. Although I want to see not only if I can use the kiwi but if I can use jojoba and maybe a litle caster oil.

 

[chiknwhisperer]

Morgaine I like the look of the booth for the fair. And it has been so hot here to. Last week I was sure all my soaps were going to melt in to goo at the FM. There is a small chance of sever thunderstorms this Saturday but I went and bought sidewalls for my tent. They clip all the way around but they have a zipper opening on the front and back. I figure if it starts raining and I put that up then maybe some people will come in to get out of the rain and then they will have to look at my soap lol.

Ametauss, I think I will give that a try when I can get the stuff for it. It sounds like something I should really keep around here. We are outdoors a lot so it just might come in handy if someone gets stung or something. Thanks for posting the recipe.

 

[NanaKat]

Quote:
You don't have to precut it.
I line a pvc pipe with parchment paper, slide the loofa sponge in and seal the bottom. Then just pour in soap. When gelled, slide out of pvc and cut with a serrated knife. If you use the 6 inch loofas from a Dollar General store and a 12 inch pvc pipe, then you cut in the middle where the two loofas meet in the log of soap.
The lye in the soap mix, softens the loofa making it very easy to cut.
I think the loofa makes a pretty flower design on the face of the bar.

I posted a picture somewhere here on this thread. Yep, here it is