Jello Soap! Fun kid project

[LuminousBoutique]

I stumbled on this video on how to make Jello Soap (like Lush shower jelly soap) on youtube and I was laughing so hard.. its too cute, something my kids would absolutely flip over.. so we made it!

heres a link to my blog post about it that has the original video I followed... http://silverfirsfarm.wordpress.com/2010/01/31/jiggly-wiggly-jello-soap/

but I'll put it here too

Ingredients:

1pkg gelatin (the unflavored kind of course)

3/4 cup boiled distilled water

1 tsp table salt

1/2 cup liquid soap (I used Johnsons baby wash for one batch and my handmade liquid soap for the other)

color/fragrance

I boiled the water in a glass pyrex in the microwave and dissolved the salt into it, then poured it into a glass bowl with the gelatin. Dissolved the gelatin, gently stirred in the soap, color, and poured into two types of molds.

90 min in the fridge and BAM... JELLO SOAP

It actually lathers up REALLY well and its so fun!! my kids want to take baths all day just to play with it! I think it has to be kept in the fridge so its just a fun rainy day type project but it made a bunch and they are really fun, they would be nice in the summer to cool off with! I thought they were too cute so I had to share.

[CandleMama6]

How cute!! My kids would love these. Thanks so much for sharing.

[Going2Adopt]

That is too cute. I'll have to grab my 2 nieces and give it a try once some of this snow is gone.

[LuminousBoutique]

:laugh2::laugh2:My husband LOVES it... he used one to take a shower and he was like "THIS STUFF IS SO FUN!" OMG i am married to a man child:laugh2::laugh2:

[Loulougirl]

:laugh2::laugh2:My husband LOVES it... he used one to take a shower and he was like "THIS STUFF IS SO FUN!" OMG i am married to a man child:laugh2::laugh2:

LOL! Too funny! This stuff sounds great tho, I think I gotta try it!

[Kitn]

Thanks for sharing, the grandkids will love it.

[ah-soy]

Too cool and fun! Hmmm...now has me wondering if it can be preserved???

[Starr]

I'd love to find a way to preserve it as I think it would just be GREAT to have around.

[Judy, USMC]

Do you think this is the same consistency as the Lush Shower Jelly?

[LuminousBoutique]

Do you think this is the same consistency as the Lush Shower Jelly?

The kind I made with the handmade liquid soap does.. but the kind I made with Johnsons baby wash did not, it started to get very mushy after a few hours so I think with Johnsons the water might have to be reduced to 1/2 a cup.

[LuminousBoutique]

Too cool and fun! Hmmm...now has me wondering if it can be preserved???

I know! They are really fun... I plopped a few of them into tupperwares and stuck them in the back of the fridge. I'm going to do my best to ignore them and see what they look like in a week.. two weeks.. so on and so forth. Maybe I'll do some preservative testing and see if it affects it setting up.

[Rae]

Those are just too cute. I am going to try them for the grandkids.

Thanks for sharing.

[moon01945]

Thanks for sharing! I showed these to my daughter and she is all excited to try and make them with me!

[ah-soy]

I did a little research on the Lush jellies...instead of gelatin, they use a vegan gelling product made from seaweed. I think it's called agar agar (have to look again) and doesn't need to be chilled to gel. I guess our American jello is made from all types of animal parts...bones, hooves etc. (not sure about that though...just what I read on a bunch of vegan cooking sites). They won't use gelatin because of that.

I only got as far as that...still have to research the other ingredients.

[LuminousBoutique]

I did a little research on the Lush jellies...instead of gelatin, they use a vegan gelling product made from seaweed. I think it's called agar agar (have to look again) and doesn't need to be chilled to gel. I guess our American jello is made from all types of animal parts...bones, hooves etc. (not sure about that though...just what I read on a bunch of vegan cooking sites). They won't use gelatin because of that.

I only got as far as that...still have to research the other ingredients.

Yeah I noticed that too.. I have searched a bit for the vegan gelatin powder and its a bit spendy ( http://www.bulkfoods.com/search_results.asp?txtsearchParamCat=ALL&txtsearchParamType=ALL&txtsearchParamMan=ALL&txtsearchParamVen=ALL&txtFromSearch=fromSearch&txtsearchParamTxt=4703 ). But it might be worth it if it works real well.

Thats exactly why I've never eaten Jello before in my life- someone told me what it was made from when I was a kid and I cant stand the thought, lol! There is Agar-Agar, and Carrageen is actually seaweed you boil with the liquids and then pull the seaweed out and it thickens the liquid.. I've never tried it though! Agar powder sounds much simpler, lol

Edited February 3, 2010 by LuminousBoutique

[gloworm]

Agar is that stuff we used in biology class to grow bacteria in the petri dishes.

I did a little research on the Lush jellies...instead of gelatin, they use a vegan gelling product made from seaweed. I think it's called agar agar (have to look again) and doesn't need to be chilled to gel. I guess our American jello is made from all types of animal parts...bones, hooves etc. (not sure about that though...just what I read on a bunch of vegan cooking sites). They won't use gelatin because of that.

I only got as far as that...still have to research the other ingredients.

[Rae]

That Agar powder is very expensive. I checked out The Chemistry Store, since I buy a lot from them, and they have the Agar powder and the other name for it is "baby powder". Humm, wonder if we could just use the baby poweder?????????

[moon01945]

It makes sense they would use AGAR AGAR if it holds up as a gelatin better than our traditional animal gelatin. I found these details:

"agar = agar-agar = agar agar = dai choy goh = kanten = Japanese gelatin = Japanese isinglass = Chinese gelatin = Chinese isinglass = vegetable gelatin = angel's hair Pronunciation: AH-gur Equivalents: Each of these amounts will firm two cups of liquid: 3 tablespoons agar flakes = 2 teaspoons agar powder = 1 kanten bar Notes: Since gelatin is made from animal tissue, many vegetarians rely upon this seaweed derivative as a substitute. Like ordinary gelatin, agar is flavorless and becomes gelatinous when it's dissolved in water, heated, and then cooled. Agar, though, gels more firmly than gelatin, and it sets and melts at a higher temperature--it can even set at room temperature. Agar, like gelatin, is full of protein (though incomplete), but it also contains the rich array of minerals one would expect from seaweed. To use agar, just soak it in the liquid for about 15 minutes, bring it to a gentle boil, then simmer while stirring until it's completely dissolved. The liquid will gel as it cools. Acids weakens agar's gelling power, so if you're firming an acidic liquid, use more. Like gelatin, agar will break down if exposed to the enzymes of certain raw fruits, like kiwi fruit, papayas, pineapple, peaches, mangos, guavas, and figs. Cooking these fruits, though, destroys the enzymes. If you plan to add any of these fruits to a gelatin salad, it's a good idea to buy them in cans, since all canned fruit is pre-cooked. Agar comes in flakes, powder, or bars. Substitutes: gelatin (Substitute one tablespoon powdered gelatin for every tablespoon of powdered agar. Gelatin is made from animal by-products.) "

[Carlena]

VERY neat!! I just watched it on YouTube.

Thanks for Sharing:yay:

[angel629c]

When I make these, I just keep it in the refrigerator to help it last. Just make sure no one thinks it is Jello and EATS IT!!! That would be an interesting surprise. :-P

[moon01945]

There is finally a LUSH near me. I have never seen the Jelly soap stuff before. Stuff is very neat... But man they charget a lot!

[CandleMama6]

How much FO are you adding? I made these today and used Pink Sugar. But all I can smell is the liquid soap. Since it was a tester batch, I did not want to add a ton of FO.

Also, since I can smell the soap so much, is there a certain brand that I should be using?

Thanks!!

[CandleMama6]

Ok, these have been in the fridge and have solidified. Now I have a couple questions.

All of them look like the water separated from the rest. It is sitting on the top of the soap. Is this normal?? They were poured in some plastic beakers that make the finished soap look like a cylinder.

How many uses are you guys getting from them? I used one and it seems that if you were to use one in the tub or shower, you would only get 1 use of it. At a sink, maybe 8-10.

Any thoughts? Maybe I did something wrong for the water to separate out the way it did.

[CareBear]

When I've tried the Lush stuff I just took a small chunk into the shower with me. It's not stable enough to stand exposure to much moisture. I don't think it's meant to be left in a soap dish.

[CandleMama6]

That is what I thought Carebear. The bath tub thing I figure will be a one time shot when the kids use them. But I agree that you could not leave these in a soap dish.

Any thoughts on the water separation??