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How to Add Purees to Cold Process Soap

Filed Under: Tips & Tricks


Learn how to add natural purees to your cold process soap recipes!Photo by Lara Ferroni. I ❤ all of her photos. Swoon.

There are a wide variety of natural ingredients that can be used in cold process soap. From natural colorants and exfoliants to essential oils and extracts, new soapy ingredients are always popping up. Recently, adding fruit and vegetable purees to cold process soap has become extremely popular. Natural purees can add color and skin-loving properties to your bars. In addition, natural purees in bath and beauty products are fantastic from a marketing standpoint. Who doesn’t want a bar of soap made with their favorite fruit or veggie?

In general, there are no limits to what kind of natural purees you can add to soap. In my new book, Pure Soapmaking, there are recipes that include purees of blueberry, cucumber, tomato, aloe leaf, banana and potatoes. Here on the blog, you can find soap made with purees of pumpkin, strawberry, carrots and avocado. If you can blend it into a smooth consistency, you can (most likely) add it to cold process soap.

Adding purees to soap is an advanced technique. If you have never made cold process soap before, I highly recommend getting a few basic batches under your belt before using purees in your soap. It’s important to get an understanding of how soap behaves without additional sugar, water and fats. A solid grasp on how “normal” cold process soap behaves will allow you to alter your techniques and recipe accordingly when you begin to add uncommon ingredients. Remember: soapmaking is a science. Tweaking a recipe with extra ingredients (like purees) alters the chemical reactions between the lye and oils.

Purees add extra sugar, fats and water to your soap. Each type of puree will affect your soap recipe a little differently. The amount of water, fat and sugar will vary depending on the ingredient and how the puree was made. Before adding your puree, it’s important to consider the properties of the fruit and vegetable and how it will affect your batch. For example, a strawberry puree will add extra sugar and water. Using an avocado puree will add extra fats and water, but not much additional sugar. A cucumber puree (shown below) adds mostly water and a very small amount of sugar.

Learn how to add natural purees to your cold process soap recipes!Each puree will add different properties to your soap. For example, cucumber puree (shown above) will add extra water to the soap, but very little sugar. Photo by Lara Ferroni. ❤❤❤.

It’s also important to consider the source of the puree and how it was created. Many soapers choose to make their purees for soaping at home, so they have complete control over the ingredients. If you are purchasing the puree from the store, read the ingredients carefully. Avoid purees with added sugar, thickeners, preservatives, colors or other additives. These extra ingredients can have unpredictable results on your soap. Look for purees that only contain the vegetable or fruit and water.

Adding extra water to cold process soap can lead to glycerin rivers.Water discounting is a great way to avoid glycerin rivers (shown above). Learn more about how to avoid glycerin rivers here, and how to water discount your soap here.

Most purees can be created by placing them into a blender or food processor until completely smooth. Some ingredients may require a small amount of additional water to achieve a smooth texture. Don’t forget to always use distilled water! If adding extra water to your ingredient to blend into a puree, I highly recommend using a water discount in your recipe. Natural fruits and vegetables contain water. If you’re adding the vegetable/fruit in addition to extra water to make a puree, all that extra water can throw your recipe off balance. Too much water is not dangerous to your recipe. But, it can increase the chances of glycerin rivers, and will increase the time your soap needs to stay in the mold and cure. Read this post to learn how to water discount your recipe, and the benefits of doing so.

Avocado puree is a great additive for cold process soap. But, the extra water can lead to glycerin rivers. Adding purees such as avocado (shown above) also adds extra water to the soap, which can cause glycerin rivers. 

In the photo above, I used an avocado puree (avocado + distilled water) along with French green clay and spirulina powder for color. You can find the full tutorial here. I promoted gel phase by insulating, because I wanted the spirulina powder to be nice and bright. You can see it went through a partial gel phase in the center of the soap. Because of the extra water within the avocado puree, the soap also developed glycerin rivers. This soap is totally fine to use and actually looks pretty great! But, it wasn’t the look I was going for. I remade the soap with a steep water discount and placed it in the fridge and it turned out much better.

Once the puree has been prepared, I prefer to add it at thin trace. This makes the purees easy to incorporate with a stick blender or whisk. As a rule of thumb, if the puree contains a lot of sugar (ex: fruits), expect it to speed up trace. If the puree contains little to no sugar (ex: cucumber, avocado, tomato, pumpkin), expect it to thicken trace very slightly, or not at all. When working with a puree for the first time, I like to use a slow moving recipe to be on the safe side. I also prefer a simple design with no complicated swirls when using purees. If attempting a swirled soap with purees, have a backup plan! That way, if the puree speeds up trace you don’t have a ruined batch.

Adding sugar to cold process soap not only speeds up trace, it also increases the temperature. Ingredients such as milk, fruit juices and honey, which contain natural sugars, increase the temperature of soap. To learn more about working with honey in cold process soap, click here. Higher temperatures increase the chance of the soap going through gel phase. ‘Gelling’ and ‘gel phasing’ in cold process soap refers to a part of the saponification (soapmaking) process where the soap gets warm and gelatinous – up to 180 degrees. Click here to read more about gel phase. Gel phase is not harmful to soap. But, soap can volcano when it becomes too hot. If the puree contains a lot of sugar, I recommend soaping at cooler temperatures and placing the soap into the fridge or freezer after pouring into the mold to help it stay cool throughout the saponification process.

Just how much puree to add will depend on personal preference. A safe place to start is 1 ounce per pound of soap. Adding too much puree can throw off the balance of lye and oils. Worst case scenario, adding too much puree could cause mold and bacteria growth in the soap. If you’re worried about this, stick with a lower usage rate.

Now that the soap has been made…what about the shelf life? The pH level of cold process soap does not allow for mold and bacteria to grow. While the oils within the soap can go rancid, mold and bacteria will not grow. If oils go rancid in cold process soap, DOS (dreaded orange spots) can occur. Click here to learn more about DOS and how to avoid it. It’s hard to say exactly how fresh ingredients affect the shelf life of cold process soap, because it will vary greatly depending on the recipe and environment. Like soapmaking oils, fresh ingredients can go rancid within the soap. But, the pH level will not allow it to grow mold and bacteria unless a lot of puree is added.

Learn how to add natural purees, such as strawberries, into your cold process projects. Adding purees to cold process soap may affect the shelf life, but the pH of soap does not allow mold to grow. 

A great example of this is the Strawberries & Cream Cold Process Soap. As you can see above, the puree started to turn brown in the soap. But, the soap is not growing mold. The pH level of the soap does not allow it to do so. The soap is still safe to use. It just doesn’t look quite as pretty as it did when it was freshly cut. In my experience, fresh purees can cause DOS more quickly in soap as well. I recommend using soap that contains fresh purees within 6 months after curing, just to be on the safe side.

I do not recommend using purees in rebatch soap or melt and pour soap. In cold process soap, the puree goes through the saponification process along with the oils and lye. The harsh pH environment of cold process soap kills the components in the fresh ingredients that could grow mold. If adding purees to melt and pour or rebatch, the puree does not go through the saponification process. Fresh purees will go bad very quickly in melt and pour and rebatch soap, and will most likely grow mold as well.

Looking for some fun puree recipes to get you started? Carrot puree was added to the Buttermilk Bastille Baby Bar on Soap Queen TV. Carrot puree is known for its antioxidant properties and gives the soap a soft yellow-ish orange color. For this recipe, I used baby food but you could certainly use handmade puree. When using purees from the store, just make sure the only ingredients are the vegetable (ex: carrot) and water.

Another popular puree in cold process soap is pumpkin. Pumpkin puree is easy to find at the store, and it behaves well in soap. Depending on how much you use, pumpkin puree gives the soap a very gentle orange color. A great example of this is the Pumpkin Spice Swirl Cold Process Soap. After adding the pumpkin puree to trace, the soap turned a soft orange hue. To help lighten the color, I added a bit of titanium dioxide. This helped the orange color in the swirl really pop. For this recipe, I used a 15% water discount to compensate for the water in the pumpkin puree. Click here to learn how to make your own pumpkin puree.

Learn how to add pumpkin puree to your cold process soap recipes in this blog post.

Phew! I hope this post has helped you grasp working with purees in cold process soap. Like I stated previously, I highly recommend getting a few cold process recipes under your belt first before adding purees to your soap. They affect every stage of the soaping process from recipe development and trace, to temperature and cure time. If interested in more recipes using purees, my book Pure Soapmaking is full of ideas and inspiration.

What is your favorite puree to use in cold process soap? I have a hard time choosing, but I particularly love aloe and pumpkin! 

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86 Comments

  1. Hello,
    greetings from Czech Republic. I just wonder, if the soap doesnt go bad because of the organic puree, i mean if i let avocado few months rest, it gets smelly and bad! Sorry for such question, im just a bit scared.
    Thank you, Barbara

    • No worries. When you add the avocado to the recipe, it goes through the same chemical reaction as the oils and lye. This is called saponification. That means the avocado is transformed into soap, so it will have the same shelf life and pH level. The pH level of 9-10 doesn’t allow mold to grow. Let me know if that makes sense.

  2. Would it be possible to use fruit purees in melt and pour soaps if the soap refrigerated? I’ve used lemon, lime and orange puree without any issues but you’re the soap expert lol!

    • You can, but the shelf life will still only be a few weeks long. After then the fruit and vegetable purees will mold.

  3. Just saw this blog post, and it’s close… but still doesn’t really answer my question. First, a little history:

    I am a single mother of two, disabled Army veteran, full-time nursing student. As you can imagine, my time is at a premium. I live, with my DD (7yo) and DS (3yo) in a veterans’ community, just trying to make it work. I’ve been soaping for about a month (yup, my first bars have not even completed curing) and I’ve been asked to share the knowledge with others in my community.

    My daughter has been getting some special attention of late, so I’d like to make a really special bar for my special little guy. His favorite color is orange, and I’d like to try a swirl. I thought a low-acid tea should give me a beige-to-brown, orange juice /should/ give me yellow, and tomato a reddish-orange (?). I’m not overly concerned with scents, I’ve got some FOs I can use.

    Q1: using acid fluids- juices and teas are generally low-pH. How much does this effect the conversion rate of alkali (lye) to fatty acids (oils). Some people simply say don’t others insist you can get a nice bar. I haven’t seen anyone suggest neutralizing extra acids (juice, tea, etc.) with something like bicarbonate before use. Looking at just the chemistry, this should work, but I’m not sure a: if it would and b: at which step to use these particular additives.

    Q2: quantity and timing- quite simply, how much and when? Some say to make your lye-water with tea or juice, others say add at trace and water-discount. Is there a right answer, or is it preference?

    Q3: sugars involved- I’d like to try a swirl-in-pot (which probably dictates when my additives are added) but I’m not sure how the sugars (oranges and tomatoes) will affect this?

    I know using ready-made colorants would make the process both easier and more predictable. In my community, however, ingredients really come at a price! All of us are on fixed income, and many of our families get assistance so their families can eat. I’d like to make sure all 20 of our houses gets a couple bars of soap at the holidays, but I’m kind of limited to things I have on-hand. Thanks in advance for any advice you can offer.

    BTW: cold-processing is wicked fun, and is great “me time.” I can do it once the kids are in bed, and it takes less than an hour! This site has helped me realize how accessible this craft is. Thank-you for that!

  4. Does tomato paste (I’m wanting to achieve an orange colour) cause the soap to overheat? Because ideally I want to gel the soap to intensify the colour. I was thinking.75oz (20g) per pound (450g) of oils in my recipe.
    Thank you!
    Suzanne

    • Tomato paste has a little bit of sugar, but we’ve gelled it without overheating. We used about .5 oz. per pound of soap, but you can add more for a more intense color. I’d recommend insulating it like normal and then checking the soap after about 20 minutes. If you see any signs of overheating, take off the insulation and leave it at room temperature. You can also pop it in the fridge if it’s getting really hot.

  5. Any tips for plums and bananas together? Stick with the 1 tsp per lb of each? I think I usually soap at a 38% water discount with BB lots of lather .

  6. I am about to make my maiden voyage into purees in my CP soaps. CARROT!!! If I have a good hard bar with good later and good PH can I just use that? I kind of feel I don’t want to mess too much with a good recipe!

  7. Hi, has anybody used fresh papaya in a cp soap. I live on an island with lots of fresh tropical fruits. I am also a beekeeper so I try to create recipes using what I have on hand. I am also wondering if anybody has used fresh coconut cream. All of the recipes that I have found either use tinned coconut cream or a powdered form. I really appreciate this website. I hate to imagine how difficult it would be without all of this wonderful advice.

    • We haven’t tried papaya but we have used coconut milk. Both papaya and coconut cream have a pretty high sugar content so temperature will be important. If the soap gets too hot it can overheat: https://www.soapqueen.com/bath-and-body-tutorials/tips-and-tricks/back-to-basics-how-temperature-affects-cold-process-soap/

      I would recommend starting with a pretty small amount of papaya – about 1 teaspoon per pound. You can do the same with the coconut cream, just remember to subtract that from your main water amount so it doesn’t get too wet. Then, soap at lower temperatures (100F) and put the soap in the freezer afterward for 24 hours. You may want to make a small test batch just to ensure it doesn’t get too hot.

      -Kelsey with Bramble Berry

    • I just made a fresh pear soap. I added a few ounces of flat beer to the chopped pears to get a puree (I love beer in soap). The recipe called for adding the puree to the oils, blending well, then slowly adding lye mixture. Seemed wierd but heres hoping. It did trace fairly fast. If you want to see pics let me know. (I don’t know how to post pics here.)

  9. I have some lovely white coconuts from Hawaii! Any tips on incorporating the meat from one into cold process? I’ve been blending it into smoothies so I am guessing it’s possible!

    • We haven’t tried that before, but I think it would be OK! I would recommend starting with about 1 teaspoon of coconut per pound of soap. Because fresh coconut is fairly wet, you can puree it and add it at trace! If it’s fairly dry, you can add a bit of distilled water. You may want to water discount a bit (5-10%) to make up for the extra moisture added. Also, coconut has natural sugar that can overheat the soap, so pop it in the freezer for 24 hours. A small test batch will really help too!

      Learn more about water discounting here: http://www.soapqueen.com/bath-and-body-tutorials/tips-and-tricks/water-discounting-cold-process-soap-how-why/

      -Kelsey with Bramble Berry

  10. How much water if any should I discount when adding pure natural aloe scraped from the leave then blended to almost watery substance? Should I add the lye to a water/aloe mixture? Or should I just add the aloe just before trace?

  11. how does avocado puree effect the color of CP soap? Will it create a nice pale green or do I still need to add a colorant? Can it be used with some water to create the lye mixture? Or does it have to be added after the oils and lye mixture are combined?

  12. Hi,

    Would it be alright to add cucumber juice (instead of purees) in melt and pour soap after adding the Vitamin E?

    Thank you.

  14. I would like to find out, will there be any nutrients left in my soap after the saponification process? I read somewhere normally you won’t find any scent of fruits/vegetables purees in the soap after saponification because the lye has eaten up. What about nutrients of the raw ingredients?

    • Hi karyn!

      It’s tough to say! The saponification process is a harsh environment. The pH changes may affect the nutrients in the bar. I can tell you fruits and veggies add color and sometimes lather to the mix, and are also great from a marketing standpoint. 🙂

      -Kelsey with Bramble Berry

  15. I would like to know if I can substitute the water used to mix with the lye with some kind of watery juice that doesn’t have any pulp in it (for example, carrot juice or pulp-less orange juice). How would that affect my soap? Will the sugars affect the quality of the soap drastically? Will the strong orange color of these juices stay in the soap? Thanks!

    • Hi Grace!

      You can use juice instead of water, but it will be a bit more tricky. Because of the sugars in the juice, they will get very hot when the lye is added. That means the sugar can scorch. Scorching can discolor the juice a darker color. It may also cause your soap to accelerate. Before adding the lye, I would recommend freezing the juice into cubes to keep it cold. You may also want to do a mix of juice and distilled water. That will prevent some of that discoloration and acceleration. Then, pop the soap in the freezer for 24 hours to keep it cool.

      Some juices may retain their color in soap, while others can morph or fade. Before using them I would recommend small test batches to see how they perform. 🙂

      -Kelsey with Bramble Berry

  16. Thanks so much for the great article! As a beekeeper, I am always trying to add honey, wax, and fruits & veggies (made possible by bees!) to my soaps. You use a 1 ounce per pound of soap guideline. Just to clarify, is that 1 ounce per pound of the total recipe weight, or 1 ounce per pound of oils? Thanks!

  17. I was wondering with using the buttermilk, did you let it gel? It doesn’t look like it (by the color of it) but I prefer to gel mine… would I just leave it uncovered on the counter? Or would I have to do something else? Beautiful soap BTW 🙂

    • Thank you Angie, glad you like the soap! 🙂

      For milk soaps, we recommend popping them in the fridge or freezer for 5-24 hours. That’s because if the milk gets too hot, it can scorch. Scorched milk can discolor the soap a tannish brown color and give off an ammonia smell (that will go away as it cures). If you don’t mind that discoloration, you can let the soap sit at room temperature! You can also gel it if you like. Just check it every hour or so to make sure it’s not getting too hot.

      Learn more about working with milk here: http://www.soapqueen.com/bath-and-body-tutorials/tips-and-tricks/how-to-add-lye-to-milk-for-cold-process-soap/

      -Kelsey with Bramble Berry

  18. Hi,

    I want to incorporate cucumber puree in a soap of mine which contains 50-30-20 of coconut, olive and rice bran oil. My only worry is that cucumber puree has a lot of water content. How will it mix? And at which point do I mix in the puree? What can I do to get a proper batch of soap?

    • Hi Sahil!

      Because cucumber puree is mostly water, we typically like to discount all of it from the water amount. So, if you add 1 ounce of cucumber puree, you’d subtract that from the lye water. That way the batch doesn’t get too watery!

      We recommend blending the cucumber until it’s smooth and adding it at light trace. Then, you can whisk or stick blend it in and go from there. Some soapmakers have found that cucumber accelerates trace, so be prepared to work a little faster or use a simpler design. 🙂

      We have a Cucumber Layers soap in the new Pure Soapmaking book you may like: https://www.brambleberry.com/Pure-Soap-Making-How-to-Create-Nourishing-Natural-Skin-Care-Soaps-P6298.aspx

      -Kelsey with Bramble Berry

      • Thanks for the reply. Its a useful trick which i will definitely use. What about using a tomato or a carrot puree?? what would be the scenario in that case. Also, carrot contains more sugar than cucumber. Hence, the soap can go into gel phase??

        • How much you discount will depend on the fruit or vegetable itself! For instance, tomato has a high water content, so you can treat it like the cucumber and discount it from the main water amount. Carrot, on the other hand, has less water, but may need a bit of water to help it puree smoothly. I would recommend discounting about half of the puree to start with. So, if you add 1 ounce of carrot puree, discount .5 ounces from the main water amount.

          Also, carrot does have natural sugar that can overheat. To prevent that, you may want to pop the soap in the fridge or freezer for 5-24 hours after it’s in the mold. 🙂

          We used carrot puree in the Baby Buttermilk Bars to give them a creamy lather: http://www.soapqueen.com/bath-and-body-tutorials/cold-process-soap/buttermilk-bastille-baby-bar-on-soap-queen-tv/

          -Kelsey with Bramble Berry

  19. Hello !!
    I don’t know how much water to discount from my recipe, when I want to make soaps with sweet potato, carrot and pumpkin puree bottles that I’ve bought from a store. They are organic and only have those vegetables and water listed on the ingredients. I know that I should use about an ounce puree per pound of soap. The only thing that is still not clear to me is the amount of distilled water. Your help is appreciated : )

    • Hi Rosy!

      How much you discount will vary! For instance, with cucumber you’d want to discount a bit more because it is mostly water. To start with, I would recommend discounting about .5 ounces of distilled water for each ounce of puree you add. A small test batch would also help! If you find the soap is a bit wet with that discount, you can discount more water in your larger batch. 🙂

      -Kelsey with Bramble Berry

  20. I was wondering if anyone had tried soaping with fresh mango purée. Living in Miami, FL, we have so many mangoes, and I have a reserve in my freezer. Could I use the same 3 oz per 5 lb batch? And how would it affect the smell and color? I am looking to make a summer soap for my fiancé and bought the Brambleberry Fresh Mango and the Coconut Cream FO, to boost the mango smell.

    Thank you!

    • Hi Lesly!

      I must have missed this comment. I am so sorry about the delayed reply!

      We haven’t done a lot of testing with mango, so I would recommend a small test batch beforehand. The lye can affect the color of the mango, so a small test batch will allow you to see what color it goes and how to adjust. You’ll want to soap a bit cooler and pop that soap in the freezer for 5-24 hours after it’s in the mold. Mango has natural sugar that can cause the soap to overheat.

      As for the smell, it will likely be very subtle. Most fruit purees added don’t add a lot of scent to the soap. They do help boost lather though. 🙂

      You can also check teachsoap.com/forum to see if a soaper there has worked with mango and has more tips!

      -Kelsey with Bramble Berry

      Fresh Mango Fragrance Oil: https://www.brambleberry.com/Fresh-Mango-Fragrance-Oil-P3962.aspx

      Coconut Cream Fragrance Oil: https://www.brambleberry.com/Coconut-Cream-Fragrance-Oil-P5936.aspx

    • I made an apricot mango soap using pureed apricots, mango seed butter, and BBs Fresh Mango FO (plus my other oils, of course). I didn’t use a water discount, and I got glycerin rivers. And the apricot puree turned very brown once it was added, so I had to add titanium dioxide to get the color right. But my customers loved it, so give it a shot with the mango! Just remember to have lots of colorant ready, and discount your water so you avoid those rivers. Good luck!

  21. I’m not sure if you’ve answered this already, but I’m looking to add some fresh herbs to a soap – and was thinking of pureeing it with some of the water (I have an abundance of very leafy parsley.) I was wondering if the colour browns fast?
    Thanks!

    • How fast the color browns varies! I have seen herbs brown right away, but I have also seen them stay green for a couple months. I would recommend making a small test batch with the puree to see about how long it takes. 🙂

      -Kelsey with Bramble Berry

  22. When you say puree, do you mean just blend the raw fruit/vegetable with water and it’s ready? or do I have to boil it? If boiling is not needed can I just use my juicer to get the juice and pulp separately?

    • Hi Jessy!

      It depends on the fruit or vegetable you’re using! Most of the purees we use are raw. However, when working with potatoes, we like to boil them to get a nice soft consistency in the soap. What vegetables or fruits are you wanting to use? I can let you know how we like to prepare them! 🙂

      -Kelsey with Bramble Berry

      • what about tomato? which way do we prefer? raw or cooked? whats the difference? thanks!

        • Are you wanting to add that tomato to color the soap?

          -Kelsey with Bramble Berry

  23. I would really like to try fruit powder,I am reluctant to try it out. I hate for something to go wrong and waste product. I would love to see you make a soap using some. I have been looking on a site called NutriCargo. They are kind of expensive. I think they would also work as a colorant. I found they have almost any fruit you can think of even watermelon. Thank you for the article. I love it. I hope you can make one with the powders so I can have something to reference to for a successful attempt. Sincerely, Kristie

    • Thanks so much for your suggestion Kristie, we’ll definitely keep that in mind! Much like purees, certain fruit powders can discolor or fade in the soap. They can also accelerate trace because of the natural sugars. Because of that, we recommend soaping a bit cooler and popping the soap in the freezer after it’s in the mold. 🙂

      -Kelsey with Bramble Berry

      • Hi Kelsey,
        I have some things that I will put into my food dehydrator to remove all of the moisture. I then put the pieces into a coffee grinder to make a powder. I just made some of the prettiest purple yam powder that is lavender. It doesn’t have a fragrance that I can smell. I also dried orange peel and blended it up and that one smells so good. I was wondering about other items that I have fresh such as carrots, blueberries and our strawberries are just starting to be harvested. We are known for our super sweet fresh strawberries but I get tired of making jam every year! Anyway, would I just add the powders at light trace or will they not dissolve and fall to the bottom or is it best to infuse into one of the oils I’m using and then strain any particles out? Which would look best? It’s very addictive dehydrating wholesome foods to add to soaps. When I’m at the farmer mkt and see foods with pretty colors like red beets, I have a hard time resisting!

        • Hi Michelle!

          That sounds like so much fun! You can add the powders either way. When adding them at trace, we recommend mixing at a rate of 1 teaspoon powder to 1 tablespoon of a lightweight liquid oil, like sweet almond oil. If you have a bigger batch, you may need to do 2 teaspoons into 2 tablespoons, etc. Then, add that one dispersed teaspoon at a time. That will help the color disperse nicely and prevent clumping. 🙂

          You can also infuse and strain the oil! Learn more about that here: https://www.soapqueen.com/bath-and-body-tutorials/tips-and-tricks/how-to-infuse-oils-with-a-crock-pot/

          I would recommend a small test batch with the powders before a larger batch. Some fruits and vegetables can morph or fade in the soap. For instance, we’ve found beets can turn an odd grayish color in soap, or fade away completely. Testing will help you determine which ones work well!

          -Kelsey with Bramble Berry

          • I’ve also tried Malibar spinach berry juice in soap. When put in a melt & pour, it is a beautiful purple. However, within 1 week it totally Disappeared! I had to check the label to make sure it was the same soap!

          • It is really interesting to see how the different colors act in soap! We’ve had a lot of odd experiments in our Soap Lab with natural colors for sure. 🙂

            -Kelsey with Bramble Berry

  24. Hello, I want to incorporate a few different ideas from soap recipes I’ve run across and I’d like some advice on some of the ingredients and methods please. One of the purées I didn’t see in this article is peach purée. Is there a reason for that? I would imagine that peaches would be very high in sugar and water so how would I adjust my recipes lye/water ratio? Also I seen a recipe that was for peach tea soap but sadly it was one of those grated bar soap recipes. I love the way the tea gave the soap a mottled natural look. When I read Anne Marie’s last book I remember it saying that teas heat up fast and don’t color well, but for once that spotty look is what I’m going for. Also what would be a good Palm free base recipe to add my purées too? To sum up everything I just said- I want to know if I can use peach purée and peach tea in the same batch of soap, how to water discount it, any tips or tricks I should consider when working with these two ingredients at the same time, and what a good base recipe would be to start with. So ya, TIA for all the great adbiize’

  26. Great article I just got some pumpkin pure and just was wondering how much to use. I see some of you gave me the answer . Thank you, great post.

    • You’re welcome Dunia, so glad you like the post! Have fun making luscious pumpkin puree soap. 🙂

      -Kelsey with Bramble Berry

  27. I have used avocado, cranberry, carrot and pumpkin purée. I like it. I use about 3 oz per 5 lb. soap.

    • Using purees in soap is a lot of fun! I love the properties each one adds to the recipe. 🙂

      -Kelsey with Bramble Berry

  28. I absolutely love using pumpkin puree…my Pumpkin Pie soap is my most popular! I’ve also used carrots and cucumbers in the past.
    Great post!

    • Thanks so much Jennifer! I love pumpkin soaps, especially around fall. They feel so nice on the skin. 🙂

      -Kelsey with Bramble Berry

    • Amy: the first batch of soap I ever made was a pure lard soap that took FOREVER to use because it was such a hard soap. Nearly one year later I had one bar left that I think went rancid. The soap had no scents added to it, but it just smelled “good” and clean. That final bar had a very distinct “old” smell, although it looked exactly like all the other bars. I dissolved it (actually BOILED) it in water and used it in the laundry for towels and my bath robe and the towels had that “old” smell too. It is still fine to use if it goes rancid, it just doesn’t smell very good. I hope this helps!

    • Amy, I have recently discovered that some soaps, even though they have DOS on the outside and that off smell, are just fine if you remove that outer layer. I cut a couple of my soaps into small guest size, after I removed the bad part, and they are completely fine now. And even the essential oils smell completely fresh, like I just made them. And another interesting thing is that, now it’s been a couple of months since I’ve done it, and they did NOT get DOS again at all. I think it must have been humidity or something that caused it, and now that outside conditions are different, they are not getting it again.

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