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There are no instructions for how to use substances such as orange peel, moringa leaf and parsley, please advise.
Orange peel is listed under plant powders – should it be dried and ground?
If you mix something with water or carrier oil, will this affect the recipe? If so please explain and also when it should be added if mixed with a carrier.
If you can use orange peel, what about other citrus fruits?
If using a powder such as turmeric or moringa leaf is there a guide to the quantity/weight required?
There is a huge amount of plant powders you can use in soap so it’s not really possible to list them all. In general they can be used as follows: infused in carrier oil (olive oil, coconut oil, almond oil, apricot kernel oil, etc), powdered and added to the lye water, powdered and added to the oils before the soap is emulsified, infused in oil, made into tea, added to the soap after it’s been emulsified before it’s poured in the mould.
Orange peel is listed under plant powders – should it be dried and ground?
Yes, it should be dried and ground. Or you can buy it already ground. Adding it to the soap not ground i.e. cut or sliced it’s a sure-fire recipe for disaster as it is hard and it will scratch your skin! You can add orange peel either to the oils or to the soap after it’s been emulsified, before it’s poured in the mould.
If you mix something with water or carrier oil, will this affect the recipe?
Depends on how much water or oil you add… If you mix an additive with water or oil you should use a small quantity of water i.e. 10-20 grams. The additional water/oil will not affect the soap as the quantity will not be enough to change the recipe. If you use 100 grams of oil to mix your additive then yes, this will affect the recipe and you need to calculate the additional 100 grams of oil into your formula.
If so please explain and also when it should be added if mixed with a carrier.
See above, plus there is detailed information about what to mix plant powders with in the “how to use natural colours in soap” so please read this unit.
If you can use orange peel, what about other citrus fruits?
If you use orange peel then you can of course use other citrus fruit peel if you wish i.e. grapefruit, lime, lemon, bergamot.
If using a powder such as turmeric or moringa leaf is there a guide to the quantity/weight required?
This is a matter of personal taste. I use 10 grams of turmeric for 1000 grams of soap, but you might want a less intense or a more intense colour. Start with 10 grams or turmeric/moringa leaf per 1000 grams of soap and experiment to see what you prefer. Turmeric will also colour the soap foam, so you need to be comfortable with this.
Thank you for your answers.
1. I only asked about ones that were listed in this unit, orange peel, moringa leaf and parsley. Can these three all be used with any of the methods you mention?
4. My queries were in response to the unit you mention, it’s on this page. The only reference of when to add when mixed with a carrier is “adding to the soap batter” and the video gives no instructions. Should the carrier be added as soon as the batter appears mixed, when trace is first reached or when a desired level of trace is reached?
1. Yes, orange peel (or citrus peel) moringa leaf and parsley can be used in soap using the methods I have mentioned.
4. Soap batter implies that the oils/butters have been emulsified with the lye water, so it’s already turning into soap, regardless of trace. In the video you can see that the ingredients were emulsified, so the colours were added to the soap batter. When adding the carrier oil you need just to use common sense and not add them when the batter is too thick, otherwise you won’t be able to mix them properly. If the soap is thin enough, even if not properly emulsified, you can mix them in with the hand blender easily, and reach trace.
Is it possible to use dried fruits powder them and adding them to the soap as colors?
Can we also use herbal tea or black tea to color the soap?
You can use dried fruit powder in soap, just as you do with plant powders, but you need to test the new fruit powders you want to use in your soap ideally in a small batch as some might turn brown after reacting with the Sodium Hydroxide, just as the plant powders do.
I’ve discussed using tea as replacement for water, and other liquids, in Module 4 “Main ingredients used to make soap”, Unit 3 “Water and other liquids”.
Thank you for your reply I’ll test them and see how it will turn out.