Wash Your Mouth Out.... With Soap??

I've been doing a lot of reading on the SoapMaking Forum and, in the course of that reading, I came across a thread about using cold process soap as a dental soap. It does give new meaning to washing your mouth out with soap but I was intrigued.

I read the entire thread and paid attention to a few things:

1. Don't use coconut oil in it. Apparently, coconut oil is what gives soap its "soapy" flavour.
2. Peanut oil gives dental soap a bit of sweetness
3. Don't make it too "scratchy"

Some people use their dental soap along with baking soda, some add bentonite clay. Some add peppermint oil to theirs, others add cinnamon oil. Some add xylitol as a sweetener, some add honey. 

Since I had a day off, I decided to try making my own. Here's my recipe:

10% Cocoa Butter
30% Olive Oil
30% Palm Kernel Oil
30% Peanut Oil

3% superfat
40% lye concentration

I added about 1/2 teaspoon honey to the water/lye mixture and about 1/2 teaspoon charcoal blended into a bit of glycerin.

The batch I made was with 4 ounces of total oils. Yup, this was a SMALL batch! I even went out and purchased a small bar mold. Each bar is only 1 ounce. They're so cute!!

Obviously, the soap needs to cure; it just came out of the mold this morning. It's going to be tough waiting the full six weeks, I can tell you. I'm settling for using my Castile soap which, incidentally, has a rather bland flavour. I can live with it.

As far as brushing your teeth with soap? Well, I can tell you that my teeth feel cleaner than they have in a very long time (and I brush twice a day, every day, thank you very much) and I'm already noticing a reduction in plaque buildup. I'm sold.

The mold I bought is a Fat Daddio's silicone oval mold. Each cavity is one ounce and the mold has sixteen cavities. I think I'll be using this one quite a bit, whether it's for making samples, guest soaps, or using it for bits that don't fit into full size molds... the leftovers.

I also splurged and bought a new digital scale. I have a digital scale but it measures ounces in 1/4, 1/2, and 3/4 ounces (and grams). The new one measures ounces in hundredths of an ounce, as well as grams. It's invaluable when it comes to making 4 ounce recipes, believe me!