Ingredients That Will Ruin Your Homemade Soap

 

Making soaps at home in your free time is a great activity and habit, and you can change this habit into a business opportunity by starting a soap startup. This activity can turn into a nightmare if you switch your attention away; you can't overheat or underheat the solution of soap, or the results will not be good.

When you are done making soaps, you can gift them to your family members or friends as a gift in soap sleeve packaging. This packaging gives a luxurious feel to the product.

Homemade Soap Vs. Commercial Soap:

Homemade soap is just a soap, and no additives nor preservations are used to make these soaps last longer and smell nice for a long time. The homemade soap will be gone in just a matter of some days. This is not the case in commercial soaps.

When we say commercial soaps, we mean big brands like Dove, Irish Spring. These soaps are not complete soaps because they are mostly detergent or petroleum products. Simulated perfumes are used in these soaps to give them a long-lasting scent. These soaps last longer than homemade soaps because water doesn't affect the petroleum product, which helps them to last longer.

Ingredients to Avoid While Making Soap at Home:

The professional soap makers prohibit some products because they can be borderline, meaning they can be ok or not ok. These products will not make your soap firm or may not even work in your favor.

1.     Fresh Plants:

 

Many people think that adding, for example, mint in homemade soap will give the soap a refreshing scent and a cooling agent, but this is not true. It would be best if you dry the plants thoroughly before adding them to the soap mixture.

 

The problem fresh plants can cause is that these plants can make your mixture rot, and that mixture will be of no use. Lye is an element used in soap making, and this material can dissolve anything because it is pretty strong. Even if some plant has survived, then the plant's moisture can unbalance the solution of the soap.

 

2.     Fresh Vegetables:

 

Some recipes online or some books say that you can preserve cucumber or tomatoes in the soap using Vitamin E. These are all lies because any fresh ingredient can cause the soap to rot.

 

If you want the smell and moisturizing tomatoes' properties, you can use them if they are entirely dried or use tomato powder that you can easily find in a grocery store. The powder and fresh tomato have the same amount of Vitamin C, if not more. This is a safer approach.

 

3.     Old Lye and Potassium Hydroxide:

 

Don't make a mistake on this one. Old lye may be in chunks, making the task difficult for you because they don't dissolve completely. Lye is not expensive nor difficult to find, so it is suggested that you use fresh lye every time you are making soaps.

 

Also, don't use potassium hydroxide if you are making bar soap because this chemical is used in making liquid soaps.

 

4.     Unfiltered Water:

 

If you are using filtered water, you are good to go, but if you use the water straight from the tap, you can be in trouble. Water that comes straight from the tap may include minerals, choline, or other metals.

 

5.     Rancid Oils:

 

These oils can be sticky, and no essential oil will cover the smell of rancid oil. Stick to the natural oils to make sure that your soap is ok to use.

 

6.     Food Colors:

 

Food colors are strictly prohibited in most recipe books and online. This is because the food colors are water-based, and when they are mixed with a soap mixture, it's more of an oil base.

 

The question is, how will you color the soaps? The best way is to use soap colors, and if you don't have access to soap colors, you can use the things written below:

 

·        Turmeric Powder:

Using turmeric powder will give you yellow soap color, but more importantly, turmeric is very good for the skin. Turmeric helps in bringing back the natural glow of your skin. 

 

·        Coffee:

The coffee powder will give the soap a brown look. Coffee is seen as one of the best ingredients you can use on your skin because it provides uncountable benefits for your skin. Some of them are acne treatment, calming effects, dark circles, Vitamin 3-B.