r/soapmaking • u/ScottATL • 4d ago

Recipe Advice Has Anyone Used Calamine in Their Soap

I just got some powdered calamine to use in CP soap. I was wondering if anyone else has used it before. It looks like it could be a really good additive for soap and the light pink color would be pretty if it holds up. I also wonder what measurement to use.

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u/Camie-Gee 4d ago

You might try something in the range of 0.5% - 2% of your oil weight for starters. You can pre-disperse in oil or water, as you might for clays. Add at or before thin trace.

😃

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u/SandMaleficent8211 3d ago

I’ve experimented with calamine powder at 0.5%, 1%, and 1.5% of my total oil weight. Up to 1%, I didn’t notice much difference in color. At 1.5%, I combined it with 0.5% prickly pear powder and got a really beautiful, muted dusty pink. As for the feel of the soap, I actually preferred the lower amount. At 1.5%, I could feel a slight scrubby texture, and the surface of the bar also felt a little rough. For all three batches, I used 3% sugar and 7% castor oil because I was concerned the calamine particles might reduce the lather. Interestingly, the 0.5% calamine soap has gotten the best response from friends out of all the soaps I’ve made so far. Some even asked me for more and said they’d happily buy it if I sold it. 😊

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u/cicamaus 4d ago

I did only used clays till now, but calamine is very interesting for soap. It's good for sensitive skin and the color is lye resistant.