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Exfoliants

Ground loofah

A light to medium scrub. Fisher, The Complete Photo Guide to Soap Making primary source

Try it in the lye calculator

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

Ground loofah is luffa powder, and a very light one: half an ounce fills about 3.5–4 tablespoons.

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How much

The calculator fills in 0.25 % of the batch (the source does not say of what; taken here as of the batch): 3.6 g for the 1000 g of oils in its starter recipe.

When and how

  • Usually: at light trace.
  • Also used: at thick trace.
  • Stir it in as it is.

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What it does to the recipe

  • It changes neither the lye nor the water: it is only weight in the bar.

Worth knowing

Spoons and drops

  • 1 tsp ≈ 1.26 g (1.18–1.33 g)
  • 1 tbsp ≈ 3.77 g (3.55–3.99 g)
  • 1 cup ≈ 60.3 g (56.8–63.9 g)

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INCI name

Luffa Cylindrica Fruit

Guides that discuss it

Sources

Fisher, The Complete Photo Guide to Soap Making · primary source

David Fisher, The Complete Photo Guide to Soap Making (Creative Publishing International, 2018), p. 19: exfoliants, "Start with 1 to 2 teaspoons per 1 pound (454 g) of oils or soap base"; calendula petals "retain their yellow color nicely"; coffee grounds, "scrubbiness is determined by the coffee’s grind"; "Citrus peel (dried and ground): offers a medium scrub; add at trace"; cornmeal, "medium scrub; premix with oil and add at trace"; eucalyptus leaves, "a medium scrub, especially if not very finely ground"; lavender buds "will turn brown in cold process soap and look like mouse droppings; gently grind them first to avoid this"; loofah, "light to medium scrub"; mint is "prone to bleeding; steep as a tea first"; oatmeal, "like coffee, the scrubbiness is determined by how ground it is"; poppy seeds, "light to medium scrub"; pumice, "heavy-duty scrub; great for mechanic’s or gardener’s hand soaps"; rose hips, "medium to high scrub; also adds natural color"; rose petals "turn black in cold process soap"; sandalwood powder "gives a medium to high scrub, and makes a lovely purple color"; "ground stone fruit pits (apricots, peaches) and berry seeds (ground or whole) give a medium to high scrub factor"; walnut shells, "a nice medium scrub and a lovely medium brown color".

Wholesale Supplies Plus · supplier or guide

Wholesale Supplies Plus, luffa powder: "0.25-0.5% in soaps"; half an ounce is about 3.5–4 tablespoons (0.24–0.27 g/mL); thicker bases "prevent additives from sinking to the bottom".

All 138 additives