This is the batch I made for presents this year. It’s a little fancier than the soaps I usually do–never swirled before. I think I like it, though.
It’s peppermint-rosemary with green clay and a smidge of ground rosemary on top. I used my standard olive, coconut, and castor oil blend for conditioning, hardness, and good lather. The scent is awesome.
Here’s the recipe:
Peppermint-Rosemary Soap with Green Clay
72 oz. olive oil
12 oz. coconut oil
6 oz. castor oil
24-28 oz. water
12 oz. lye
4 T. green clay powder
2 oz. rosemary essential oil
2 oz. peppermint essential oil
1 tsp. ground dried rosemary
Use standard soap making procedures, including safety measures. Upon trace, take out a small bit to a separate bowl, mixing the clay and the ground rosemary in with this small portion of the soap. Pour the bulk of the soap in the mold and then swirl in the clay portion.
Note: To make the ground rosemary, I whirled some dried rosemary leaves in a coffee grinder. A mortar and pestle or the like would also do the trick.
That looks like a lovely soap, and I’m certain the scent is delightful!
That’s really pretty!
I scored some free hemp oil on Freecycle, and made a nice green-colored soap for Christmas presents. It’s starting to look blotchy, though, and I don’t think it will be nice enough for gifts. Guess I’ll be learning hot-process soap-making since there just isn’t enough time to cure another hot process batch before the holidays.
Thinking, thinking, thinking…
Just curious about the water. Why is it 24 – 28 oz? How do you decide? I am still pretty new to soapmaking, but I haven’t come across this before.
I have the same question about the water amount.
Kathy & Darlene–The weaker the lye solution (the more water you add), the longer the soap will take to reach trace. This is sometimes desirable when you are adding additives which tend to accelerate trace. Sometimes you also want this when pouring a lot of small molds and want to eliminate air pockets and glops. Otherwise, less water means a shorter drying time–your soap will be harder sooner with less water added initially. Lye calculators (there are several online) will give you a water measurement within a safe range when you plug in the oils you want to use and you can fiddle with your recipe within this range according to your requirements. I usually just split the difference or lean toward the less water range. Does this help?
Where can you buy the ingredients like the oils, lye and clay powder? I’ve never made soap before but really want to try this. It sounds amazing!!! Hopefully it won’t be too much for me to undertake for the first time. : )
How many pounds of soap will this recipe make? I can’t tell you how fascinated I have been with soap making, but it is with much trepidation that I tell you I believe I am ready to make my first batch!
I would love to start making my own soap. I took a class about 3 years ago (and did nothing after that) Is there a site you can recommend for supplies?? I am inspired!
YES – a LOT!
Thank you. I’ve made soap a few times in my life. I’ve even gone out and used the on line soap calculators to make soap. I just didn’t know why the range, but now that you’ve explained it, it makes perfect sense to me. There’s still so much about manipulating soap-making to get what I want that I don’t know about or that I don’t know can be done.
Thank you so much for taking the time to answer the question and help educate me.
Darlene
mrs. mary mac–I have used Essential Wholesale, Camden Gray, and Majestic Mountain Sage. Do a search on soaping supplies and comparison shop to see which one has everything you want at the right price. Good luck!
Colleen–This makes around 8 lbs. of soap–enough for at least 20 big bars. Don’t be afraid–it isn’t as hard as it looks. You can do it!
marie–I shop around. I like Essential Wholesale and Majestic Mountain Sage, as well as many others. Some of the oils I just get at the supermarket or places like Sam’s. Coconut oil is in the international foods section often, and you can find small jars of castor oil at the drugstore. You’ll find soaping isn’t as hard as it seems to be. Best of luck!
This looks incredible! I might just have to try soap for this Christmas.
Wow, that looks wonderful! I’ve never made soap but am now rather interested! xx
YUM! I want to schmere that on some toasted pound cake and have it for dessert! If I had any pound cake…. delicious looking soap!
it looks like chocolate and i want to eat it
That’s beautiful! Out of all the random crafts I do, I am intimidated by soap making the most.
Thanks for posting this! I made the base soap without the additives for someone with very sensitive skin. It made a very pleasant bar of soap! I will try another batch with the EO, clay and rosemary soon. Yum!
Heya! Just tried this recipe and I’m quite enthusiastic about how it’s coming along – have it in the mold now. Quick question, though – mine is very yellow on account of the olive oil. How did you manage to get yours so white, as it seems in the picture? Next time I may try a different oil blend, but wondered if you had a method or perhaps used a low grade of olive oil.
Marie–I used the supermarket oil in the rectangular/square tin. Not sure the brand, but it’s not extra-virgin. Glad your soap is turning out, I’m sure the yellowish tint will look good in the final product.
I am just now really reading more on your website. There is so much here! I am totally thrilled! I had cancer last year and want to use products that aren’t harmful and/or carcinogenic. I wonder if you have a recipe for soap/shampoo etc. that does not use lye but still works? (I know from what you said earlier that the process lye goes thru makes it not harmful but you have to breathe in those vapors to make it go thru the process, right?) Thanks for your help! I am so excited to find your website.. and to realize we are in the same area! I live in Cordova!
Oh, I forgot. My husband has very dry skin too and that is another consideration I need to figure in when making those products!
Hi there, I’m new to soapmaking but I wasn’t sure about how much “4 T. green clay powder” is? What does the ‘T’ stand for? Many thanks.
Paulina–It means a Tablespoon. Thank you!
@Maggie,
I’ve found that skin conditions from simple dryness to eczema and more improve with the use of these all natural homemade soaps. Just look for recipes and ingredients geared toward dryness. Shea butter, cocoa butter, avacado butter, etc. are great for dryness.
So super excited to try this out! I’m a bit intimidated, though, to measure out the correct ratio of ingredients, as I have 3 lb box-type mold. This will only be my second batch ever! I read in the comments that this recipe yields about 8 pounds. Is it safe to assume that I can just measure 3/8 of each ingredient and go from there? Thanks
p.s. I bought your book a few month ago and I swear I think I’ve dog-eared at least half the pages and busted the binding! LOVE!!!!!
Karen–I confess math makes my head hurt, but what you propose sounds logical. Or, if you wanted to make the full amount, just eat a couple of cans of Pringles or drink a few pint cartons of milk! 🙂
I’m so glad you’re getting the goody out of your copy of our book! You’ve made my (rainy, cold) day!
New to soap making want to learn. Been reading about goats milk soap . Do you have any info on it
How do you get the “frosting” look to the top of your bars? I’ve been making soap for a few months now and all of my are just flat on the top (I am doing cold-process)–do you wait until it’s cooled some and then “fluff it up?” LOL
heather–This particular batch was just the right consistency to do it this way. Sometimes it works out like that, sometimes it doesn’t. It seldom works to wait, works best if it is ready to swirl as soon as it is poured.
So what size mold should I use if I follow this recipe exactly??
heather–I use this and that. This might help determine what your mold will hold: http://candleandsoap.about.com/od/suppliers/tp/Calculating-The-Size-Amount-Of-Soap-To-Fill-A-Soap-Mold.htm
Thank you! I have an 8lb mold, a 4lb and a 2lb…..
Dear Soapmaking:
I’m a new soapmaking and like to try several good recipes, good like yours. one thing i just found, the recipe have only 90% of oils.
Please help, i will like to make this beautiful soap.
Esthela
I LOVEEE this recipe!! It looks so luxurious!
I know rosemary and peppermint are great for hair and the ingredients in this soap follow pretty closely a lot of the homemade shampoo bar recipes I’ve seen– could this be used as a shampoo as well?
Alyssa–Sure! I don’t see why not! This is Deanna’s favorite “flavor”–she loves the rosemary and peppermint together.
Would this be ok to make as a hot process soap? Thank you so much!
Debra–Yes, shouldn’t be a problem!