beloved Posted August 8, 2006 Share Posted August 8, 2006 Hi!! Everyone I was wandering if anyone has used cucumber puree as the waster needed in the lye mixture? I just did, an not sure what is going to happen. When I put the lye into the cucmber water it turned brown. Any infor would be great. Thanks ahead of time. It did trace and is now in a can of pringles w/o the chips.:embarasse JO Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darwin Posted August 8, 2006 Share Posted August 8, 2006 HMM, I don't know what is going to happen, but that sure is an interesting experiment. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michelleB Posted August 8, 2006 Share Posted August 8, 2006 When I used cucumber puree as 100% fluid, I got the 'funky brown' thing happening too and it ended up being a light/med tan soap with the cucumber bits being a brownish color. But it was an absolutely wonderful soap anyways! It was a huge hit with everybody I gave it to. Now when I make it though, I use the cucumber puree as only part, or maybe ALMOST all of my fluid...the rest being goat milk, and I wait until trace to add the puree instead of making it part of the actual lye mix. That's kept the 'funky browns' at bay so far and I still end up with this great soap that everybody loves! Hope that helps ya! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SoapInTheCity Posted August 9, 2006 Share Posted August 9, 2006 That's so funny, because I have an oz of cucumber FO, and was thinking the same thing...to use some real cucumber in it..........Please keep me updated on this and maybe post a pic if you can.....I won't be making it for a little while, so keep us posted on the results! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ruby Posted August 9, 2006 Share Posted August 9, 2006 Hi. I just made cucumber soap with real cukes. I used aloe juice for part of the liquid. It didn't turn brown at all..real nice soft green color. HTH Ruby Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gloworm Posted August 9, 2006 Share Posted August 9, 2006 I used cucumber about a month ago. Used about 1/2 a cuc pureed. Rest of liquid was aloe juice (1/2 the total liquid) and the rest water. Colored the soap green and it stayed. The cuc flecks are kind of golden colored-pretty actually. (I don't know how to post a pic-my files are too large).Glo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CareBear Posted August 9, 2006 Share Posted August 9, 2006 (I don't know how to post a pic-my files are too large).GloTry: http://www.candletech.com/forums/sho...ttachment+size Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mountainmadness Posted August 9, 2006 Share Posted August 9, 2006 Cucumber will not turn brown if you puree it and add it at trace. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beloved Posted August 9, 2006 Author Share Posted August 9, 2006 Cucumber will not turn brown if you puree it and add it at trace. Glad too know to add after trace. Do you have to discount the water? or not. I plan on making it until I get it the way I want it. Meaning a nice bar of soap that I and others can enjoy. I looked in the can and it look like it is a little hill in the middle and its alittle cracked. I paln on giving it a little more time in the can and then take out and cut Will get my daughter to take a pic of it. She is always putting up b&b porn. Thanks for all the help you all have been thanks. today going to up % of coco butter to 25%and see if i like it. Thanks againJO Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mad Posted August 9, 2006 Share Posted August 9, 2006 It helps if you keep your lye/water cool. Use an ice water bath for the lye/water container and for better cooling use a container that will conduct heat easily such as stainless steel. I use 1/2 water and half cucumber puree. The last batch is almost ready to wrap and the bits of peel are still green but it time will turn a brownish/green color.Mad Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SoapInTheCity Posted August 9, 2006 Share Posted August 9, 2006 Would any of you be willing to post some pictures of this soap you made, and if anyone has some cucumber soap made a while back to see how it has colored? PLLLLLEEEAAASSSEEEEE Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michelleB Posted August 9, 2006 Share Posted August 9, 2006 Oooooo...Kkkkkkk, but you asked for it, lol. These are NOT the purdiest bunch of soaps I've seen, but they'll give you an idea on how the color holds up over time.These are from a 2lb batch that was made about 8 months ago, and I used cucumber puree as half of my fluid for these, but added it at trace. I SB'd them WAY too long and ended up with almost a bread-dough consistency, hence tons of air pockets & wrinkles. BUT out of egads of batches of this kind of soap, these are the only two bars left. Great stuff! Click on the pics to open them up a little bigger.[ATTACH]7695[/ATTACH][ATTACH]7696[/ATTACH]Like I said, they're not gonna win any beauty contests, but the color has been the same from day one, Soft Beige with little specks of muted green cucumber peel that haven't discolored at all. MUCH better than the ones where I added the lye straight to my cucumber puree! Don't have any pics of those though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SoapInTheCity Posted August 9, 2006 Share Posted August 9, 2006 Thankyou kindly. They look great. This is good to know what the cucumber puree added to the soap as liquid will look like before I chance it. Much appreciated. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beloved Posted August 9, 2006 Author Share Posted August 9, 2006 It has been 24 hr. and it is still to soft to get out of the mold. Will see about it tomorrow. thanks every one.JOmaybe the recipe coconut 4 oz mango 1 oz oo 7 oz palm 4 oz water 6.09 oz lye 2.27 ozWill take pic after it is out of can. One good thing looks really nice from top of can light green with darker green flecks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SoapInTheCity Posted August 9, 2006 Share Posted August 9, 2006 Yep, me again. I'm ready to make this soap. Here's my few last questions:So if I want to make a soap and add 1/2 a cucumber pureed at trace, I still count that as my liquid for the lye/water mixture? So I make the water/lye mixture with the total weight of the pureed cucumber and water but don't actually put the cucumber in the lye/water. IS THAT RIGHT? So the lye water will actually be less the liquid of the cucumber but the same amount of lye the recipe calls for??!ANOTHER QUESTION: Will the seeds be scratchy? What essential oil would go good with a cucumber soap? I would like lemongrass but I don't have it. I would get it though, if any of you think that would be nice. Sorry for all the questions, but I've never even ventured into adding a vegetable to my soap, so I want to get this right without a funky smell! :highfive: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CareBear Posted August 10, 2006 Share Posted August 10, 2006 you are correct on the lye part. haven't the foggiest on the other.be careful mixing your lye cause it'll be more concentrated than typical. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
singleyellowrose Posted August 10, 2006 Share Posted August 10, 2006 If you freeze the cucumber puree in ice cube trays and treat it like milk, it won't discolor. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michelleB Posted August 10, 2006 Share Posted August 10, 2006 ANOTHER QUESTION: Will the seeds be scratchy?I've never had a problem with scratchies. I don't want to make it sound like the cucumber bits get 'mushy' or anything, but they aren't hard. Hmmm, difficult to explain. I mean, they're 'in' there, but when pureed, they just don't have much volume/Oomph to them. Kwim? I've never felt them. I don't think I helped much with this question, lol.As for the EO to use...that I'm not sure about at all, mainly because I'm not a big EO user (big FAN, just not a big user), but lemongrass sounds terrific! I think that almost any EO you go with is gonna smell super! JMOSorry, I guess I wasn't much help after all.====== Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beloved Posted August 10, 2006 Author Share Posted August 10, 2006 :smiley2: I scraped out the seed part of the cuc because i wasn't sure of just that.How did it turn out?JO Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beloved Posted August 10, 2006 Author Share Posted August 10, 2006 Here are a couple pictures of the soap I just made a couple days ago. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SoapInTheCity Posted August 11, 2006 Share Posted August 11, 2006 OH I LOVE THAT! Just wonderful. Thanks for posting the picture! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michelleB Posted August 11, 2006 Share Posted August 11, 2006 That is DELICIOUS looking soap! Way to go! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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