Loofah Soap Sponge

by Becky Wiseley

I have made a few batches of loofah soap and have found that most of the loofah sponges are just a bit too big to fit in the round PVC pipe I use.

Loofah sponges are quite difficult to trim and I was just wondering if it would be O.K to dampen the sponges so I can get them in the mold easier.

Will this effect the batch or do you think that it will just take a bit longer to cure with the added moisture?

Thanks Becky

Answer:

Dampening the loofah sponge is a great idea. It not only makes the sponge more flexible but it also makes it easier for the sponge to absorb the traced soap.

Wet the sponge and give it a good squeeze to get out the excess moisture. Damp is what you want...not wet.

Having a small amount of extra water in won't make any noticable difference in the result of the loofah soap since soap recipes vary greatly when it comes to how much water is used in them.

The default amount on SoapCalc is 38% and I usually use somewhere around 33% - 36% in mine. There's a lot of room to play with when it comes to the amount of water in a soap recipe.

Good luck,

Cathy