soapformulator
EN
Exfoliants

Orange peel powder (dried, ground)

A medium scrub. For looks: specks in the soap, or scattered over the top. Fisher, The Complete Photo Guide to Soap Making primary source, Voyageur Soap & Candle supplier or guide

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

Dried orange peel, ground to granules or a powder, as sold in the spice aisle and by soap suppliers. In soap it gives a medium scrub and a speckled look.

Corley Barto, The Natural Soap Chef primary source, Voyageur Soap & Candle supplier or guide, Fisher, The Complete Photo Guide to Soap Making primary source

How much

The calculator fills in 1 tsp per pound of oils: 3.2 g for the 1000 g of oils in its starter recipe.

When and how

  • Usually: at light trace.
  • Mix it first with a little of the recipe’s oil, about a teaspoon of powder to a tablespoon of oil, so it spreads without specks.

Fisher, The Complete Photo Guide to Soap Making primary source, Faiola, Pure Soapmaking primary source, Corley Barto, The Natural Soap Chef primary source, Voyageur Soap & Candle supplier or guide

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 ≈ 1.45 g
  • 1 tbsp ≈ 4.36 g
  • 1 cup ≈ 69.8 g

Voyageur Soap & Candle supplier or guide

INCI name

Citrus Aurantium Dulcis Peel Powder

Recipes that use it

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".

Voyageur Soap & Candle · supplier or guide

Voyageur Soap & Candle, Orange Peel Granulated (Citrus sinensis): "Sprinkle it into the soap mixture when at a light trace to create a speckled and textured effect"; "Approx. Cups/ Lb: 6.5", so 453.6 g ÷ (6.5 × 236.6 mL) = 0.295 g/mL. The granules are coarser than a powder, which packs denser.

Faiola, Pure Soapmaking · primary source

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."

Corley Barto, The Natural Soap Chef · primary source

Heidi Corley Barto, The Natural Soap Chef (Ulysses Press, 2012), chapter 5, Juiced Bars: "There’s also just a bit of orange peel added to exfoliate"; "1 teaspoon dried orange peel (available in the spice section of the grocery store)" for 566 g of oils, stirred into the fragrance and added at light trace.

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

David Fisher, The Complete Photo Guide to Soap Making (Creative Publishing International, 2018), p. 86: "most all flower petals, except calendula, will turn black when they come into contact with lye"; "Herbs such as rosemary, leaves such as eucalyptus and patchouli, citrus peels, ground rose hips, and teas such as spearmint and peppermint, can all be used to make beautiful soaps. But, like flower petals, they turn brown or black. Most dried leaves, especially rosemary and eucalyptus, need to be ground finely or they can be too scratchy".

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

David Fisher, The Complete Photo Guide to Soap Making (Creative Publishing International, 2018), p. 35, Citrus Peel Soap: "Finely grate 3 tablespoons (20.25 g) citrus peel (just the outer, colored layer) and set aside to dry for a few days", for "1 lb (454 g) grated soap"; the hand-milling method "keeps the citrus peels from turning black after being exposed to lye. The peels are lightly exfoliating".

Anne L. Watson · supplier or guide

Anne L. Watson, Creative Soapmaking, April: Egg Yolk Soap, "2 egg yolks" blended into the liquid fats for 30 oz (850 g) of oils, before the lye; yolks "produce a rich, thick lather"; on scrub soaps, "Some additives, such as minced citrus peel, may become considerably harder and scratchier as the soap ages." At 17 g a large yolk, 34 g for 850 g of oils: 4.0 %.

All 138 additives