Tobacco Soap

If you roll your own smokeables, chances are you've got loads and loads of stale leftover confetti tobacco laying around. Previously, I would toss it out or use it as fertilizer. Then I noticed my boyfriend ordered soap from a particular Sasquatch online and it was Tobacco scented! What an idea to reduce my waste and live sustainably!

Traditionally, tobacco has been used medicinally and as a social event. Often its been burned in a fire while the friends gather to share, create, and eat. Traditionally, a gift of tobacco is a sign of respect and was often given when asking for help, guidance, or protection. Nowadays it is gifted in celebration of childbirth; the ultimate creation. So why not gather a friend or two and whip up this easy to make tobacco soap! Feel free to use confetti tobacco from roll-your-own cigarettes/cigars or repurpose the insides of pre-rolled cigars. You and your friends can use the outer parts of the cigar as you see fit.

If you're a soap making veteran, this is as easy as "make tobacco tea; use as water when adding lye, add confetti tobacco after trace for texture."

Soap making newbies, stick around! This process is SO easy and once you do it once you'll feel like a pro who can improvise any flavor.

Lye is a dangerous chemical if ingested, inhaled, or even after skin contact. Keep your work area ventilated and out of reach of pets and children.

if you have skin contact rinse well for 15mins+ using a mild soap.

If you have an exposure, you should call your local emergency number (such as 911) or the National Poison Control Center at 1-800-222-1222 (USA)

Tip

Ingredients:

1000 grams solid fat (ie Lard, coconut oil)

133 grams Soapmaking Lye

266 grams tobacco tea (water and tobacco brewed)

Confetti tobacco, like the "guts" of commercial cigarillos

Oats or coffee grounds (optional - texture)

Castor oil (optional-bar texture and moisture)

Fragrance oil (recommended for scent)

Supplies:

2 glass bowls (important - you can NOT use metal)

Kitchen scale that measures grams

Immersion blender strongly recommended

Plastic spoon

Soap mold or jelly mold*

*if you do not have a soap mold you can use a GLASS pan lined with parchment paper. Your bar will be just as functional but less "professional" looking

Much of the color and scent for this soap will be coming from this brewed concoction. Feel free to add soap coloring powder or even coffee grounds to further darken it.

Its pretty simple! Put some confetti tobacco in a pot with some water and bring to a boil. I used 3 cigars worth of tobacco and allowed to boil down...just make sure you have at least 266 grams as the recipe calls for.

Strain and allow to cool to room temperature.

Caution: One mistake I made during this process is not watching it; all the water boiled off and next thing I knew my house was filled with tobacco smoke! Though I'm sure we benefited from some of the medical qualities similar to its original use of tossing it in a fire you gather around, it wasn't quite what we were going for!

Grab up your kitchen scale. Bonus points if it has the tare feature.

Place a glass bowl on the scale and set it to 0. Add tea SLOWLY to the bowl until you've reached 266 grams.

USE EXTREME CAUTION as lye can cause burns that you don't feel until its too late. Don't inhale the fumes. Many people like to wear protective gear when working with lye (gloves, goggles, mask) so if thats you.... gear up! For myself, I just work cautiously and ensure I turn away from the fumes when stirring etc. It also is pretty important to work in a ventilated area.

Very slowly and carefully add 133 grams of lye crystals to the bowl containing the tea mixture. If your scale has the tare function, this is easy! If not, the total weight should come to 399 when the lye and tea are combined. Either way, USE EXTREME CAUTION as lye can cause burns that you don't feel until its too late. Don't inhale the fumes.

Give it a good stir using a plastic spoon to help the crystals dissolve. Place on a heat resistant surface - the water/lye causes a chemical reaction that will heat the bowl.

Melt and combine the oils and fats. Your total weight of fats should be around 1000g, but feel free to substitute some out for other fat types. I've done the following ratios with excellent results:

• 1000 g lard (great smell, great lather, but can be a bit crumbly)
• 800g lard and 200g coconut oil (good smell, moisturizing, firm soap, less lather)
• 700g lard 250g coconut oil and 50g castor oil (professional texture, closest to a big-foot inspired soap)

Feel free to be creative here, but as a general rule the more liquid oils used (castor, palm, Olive) the longer the cure time. Too much castor can also make the bar feel sticky. Lard based soaps tend to be usable within a month.

Give the ingredients some time to cool off..

I don't shoot for a specific temperature here, but feel the outside of the bowls to test for when it's about the temperature of an edible soup. Do not touch it with your bare hands as lye is caustic and will cause burns

After giving time to cool, pour the lye mixture into the melted fats.

Use your stick blender to keep mixing until you've reached "trace". Trace means dipping a spoon in the mixture then pulling it back out causes a bit to cling to the spoon or blender and kind of ripple down. Do not touch with your hands -- remember this still contains lye until cured.

If you want to add Oats, used coffee grounds, or confetti tobacco you can add them now.

The mixture should already be tinted brown but color can be added using powder soap coats at this time.

I do recommend adding a bit of fragrance which should be done at this stage as well; something to compliment the tobacco. Vanilla or almond work nice if using Black n Mild, or any sort of patchouli or cedarwood are beautiful blended with tobacco as well.

Pour the mixture into your soap mold ( either a dedicated jelly pan or a glass container lined with parchment paper.

The soap should be hard enough to remove from mold within 24-48 hours. Remove it when able and cut pieces into desired side. Allow 21 days or more to cure for use. To test, you can try using a shaved off end piece and look for the lather. Soap that hasn't cured long enough will be creamy but not bubbly; and might smell of animal fat since its primarily lard.