I initially came up with the Papaya & Orange Soap recipe because my collection of soaps didn’t have an orange colored soap yet. I know it is not a great reason but inspiration can come anyhow & from anywhere right?
I love using food ingredients in my soaps and people who use them love them too. As I was walking through the local fruit market, papayas & oranges caught my attention. So I went back to my studio and formulated this recipe.
This has been very popular among people who have combination & oily skin types. It could be because of the clays that are used for color & the orange essential oil that could feel a little cleansing & astringent. Do make the soap at home & let me know in the comments about your experiences with it. I’d love to hear all about it!
General guidelines for using purees in soap
Purees are a fun addition to your natural handmade soaps and a vast majority of its skin friendly properties carry through to the final soap. But it does require careful handling for best results. Here are some guidelines to follow when using purees in general
Make sure the puree is well blended and does not have bits & pieces of fibre in it.
Fruit purees generally have natural sugars in them that can superheat your soap. Make sure you are using a lower temperature range while soaping.
Natural colors from purees do not hold well in the final soap. That is because of the heat produced during the reaction and also the alkaline nature of soap. The soaps will turn brown. You can however, impart colors using clays, botanicals or herbs.
Since purees have a thicker texture, it is best to use them in dual phase, meaning you can add it to the oils before adding lye.
Purees of fruits & vegetables have a high water content. So it is best to discount some water from the recipe so that you don't end up with a soft soap or face other issues related to using too much water in soap.
Papaya & Orange Soap Recipe
YIELD – 10 BARS OF SOAP (3.2 LBS/1.5 KG)
Oils (35.27oz/1000g)
14.11 oz (400g) olive pomace oil (40%)10.58 oz (300 g) coconut oil (30%)7.05 oz (200 g) mowrah butter (20%)1.76 oz (50 g) shea butter (5%)1.76 oz (50g) castor oil (5%)
Lye + Liquid
5 oz (142g) distilled water4.9 oz (140g) sodium hydroxide (lye)
Additives
4.9 oz (139g) papaya puree
1g French Red Clay dispersed in some water6g Brazilian Yellow Clay dispersed in some water
30g Sweet Orange essential oil10g Palmarosa essential oil10g Ylang Ylang essential oil
INSTRUCTIONS
Wearing protective gloves and eyewear, carefully stir the lye into the distilled water.
Set the lye solution aside in a safe place to cool for about 30 to 40 minutes or until the temperature drops to around 90 to 110˚F (32 to 43˚C).
Melt the coconut oil, shea butter & the mowrah butter and add it to the other liquid oils.Since we’ll be making a monochrome soap, add the dispersed clays and the papaya puree into the oils. Blend so that they are evenly mixed & distributed.
Make sure the temperature of the oil mixture is also between 90 to 110˚F (32 to 43˚C).
When the lye solution & oils are within the temperature range, add the cooled lye solution to the oil mixture. Using a combination of stirring using a spatula and short bursts of an immersion blender, stir the soap until it reaches a light trace (you will be able to see the soap tracing lines when you dribble soap on the surface of the soap)
Add in the essential oil blend and stir well using a spatula or whisk until well incorporated.
The soap will continue to thicken. Pour into a prepared mold at medium trace.
Cover & insulate the mold for 24-48 hours.
Depending on the mold you used, cut into bars or unmold individual bars.
Allow to cureon racks or sheets of wax paper for about 4-6 weeks before using.
Here's a quick video showing the process of making Papaya & Orange Soap:
Notes
Feel free to use your favorite base recipe or substitute your favorite oils & butters. But make sure you run it through a lye calculator again. You can also start with one of our beginner friendly recipes here.
This soap tends to overheat owing to the sugar content of papaya puree. This is actually no big deal. Your soaps will gel well & be super hard on unmolding.
If you start soaping at a higher temperature, there is a tendency for this soap to crack. If that’s the case, remove any insulation as soon as you spot it and let out some heat.
You can substitute the essential oil blend for one of your own.
You can also use individual cavity molds to further cut down on the heat generated during saponification.
If you want to make this an exfoliating soap, you can experiment with upto 2 teaspoons of orange peel powder for this batch size
If you want to make a smaller batch of this, resize the recipe through a lye calculator
This soap is a favorite among many of my friends & family. I would definitely recommend that you give it a try and let me know how it turns out for you!
So tell me now, have you entertained the idea of adding purees to soaps before? Or are you excited to try? Let me know if you have any additional questions in the comments below! Happy to help!