Honey

USDA FoodData Central, food 169640: Honey.

Susan Miller Cavitch, The Soapmaker’s Companion (Storey, 1997): honey only at trace, at lower soaping temperatures; buttermilk added to the lye solution; too much sugar syrup gives "a sticky, soft soap that sweats".

Anne-Marie Faiola, Pure Soapmaking (Storey Publishing, 2016): "1 teaspoon of sodium lactate for every 16 ounces (1 pound) of oils or 0.5 percent" (the two disagree: a teaspoon of the 60 % solution a pound is about 1.45 % of the oils, so neither is taken from this book); salt at "½ teaspoon per pound of oil", added to the water before the lye; "Salt decreases lather significantly"; salt bars are 80–100 % coconut oil at a high superfat. Chapter 5: coffee grounds, "For extra scrubbing power, use a coarse grind, while for gentle exfoliation, a super-fine espresso grind is best. Use the grounds to make coffee before adding them, or they might bleed brown halos into the final soap"; "Adding colloidal oatmeal can accelerate trace in your soap recipe; premixing with water can help avoid this"; honey, "start soaping with lye-water and oils both under 100°F (38°C). Add the honey at trace ... Once the soap is finished, place it in the refrigerator or freezer immediately to prevent overheating". Chapter 7: "A half teaspoon of sugar per pound of soap added to your lye-water can help your bar lather up."

Alicia Grosso, The Everything Soapmaking Book (Adams, 2007): honey, "Start with 1 tablespoon ... of honey per pound of oils", and the "honey volcano"; frozen milk is ready "if it is firmly slushy"; strong brewed coffee or aloe juice in place of the water.

Kelly Cable, The Natural Soap Making Book for Beginners (Althea Press, 2017): beer and wine left to go flat, brought to a boil and simmered 30 minutes, then cooled; 6 ounces of flat beer with 6.2 ounces of water; honey "1 tablespoon per pound at the most"; 4 ounces of pumpkin purée in a 3-pound batch (pp. 152–161).

Soap Queen, honey in soap: "about 1 teaspoon of honey per pound of soap".

Anne L. Watson: beer must not sit "at room temperature for too long, or it will mold"; honey, "About 5% of the base oil weight is about as high as I’d go."

Susan Miller Cavitch, The Natural Soap Book (Storey Publishing, 1995): honey, "no more than 4 tablespoons (59 ml) of warm honey for a 12-pound (5.45 kg) batch of soap" (pp. 66–67); vitamin E at about 0.06 % and grapefruit seed extract at 0.5–5 % of the ingredients, in the oils before the lye; the Goat Milk Soap (pp. 110–114) takes "½ pound (227 g) cold goat milk" beside "2½ pounds (1.13 kg) cold, distilled water", the lye solution drizzled into the milk at 80 °F, because too much goat milk "makes the soap more vulnerable to premature rancidity"; fresh aloe gel "can sting and itch".

Anne-Marie Faiola, Pure Soapmaking (Storey Publishing, 2016), recipes in chapters 8–10. 100% Castile-Brine Stamped Cube: "1 tablespoon sea salt" dissolved in the water before the lye, for 33 oz of olive oil. Oatmeal Soap for Babies: "2 teaspoons bentonite clay dispersed into 4 tablespoons distilled water" and "2 tablespoons colloidal oatmeal" at thin trace, for 15.1 oz of oils whose olive oil is infused with "2 tablespoons Egyptian chamomile" in a teabag in 14.5 oz of oil, 2 hours in a double boiler. Nettle & Yarrow Upcycle: "2 teaspoons dried yarrow powder dispersed into 1 tablespoon apricot kernel oil" in one of two halves of 24.1 oz of oils. Buttermilk Honeycombs: "3 tablespoons honey" at thin trace for 25.1 oz of oils. Banana Cream Pie Layered Bars: "1.2 ounces banana, 1.5 ounces whipping cream, and 1.5 ounces water, pureed" at thin trace for 35.2 oz of oils, then the freezer "for 24 hours to avoid overheating from the sugars in the banana". Annatto-Yarrow with Embeds: "1 tablespoon spirulina powder" and "1 teaspoon yarrow powder", added "directly to the hot lye-water", for 7.1 oz of oils; "2 tablespoons poppy seeds" in one of two halves of 34 oz of oils. Cucumber Layers: "1 ounce cucumber puree" into the whole batch at thin trace, 22 oz of oils. Gardener Scrub with Coffee Grounds: 50 oz of oils, the batter divided "into four exactly equal sections", one each for "5 teaspoons paprika", "5 teaspoons ground orange peel dispersed into 1 tablespoon of canola oil", "5 teaspoons brewed coffee grounds" and "10 teaspoons green zeolite clay". Indigo-Annatto Negative-Space Funnel Pour: "1.5 tablespoons indigo powder" whisked into the lye-water and "1 tablespoon alkanet root powder dispersed into 1 ounce sunflower oil" at very thin trace, 35.2 oz of oils; "In order to bring out the best color for the indigo powder, the soap must go through a hot gel phase". Black Tea Funnel Pour: 5.5 oz of brewed black tea added at thin trace, 5.5 oz of water for the lye, 33.1 oz of oils. Goat Milk Sunset Burst: "0.7 ounce goat milk powder dissolved in 1 ounce distilled water" for 17.1 oz of oils and "1 ounce goat milk powder" for 25.2 oz, added at trace: "To help avoid scorching, this recipe incorporates the goat milk by using a concentrated solution of powdered goat milk."

NOAA CAMEO Chemicals, sodium hydroxide solution: "reducing sugars other than sucrose, when heated (above 84°C.), evolve toxic levels of carbon monoxide in the presence of alkalis".

Robert McDaniel, Essentially Soap (2000): honey’s colour "depends on the amount of honey used and the temperature when the honey is added"; vitamin E at trace (p. 94).

Lovely Greens, honey soap: sugar in the lye water "boosts the exothermic reaction ... can cause a volcano".