Flax seed meal (ground flaxseed)
Its grind decides how hard it scrubs. Cavitch, The Natural Soap Book primary source
Opens the calculator’s starter recipe, 1000 g of oils, with this additive at the dose it fills in, ready to change.
What it is
Flax seed meal is ground flaxseed, about 42 % fat in USDA’s figures. Cavitch counts it among the coarser meals, sharp-edged unless it is ground fine.
USDA FoodData Central primary source, Cavitch, The Natural Soap Book primary source
How much
- 0.67–1.33 tbsp per pound of soap filled in (the source gives it for a batch of stated size, worked out here per pound) Cavitch, The Natural Soap Book primary source
The calculator fills in 0.67 tbsp per pound of soap: 14.8 g for the 1000 g of oils in its starter recipe.
When and how
- Usually: at light trace.
- Stir it in as it is.
Cavitch, The Natural Soap Book primary source
What it does to the recipe
- 42.16 % is fat, which stays in the bar as extra superfat.
USDA FoodData Central primary source
Worth knowing
- Coarsely ground it scratches: grind it finer for a gentler bar. Cavitch, The Natural Soap Book primary source
Spoons and drops
- 1 tsp ≈ 2.5 g
- 1 tbsp ≈ 7 g
- 1 cup ≈ 112 g
USDA FoodData Central primary source
INCI name
Linum Usitatissimum Seed Powder
- CAS number
- 8001-26-1
- EC number
- 232-278-6
Guides that discuss it
Sources
Susan Miller Cavitch, The Natural Soap Book (Storey Publishing, 1995), chapter 6: clay, "add the clay to your soap just before pouring into molds, using ½ to 1 cup (118 to 237 ml) for a 12-pound (5.45 kg) batch of soap. Before adding the pure essential oils, blend the clay with 2 cups (473 ml) of soap mixture in a small container" (pp. 62–63); "Oatmeal, cornmeal, flax seed meal, juniper berry meal, alfalfa meal, flaked seaweed, and jojoba meal can all be added to soap for texture. Oatmeal, jojoba meal, and alfalfa meal exfoliate gently. Juniper berry, flaked seaweed, and flax seed meals are more coarse, with sharper edges; finely grind them before adding as exfoliants to soap"; "½ to 1 cup (118 to 237 ml) of meal is suggested for a 12-pound (5.45 kg) batch of soap", added "immediately after the soap has saponified" (pp. 66–67). ½–1 cup for 12 pounds is 0.67–1.33 tablespoons per pound of soap.
USDA FoodData Central, food 169414: Seeds, flaxseed (1 tsp, ground = 2.5 g; 1 tbsp, ground = 7 g; fat 42.16 g per 100 g).