Teach Soap

Hi everyone. It's been ages and ages hence since I was on the forum and I dearly miss it. So much too juggle and not enough time. Familiar? But I did know where to come to with my question!!

Awhile back I tried to make a soap with a loofah in it and I wasn't all that enamored with my results. I'd like to give Loofah a go again so I purchased some shredded loofah. Has anyone used it in M/P and what was your approach?

My thoughts were going to be as follows. In a 32 oz tray (8 bars x 4 oz)

1. Pour a layer (~10 oz) of soap base. Then take the loofah and sprinkle it on the soap layer (at a temp no hotter than 130+. Then I was going to take a popsicle stick and try and push the loofah bits into the soap. Wait a minute or so -- so soap is cool/hard. Spritz and then pour another thin layer over. Wait

2. Repeat above.

3. Just pour a final layer so I'm at 32 oz.

The whole idea is that there will be 2 layers of loofah within the soap. I recently have been making salt bar soaps and doing this approach but with just one layer of salt. Here's an example

http://www.etsy.com/listing/57638178/sp ... t-bar-soap

Thoughts?
Thanks

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http://www.asliceofdelight.etsy.com

I love your bars!

Now your question I don't have any ideas for but when you figure it out, I wonder what you would use to cut it and get a clean cut thru the shredded loofa.

I'm hoping you get loads of replies!

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~bytheSEAsoap~ Mella bythesea, bythesea, bythebeautiful sea

海の皂

Hi!

Cutting through shredded loofah is way easier than cutting a whole loofah (ask me how I know ) Here's a thought on laying the loofah. Sprinkling just a small amount first and then pouring a thin layer. I'm wondering if the thin layer of soap will be able to pick up the loofah shreds. Then sprinkle however more shreds you want in your bar. Cool. Then finish your soap with another layer?

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I've embedded the shredded loofah before and it's simply a matter of letting your first layer get a nice skin on it, sprinkling the loofah over then CAREFULLY pouring a thin layer of warm soap over that. You end up with the loofah in layers that way - which will mimic your beautiful salt bars! I wouldn't poke it in with a stick (even though that does sound like fun lol) because I think you'd get air bubbles trapped in there too
here's a picture of the ones I did - I just put them all the way through - I didn't think of doing layers which I think would look even nicer!

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Soaper from Melbourne Australia
Founding member of Melt & Pour Soap Crafters ... find us on Facebook - we'd love to see you!

ooh that is nice - smart thinking

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I like the way those soaps look! I can't use loofah though. I have very sensitive skin.

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

Thank you! I was pleased with the way they ended up - they're kind of a denim colour. I'm not a fan of loofah either but my husband loves them! I would do them in the layers next time - I'm just loving those layered salt bars! I didn't do layers with this one - I just poured the initial thin layer and let it firm up, sprinkled over a HEAP of loofah and then poured the rest of the soap over the top. You have to pour really, really slowly so you don't get pockets in the loofah!

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Soaper from Melbourne Australia
Founding member of Melt & Pour Soap Crafters ... find us on Facebook - we'd love to see you!

Thanks for the photo and input PurpleMolly. I've not done the pour yet as I was waiting for more input which I've now gotten from you all. I plan to use the fragrance Oatmeal, Milk and Honey. The first layer will have that light brown/tan color, then white, then a honey color. I don't have alot of colorants but I think I can mix daffodil and radiant gold to get the right color. From the photo though it looks like the loofah is somewhat cut up? And this loofah is like a powder from Brambleberry. I guess the only way to find out now is give it a go. I'll report back on the results.
Thanks
Hilary

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http://www.asliceofdelight.etsy.com

This is how we buy the shredded loofah in Australia. I just teased it apart with my fingers to spread it out a bit thinner

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Soaper from Melbourne Australia
Founding member of Melt & Pour Soap Crafters ... find us on Facebook - we'd love to see you!

I finished the soap and I'm really happy with it <not so much with my photos>. Here's a link to the soap on Etsy. http://www.etsy.com/listing/58788901/oa ... h-soap-bar. Thanks again for all your input.

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http://www.asliceofdelight.etsy.com

Good job!

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Soaper from Melbourne Australia
Founding member of Melt & Pour Soap Crafters ... find us on Facebook - we'd love to see you!

Looks good asliceofdelight!

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

aslice of very pretty! How did the cutting go?

You know I've been wondering also does the loofa get caught in the drain, or cause plumbing problems?

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~bytheSEAsoap~ Mella bythesea, bythesea, bythebeautiful sea

海の皂