Beyond dyes and essential or fragrance oils, there are a number of cool things you can add to your homemade soap. One of my favorites is honey (which is a moisturizer), but there is also milk, glycerin, silk, shea butter, tomato paste, cocoa powder, fruit juice and pulp, dried herbs and flowers, finely chopped oatmeal, cornmeal (for a scrub bar), poppy seeds, finely ground coffee beans, beer and wine, citrus zest, berry seeds, yogurt, aloe vera gel, content of vitamin E capsules (2-3 per pound), seaweed, raw adzuki beans or almonds ground into a fine powder, and embedded objects. In cold process soap making, add these additives after they have been mixed to a suitable trace. For liquids, add in light traces. For anything you want to suspend evenly throughout the bar (oatmeal, seeds), add it in a heavy trail or else the additive will sink to the bottom.
As for milk, you can really use any kind of milk: cow, goat, cream, buttermilk, half and half, plain yogurt mixed with water, even powdered milk. Use the milk directly instead of the water your recipe calls for. However, I used Egg Nog once, and it turned dark brown and lost its rich smell. Whatever milk you use, freeze it before you use it. It should be “muddy” when added to the mix. Milk soaps tend to overheat, as do honey soaps.
Also, any time you use alcohol in a recipe, either flatten it or boil it to release the alcohol, then chill it before using. If you don’t, even a small 1/2 pound batch will begin to boil explosively when the lye is added.
As for honey, add about 1/2 ounce per pound of soap. Be sure to spray the honey measuring spoon with non-stick cooking spray so that no honey residue sticks to the spoon and messes with your measurement.
To embed objects in your soap, put, say, a small plastic toy, soap rope on a string, or similar item in the soap mold, and then place the soap mass in the mold. Of course, this works best with clear or glycerin soaps, which are generally “melt and pour” projects, not handmade cold-processed soap.
When adding dried herbs or flowers, sprinkle them over the soap just poured into the mold or stir them with a whisk just before pouring them into the mold. Most herbs will turn brown in the soap over time. Dried herbs also often leave a brown color in the soap that surrounds them. Some people find this unsightly, while others find it beautiful and a mark of handmade soap made from natural ingredients.
For more information on this and other topics related to soap making, visit How2MakeSoap.Net. This website also offers free video tutorials on how to make soap, pictures of the soap making process, free soap recipes for beginners, and a 50 page e-book on how to make soap for $12.99. The eBook includes 39 one pound soap recipes, 60 soap making pictures and details on how to make your own soap recipes.
