Making Luffa Hand Soap

[Durgan]

http://www.durgan.org/URL/?DNLTU 20 October 2011 Making Luffa Hand Soap

The dried luffa sponges were impregnated with glycerine soap and cut into hand cakes. The mould was made from two inch diameter PVC pipe with a cap to contain the liquid soap when poured into the mould. The glycerine hard soap is cut into small pieces and placed in the microwave for about 4 minutes until melted. Food dye, a few drops, is added to the liquified glycerine soap in some cases to make colourful cakes. The inside of the PVC mould was sprayed with silicon lubricant to make easy removing the soap impregnated sponge after hardening. This works well and the sponge can be hand pushed out the end of the mould easily. The mould is cooled for about 6 hours at room temperature, then placed in the freezer for adequate hardening. When removed from the freezer after a few hours the mould is run under hot water for a few minutes then the sponge is simply pushed out the end of the PVC mould. The finished product was cut into suitable hand sizes, using a fine tooth hand saw along with a mitre box to get a straight cut. The soap cakes are in great demand for washing and removing dead skin without too much abrasion. The necessary materials are available on the internet or a craft store, and any local hardware store.