Teach Soap

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

Thank you.

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

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Happy Soaping!

Anne-Marie
blog: www.soap-queen.blogspot.com
supplies: www.brambleberry.com

I like to use baby oatmeal. It is finer than even ground oatmeal. Last time I used regular oatmeal I ground it very fine (I thought) and it still came out like gravel in the soap........very exfoliating!! The baby oatmeal is located with the rest of the pablum stuff in the grocery store.
Marj

Hi, I'm new *waving*, and have a question about oatmeal in M&P.

Does it need some sort of preservative? I was thinking of soaking some regular rolled oats in water then using the water, but was worried it would mold or rot. I had a problem with tea (dry from a teabag) that looked really cool, but after about a week it morphed into yucky, moldy blotches. So now I'm hesitant to put anything into my soap.

Thanks!
Libby

Just be sure to grind it up in a coffee bean grinder and it should be just fine. My Mom has some very old Oatmeal M&P soap that I sent her years ago ( still in a little basket in her bathroom) and it looks just fine. If I remember correctly I used 1/4 Cup ground Oats per pound of M&P.
(It was maybe 5 or 6 years ago! I didn't use any preservatives.)

Welcome to the forum Libby!

I've used oatmeal in M&P and not had a problem with it rotting or getting moldy even after 3 months. Just remember to wrap your soap well in plastic wrap afterwards so that it doesn't get sweaty (yes, M&P soap sweats in the heat). Don't add water to M&P base - it won't set properly and will be prone to mold or bacteria. As for your tea leaves turning color, that's because of the high glycerin content in M&P bases. The tea leaves' tannins must have leached out into the surrounding area causing the change in color of your soap.

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Armi

Thank you for your replies Lauri and Armi. And your welcomes too!

I'd like to get the soothing qualities of oatmeal in the M&P without the exfoliating. If I get the oatmeal from the baby section and grind it into a fine powder, my blender can pulverize pretty well, would that make an Aveeno type soap? Or would I have to soak the oatmeal in something to leach out the soothing oaty stuff (can't think of the word lol).

Thanks!
Libby

I think that what you want ( oaty stuff ) would not be as good in M&P soap. I think CP or HP would work better for that. You will still get some of the oatmeal goodness as you use it, but not as much as in other methods.
It's still a nice soap!

I've used finely ground oatmeal to get the soothing benefits of the oatmeal, as my skin gets easily irritated from the heat. To boost this even more, you could also buy some hydrolyzed oats and add that to your soap base, just make sure that you don't use more than 1 tsp per pound soap or your soap won't set up properly. I would also suggest using a specialty soap base like goatsmilk, honey or aloe for your soap - goatsmilk is soothing and has a pH similar to our skin's, honey is also soothing and healing while aloe is known of course for its healing properties. Brambleberry has some exceptional M&P soap bases in my experience and their specialty bases don't contain SLS which aggravates some people's skin. My favorite OMH (oatmeal, milk and honey) soap recipe is very simple: use 16 oz goatsmilk base, 1 tsp honey and 1 tsp superfine oatmeal; melt, scent per preference and pour into 4 oz molds to yield 4 bars soap. I usually leave mine unscented as fragrance oil (FO) can also irritate my skin sometimes. Remember to continue stirring and wait until your base is slightly thickened (almost sludgey) before pouring into the molds so that the oatmeal will remain suspended evenly all throughout your soap. I sometimes substitute 1 tsp hydrolyzed oats for the honey in this recipe when my skin is itchy. Discontinue using your soap however if your skin gets more irritated or worse.

Don't use honey in soap though (or anything else for that matter) for infants, immunocompromised adults or those allergic to bees and bee products as it can make them severely ill especially if the honey is unpasteurized.

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Armi