Tuesday, May 15, 2012

Using Food Items for Soap

When making soap there are so many food items that are little or no cost that add color and scent.   Save and ask family and friends to save some of the following items for you.  All you have to do is put them in a baggie or plastic container and stick them in the freezer until you have enough.
These items cost nothing:
1. Avocado peels and seeds, when I get enough to fill the small crock pot I just throw them in, add enough water to cover and cook until they are soft and mushy.  When they cool I put them in the blender and blend until they are a thick liquid.  I put them in  freezer containers and freeze until I am ready to make some soap.  I replace about 1/2 of the liquid with the frozen avocado and add to the lye; the soap turns out a caramel color.
2. Orange, clementines and lemon peels, when I get enough to fill the small crock pot I just throw them in, add enough water to cover and cook until they are soft and mushy.  When they cool I put them in the blender and blend until they are a thick liquid.  I put them in  freezer containers and freeze until I am ready to make some soap.  I replace over 1/2 of the liquid with the frozen citrus and add to the lye; the soap turns out a pale orange and has a slight citrus smell.  You can also keep out some of the peels after they are cooked and just chop them in the blender and add some at trace to have some small specks of peelings in the soap.  I do this and it really looks nice.
3. Pineapple cores, when I get enough to fill the small crock pot I just throw them in, add enough water to cover and cook until they are soft.  Pineapple cores don't get real mushy but you are still able to get a thick or thin liquid from them when put through the blender.  I put them in  freezer containers and freeze until I am ready to make some soap.  I add water to the pineapple until I get the amount of liquid needed for the batch and add to the lye; the soap turns out a pale yellow.
4. Melon, after cutting the melon from the rind I then go back and cut any remaining pieces as close to the rind as I can get, add water to cover and simmer for 20 minutes on the stove.  Cool and then put through the blender and you get a pale orange color.
All of the above items I have used, play with the amounts added.  There is no wrong way to do it,
Try using mango peels, pears and apple skins, cucumber skins all of these items are what would have gone in the garbage or compost and by using them you are only out a small amount of time.
These items cost very little and will be trying them soon:
1. Carrots, I took 1 lb of the ones I got for 49 cents, put them in the crock pot, water to cover, cooked until soft, put through the blender and have them in the freezer ready to use.
2. Cucumbers, I am going to put 3 of the whole cucumbers and the peelings from the 4th through the blender tomorrow and freeze this until ready.  I got these for 29 cents each this past week, or use some from your garden if you grow them.
3. Spinach and lettuce, I have more than I will ever eat in my garden right now and plan on preparing these items this week and freezing them for some soap to have when ready to use them.

Here is a list that I found and there are many more out there.

http://standeyo.com/News_Files/Soap/Hand_Milled_Ing.html

What items have you used that are no or little cost to use when making soap?

Left to right, front; carrots sitting on top of avocado, strawberries, citrus mix (orange, lemon, lime); back; cucumbers in the 2 freezer containers sitting on pineapple (left), oranges (right), and the jar with the red cap is cantaloupe.















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