[Sca-cooks] OT: soap (was: Stinky hands)

[Kelsey]

At 01:17 PM 5/24/01 +0000, Olwen wrote:
>Welcome to the exchange part of the list

Thank you very much Olwen.

>Kiri said the soap she her friend makes has coffe grounds in it.  Have you
>tried that?

I've stirred grits, ground oats, clay (cosmetic grade), calendula petals
and any number of herbs into soap.  Cinnamon makes a wonderful scrubby
soap.  I haven't done _just_ coffee grounds.  What I have made is soap with
only oatmeal or only grits in it.  I'm not sure if soap made with only
coffee grounds would be as effective on smells.  My guess is that it would
have some effect but perhaps not quite as through.  I don't add coffee
grounds to every batch of coffee soap.  Some people have skin delicate
enough that scrubbies are unpleasant.  Others simply don't like scrubbies
of any sort.  It's effective on odors both ways.  The addition of the
grounds does make it more effective on greasy stuff though.

If you're going to add botanicals to cold process or hot process soap it's
a good idea to soak the botanicals in a little oil (just enough to wet the
botanicals).  Soak the botanicals (or coffee) in while you're bringing the
mixture to trace.  At light trace add the slurry of oil and
botanicals.  Soaking will keep the botanicals from absorbing oil from the
soap mix.  Without soaking there is a chance that the finished soap will be
crumbly or dry. A good ratio of botanical additives to soap is 1/2 to 1
tablespoon per pound of oils depending on the botanical chosen and how
scrubby one wants the finished soap.  If you have the good fortune to have
a dedicated stick blender (it isn't safe for use in anything else once its
touched lye soap) getting the botanicals incorporated is much easier.  Of
course, a stick blender is also handy for getting soap to trace.

Love and light and laughter
Kelsey








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