Making Grapefruit Sherpa Soap – the inside story

I have discovered making soap using all natural ingredients to be intriguing. My first recipe combined homegrown lavender and rosemary with tea tree oil. My family and friends loved it. The fantastic fragrance and the way it made their skin feel was a big hit. Feeling inspired, I moved on to something new – a shampoo bar made from tarragon and lime. I experimented with different oils, fragrances, and my own hand-crafted recipe. Both of these recipes stretched my knowledge and challenged my limits. I was hooked.

Amazingly, both of these hand-crafted endeavors turned out successfully, which hungered me for the next challenge. Working off the positive feedback on the scent of the first soap and citrus elements of the second, I devised a new soap combining grapefruit and salt. Grapefruit is the perfect combination of a strong, beautiful scent plus citric acid to benefit the skin. Then, add salt to cleanse the pores and smoothing rough spots and you really have something beneficial. How cool would it be to combine these two elements? Let the experimentation begin!

Formulating the Recipe

Now that I had the theme, I needed to determine the ingredients. Since I was using, I increased the castor and coconut oils to balance the salt’s impact on the lather. I also added cocoa butter and jojoba oil to improve moisturizing and balance the ingredients further.

To incorporate the grapefruit, I juiced the fruit and grated the rind into separate containers. I combined the rind with the pulp and added almond oil to cover it and extract the scent. I will substitute the juice for a portion of the water when creating the lye mixture.

The salt composition required looking at a lot of different recipes and formulations on the Internet. I saw different formulations from 5-20%. I decided to keep it on the low end for a couple of reasons. Salt makes the soap thicken up more quickly and can potentially make getting into the molds difficult. In addition, salt effects how the soap lathers and performs and I wanted to lessen the potential of a poor performing product. My plan was to use 5% in the recipe and add additional sprinklings to the top and bottom of the molds.

Which Soap Process?

Now that the recipe was set, I decided to experiment with one more element, the process type. There are two ways to saponify soap, either a hot or cold process. My first batches of soap were all hot process. In this method, all ingredients are combined and cooked until the lye is fully incorporated. In the cold process, all ingredients are mixed until they are incorporated and then poured into molds. From there, the lye saponifies as it ages. This process takes 4-6 weeks.

What would make you choose one method over the other. Hot process soap is ready to use almost immediately. In addition, fully saponifying the lye eliminates soda ash, which can be created when curing lye combines with carbon dioxide in the air. Hot process soap texture is a bit more course and the heat can burn off the scent and colorings. With cold process, for your increased aging time, you get a smoother soap and crafters like it for the ability to do much more with color and design.

To be different, I decided to make the Grapefruit Sherpa soap using the cold process. It went well, with the excpetion of running short on coconut oil. I increased the amount of olive oil to compensate. Next time, I will measure better.

Making the Soap

I started with the lye mixture. It required 18 ounces of liquid to incorporate the 7 ounces of lye I needed to saponify the 52 ounces of oil. I wanted to use grapefruit juice as part of the liquid to enhance the scent and nutrient value of the soap. At least 10 ounces of distilled water is needed to dissolve the lye. As a buffer, I used 11 and dissolved all of the lye and set it aside. I added 7 ounces of juice after the mixture cooled down a bit. I did need to use the mix before it dropped below 120 degrees.

While the lye mix cooled, I measured all of the oils and melted them in a crock pot. Once the melting oils were brought up to the same 120 degree point, I added the lye mixture. Blend together using an emulsion blender for about 5 minutes until thickened to trace, which looks like custard pudding. Upon reaching trace, the lye will continue to saponify with the oil until it turns into soap in 6 weeks.

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Now, add scented oils and coloring before pouring into molds. I choose not to use colors because I don’t want unnatural ingredients or residue from the colors bleeding out on towels, etc. Luckily, in this recipe, the juice, rind and pulp added a nice pink color to the soap. For the scent, I added 1 ounce of store bought essential oil plus almost 2 ounces of homemade oil. Once incorporated, I poured the mixture into molds and set aside to cool. After 48 hours, I unmolded the soap and cut it into bars.

Recipe
20.0 oz. Olive Oil
13.5 oz. Coconut Oil
 8.0 oz. Almond Oil
 6.0 oz. Castor Oil
 1.7 oz. Lard
 2.0 oz. Cocoa Butter
 1.0 oz. Jojoba
6.95 oz. Lye
11.0 oz. Distilled Water
 7.0 oz. Fresh squeezed Grapefruit Juice
1.87 oz. Hand-crafted Grapefruit Oil
 1.0 oz. Store-bought Grapefruit Essential Oil
 3.0 oz. Pink Himalayan Salt

Future Considerations to Ponder

I did experience several things which I can use on future batches. Soda ash developed on several bars. I quickly remedied the ash by spraying with isopropyl alcohol. This occurs in the cold process due to unsaponified lye waiting to cure. Next time, I will spray my next cold process batch directly after molding to prevent the ash.

More importantly, I should have double check my supplies before beginning. I have laughed when I heard other people had to substitute at the last minute. I figured that would never be me. Well, it was and I was short on coconut oil and lard. I am laughing no more for I am now one of those people. For all future endeavors, I will be more careful to match the recipe and inventory.

Lastly, I am very interested in hearing feedback on the salt in the soap. I think people will find it beneficial to their skin health. Plus,I expect some exfoliation value. Too early at this time. I will look for comments and user results and post additional information for future concoctions.

Reprise

I hope my adventures inspire you to cook up your own soap, lotion or bath bomb. It’s fun and a great way to ensure you know what you are putting on your skin and hair. I will be happy to help consult or provide feedback for you. Just leave a comment and I will happily follow up.