Teach Soap

Hello everyone! I'm entirely new to soap making, having never attempted it at all before. At this point I'm mostly just interested in learning about a few things. I have some specific questions that I hope can be addressed. ^^

My first question is about produce (fruit/veggies) in soaps. Pureeing it prevents it from getting moldy, I've heard, how does that work? Is it the pH of the soap getting good coverage on the liquid as opposed to it not being able to penetrate larger pieces? Also, is there a benefit to adding produce to soaps? Do certain ones convey certain benefits?

And about peanut butter added to soap. Peanut butter itself is shelf-stable due to it's low moisture content. But, (I assume,) if it got wet, it would spoil due to its protein content providing an ideal medium for bacteria. How does this work in soap? I assume if the protein in milk doesn't spoil, neither would PB, but how does it work? Is it the pH? Or does the lye do something else?

Hope to hear some thoughts on this, thank you so much for taking the time to read! c:

Welcome!
Just as long as the fresh fruit or vegetable is finely pureed, it will be fine. It is true that the pH of soap will help prevent from the fruit or veggies going moldy, but not if it is chunks or larger pieces.

Peanut butter would get saponified, just like any other oil or butter. You would have to calculate it into the total of your recipe. I don't use peanuts in any form as there are too many people with peanut allergies.

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Irena
Closed minds are like faulty parachutes; they refuse to open.

What about the proteins? Do they undergo a change during saponification?

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Irena
Closed minds are like faulty parachutes; they refuse to open.

Oh! Cools! =D

Now I have a question about raw ingredients. x3 Are they really safe to use? I know people say that raw milk is safe to drink, or that raw peanuts are safe to eat but I don't think they are at all. The same goes for raw things in soap, unless there is something I'm missing. Does the lye kill everything? Is it safer to use raw products in soap than it is to consume them, comparatively speaking?

Raw milk has a fairly high fat content. It saponifies. I don't think you would have a problem with raw milk in soap, unless you are allergic to milk.
I have never eaten or used a raw peanut, so that I don't know. It depends which other raw ingredients you are talking about.

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Irena
Closed minds are like faulty parachutes; they refuse to open.

I can help with the peanuts! Raw peanuts are consumed less that "cooked" peanuts due to the allergy factor. In a lot of cases peanut allergies are actually allergies to the inhabitant aspergillus species. These are a family of molds that not only grow on legumes (like peanuts) but actually "burrow" into them and are impossible to remove. "Cooking" the nuts does help to kill some of this mold. Raw peanuts can have such a high mold content that they cause allergic reactions in people who are not allergic to peanuts in any other form. Most "raw" peanuts found in stores have been treated somehow to kill some of the mold; treatments include blanching (a nice hot water bath), extreme low temperature quick freezing, or a short trip through an irradiated tunnel (usually cobalt 60). [Don't freak out about the radiation! You'd be AMAZED how much of your food is treated this way, it does NOT irradiate the food at all, and it is completely safe! Think x-ray, doesn't make you glow in the dark, does it? Same idea.] If you could get truly raw peanuts I would suggest against eating them, there is a much higher risk of reaction. All that being said, they would be fine in soap, unless someone was allergic to either aspergillus or peanuts.

[]Disclaimer! Not ALL peanut allergies are to the aspergillus, some folks are allergic to the nut itself[]

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~~Heather~~
Mad [soaping] Scientist

Heather - you are so smart!

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Susie
Sometimes A Mistake is so much fun, You just have to do it again!

Go Heather!

I'm avoiding peanut products, too. Too many allergens!

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Lesli Sagan
Avital's Apiaries
Like us: http://www.facebook.com/AvitalsApiaries

Just reading peanuts + BURROWING mold = never eating again.

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The Soapinatrix! *whip-crack*
- Posting the trials and tribulations of my Soaping Journey!

Hehe, its okie! Its a good mold, unless you are allergic to it I suppose!

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~~Heather~~
Mad [soaping] Scientist