Walnut shell powder
A medium scrub. Medium brown. Fisher, The Complete Photo Guide to Soap Making primary source, Bramble Berry supplier or guide
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
Walnut shell powder is ground walnut shell, a medium scrub that also colours soap brown.
Fisher, The Complete Photo Guide to Soap Making primary source, Bramble Berry supplier or guide
How much
- 1 tsp per pound of soap filled in Bramble Berry supplier or guide
- 0.25–0.5 % of the batch (the source does not say of what; taken here as of the batch) Wholesale Supplies Plus supplier or guide
- 0.57–3.43 tbsp per pound of soap in melt and pour or rebatch (from a published recipe that adds it to one part of the batch: the lower figure over the whole batch, the higher within that part) Fisher, The Complete Photo Guide to Soap Making primary source
The calculator fills in 1 tsp per pound of soap: 5.3 g for the 1000 g of oils in its starter recipe.
When and how
- Usually: at light trace.
- Stir it in as it is.
Fisher, The Complete Photo Guide to Soap Making primary source
What it does to the recipe
- It changes neither the lye nor the water: it is only weight in the bar.
Worth knowing
- Coarsely ground it scratches: grind it finer for a gentler bar. Fisher, The Complete Photo Guide to Soap Making primary source
Spoons and drops
- 1 tsp ≈ 1.67 g
- 1 tbsp ≈ 5 g
- 1 cup ≈ 80 g
Fisher, The Complete Photo Guide to Soap Making primary source
INCI name
Juglans Regia Shell Powder
- CAS number
- 84012-43-1
- EC number
- 281-688-1
Guides that discuss it
Sources
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".
Bramble Berry, walnut shells (INCI Juglans Regia Shell): "Start with 1 teaspoon of walnut shells per pound of soap, scrub, etc."; "It also adds a beautiful brown color."
Wholesale Supplies Plus, apricot seed powder and walnut shell powder: "Recommended use levels: 0.1-3% in scrubs, 0.25-0.5% in soaps."
David Fisher, The Complete Photo Guide to Soap Making (Creative Publishing International, 2018): rebatched soaps, "1 tablespoon (6 g) red sandalwood powder" for 1 lb (454 g) of grated soap, and "1 tablespoon (1.5 g) lightly crushed rose petals buds" for a pound (p. 34); "1 to 2 tablespoons (5 to 10 g) ground walnut shells" in one third of 28 oz (794 g) of grated soap (p. 32); "1 tablespoon (9 g) kaolin, bentonite, or French green clay" in another third and "1 teaspoon activated charcoal—a little goes a long way" in the last (p. 32); "2 tablespoons (10 g) lightly ground oatmeal" for 1 lb (454 g) of grated soap (p. 32); in melt and pour, "¼ teaspoon cosmetic glitter" in about 4 ounces (112 g) of clear base (p. 54); in cold process, "2 teaspoons activated charcoal per 1 lb (454 g) of soap oils" (p. 121), and for the three colours of a clay swirl "½ teaspoon rhassoul clay", "½ teaspoon green sea clay" and "½ teaspoon red Moroccan clay", each mixed with 3 tablespoons (45 ml) of distilled water (pp. 121–122).