Teach Soap

Getting my ideas ready for spring soaps and have a few questions!

First, I'd like to make a garnder's or kitchen soap utilizing corn meal. I wondered how much corn meal is recommended per pound of soap?

I also saw it posted about adding silk to soap. My local fabric store does not carry raw silk, so I'd love to know the best resource to purchase the silk from. I would love to offer a soap with silk added around Valentine's day.

If any of you have a rescourse for "naturally" coloring soap, please let me know. I read on the forum about the use of pureed carrots for an orange color, and read some where else that paprika could be used to color soap as well. I would like to offer a very nice, all natural line of bars for those who do not like artifical colors and fragrances.

I'm thankful for this forum and really enjoy everyone's posts! I read a lot of them, but don't know enough yet to offer to much advice!

For cornmeal, I would go with 1 TBS per lb. of soap. For colors, take a look here -> http://www.mullerslanefarm.com/soapcolors.html
If you have any yarn shops in your area, you might find raw, unrefined silk there. It needs to be added to your lye water before you add the lye, then stirred very, very well so it dissolves.

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

I was at an Asian market yesterday. One of the most interesting things I found there was annatto. I got the 2 oz baggie of whole annatto seed for 89c from the rack of various-and-sundries because I don't plan on needing very much but there was a larger container also. The bigger one was something like 7 or 8 oz for $1.99. Annatto makes a very nice warm yellow-to-orange. Tumeric was right next to it on the shelf but I have enough in my cupboard for any warm yellow I may need.

Also, I haven't experimented with it yet but the other evening when I was drinking a cup of rooibos my mind started wondering what a lovely paler red that might just make. I haven't seen it posted on any of the lists so do let us know if anyone has tried this one.

Oh my.

Annatto can make very soap too.

Rooibos turns tan to brown over time for me. The natural red oxidizes. Unrefined palm is very yellow and it takes very little to get yellow soap from it.

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

Speaking of natural red-heads I wonder what henna would do in soap. Hmm. . .

so many ideas, so little oil in the pantry

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

For silk try soapmakingresource.com for tussah silk. They also carry natural colorants.

I made some mechanics soap with 10x orange oil and I added corn meal to Irenas measurements-- 1T ppo. I was grinding some grain for bread so I ground some yellow popcorn for my cornmeal, then decided to also grind some white popcorn. Using the same recipe, the yellow cornmeal turned things the most beautiful yellow, and the white turned the nastiest shade of gray! All I did was divide the base before I added the cornmeal, so everything was the same. The half with the white cornmeal looks like it's already been used! I also used pumice at the same rate, and the resulting soap is wonderful. Leaves our hands feeling wonderful, clean from all the gritlins that get in cuticles and crevaces, and smelling good enough to lick!

Soap Making Resource is offering free tussah silk fibers with orders for the time being; this may just be for newsletter subscribers with a code though. Worth a look!

I just made a batch of soap with 1/2 tsp paprika to 24 oz oils. It is faintly peachy with little red speckles. I didn't want to use any more than 1/2 tsp in case it bothered anyone's skin!

And finally, I go to Lovin' Soap for natural colorant help--she provides great photos! Here is her Color Soap Natural series: