How To Make Natural Soap Using Oils and Herbs (9 Recipes)

How To Make Natural Soap Using Oils and Herbs

Soap is an indispensable and essential tool for the care of our body and hair. Preparing it at home is possible, as long as you have the right knowledge and as long as you follow a few small tricks. The recipes that I will offer you in this chapter can be made by following some of the simplest soap preparation methods.

Recipe 1

The first is used to make a natural soap, without caustic soda, but with vegetable oil, from almonds to olive. Let’s see the ingredients and the preparation.

Ingredients:

• 250 ml of Marseille soap, preferably unscented.
• 220 ml of distilled water.
• 11 ml of vegetable oil (any type of vegetable oil, olive oil, seed oil, jojoba oil, almond oil can be used).
• 5-6 drops of essential oil.
• Natural dyes or spices.

Preparation:

Flake the soap with a knife or a grater and melt it in a saucepan in a water bath, mixing well with a wooden spoon. When the soap has reached a good level of density, add the water little by little, always mixing, then the chosen vegetable oil, the drops of essential oil and coloring substances. After you add all this ingredients, pour into the molds where it will rest for 6 weeks, after which the homemade soap is ready.

Recipe 2

A second recipe, on the other hand, focuses on oranges, cinnamon and olive oil.

Required:

• A couple of oranges
• chopped cinnamon
• sodium hydroxide
• olive oil

Preparation:

Get some orange zest flour and chopped cinnamon, obtained by drying untreated oranges. Blend it with a cinnamon stick broken. In the second bowl put water you used to wash blender glass. After wearing a mask, gloves and protective goggles, put 600 g of the broth of cinnamon and orange powder from the second bowl and 250 g of caustic soda in a saucepan; mix well and let cool.

In a second pot, pour 2 kilos of olive oil, put everything on the fire and bring the oil to a temperature of 45°. Often mix the water with the soda to quickly lower the temperature: when this too has reached 45°, pour oil into the pot with broth and soda inside; with the help of an immersion blender, whisk very well (be careful to always keep it towards the bottom of the pot so as not to risk dangerous splashes). When the point of the tape has arrived, you will notice it because a kind of gelatinous crust will form on the surface. Pour the orange and cinnamon flour.

Stir again to mix and pour into the desired molds (excellent silicone ones to facilitate the extraction of soap after 3 days from production, but also recycling containers such as yogurt, fruit and vegetable trays, various spreadable cheeses are fine). Store in a cool and dry place and after about 3 days remove from the containers, if necessary cut into the desired shapes and place the shapes on grates to mature. After a minimum curing of 4 weeks, you will have obtained natural, biodegradable, environmentally friendly soap, zero kilometer and low cost.

Recipe 3

This recipe allows you to make an organic homemade coffee soap with exfoliating properties. This soap will be able to exert a delicate, smoothing, cleansing action combined with an equally delicate exfoliating action. In short it is a multipurpose product 100% natural and ecological.

The ingredients to produce it are:

• 800 grams of olive oil
• 106 grams of caustic soda
• 304 grams of water
• 2 teaspoons of fine ground coffee

The procedure with which to make this recipe is that of basic cold method. Briefly summarized below:

 After putting on protective clothing, weigh caustic soda and water accurately. After that, prepare the caustic solution and let it cool down to a temperature of 45° C. Weigh the olive oil in the steel pot and heat it over low heat until it reaches 45 ° C. When the temperature of the oil and the temperature of the caustic soda have equaled, slowly add caustic solution to the oil, mixing carefully.

Once you have added all the caustic soda solution, mix and blend alternating

these two phases until the ribbon is obtained. At this point, add the coffee and mix it well with the soap paste. Transfer the soap paste to the molds, cover with sheets and blankets, and leave to rest for 24-48 hours. Extract the soap from the molds, arrange it on a suitable support and let it age for 5-8 weeks. Thanks to its delicate exfoliating action, this natural coffee soap can be also used before and after hair removal to remove dead cells and prevent the formation of ingrown hair.

Recipe 4

With this recipe it is possible to make a soap to be used in the case of oily and impure skin, thanks to the presence of the clay which is able to absorb excess sebum. The preparation method to follow is the basic cold method.

The ingredients to make this soap are:

• 750 grams of olive oil
• 200 grams of coconut oil
• 50 grams of castor oil
• 135 grams of caustic soda
• 300 grams of water
• 2 tablespoons of ventilated green clay

As you can see from the list of ingredients, this recipe involves the use of three different vegetable oils. This does not affect the process in the least, all these oils must be heated together reaching a temperature of about 40° C (consequently, before adding caustic soda solution, it must have reached the same temperature). The clay must be added during the ribbon phase, exactly like the coffee in the previous recipe. Finally, the seasoning period always remains 5-8 weeks.

Tips and Tricks

If you wish, during the ribbon phase, you can also add 15 milliliters of tea tree oil, a very useful natural remedy in the case of skin with pimples and acne, as it has antibacterial, anti-inflammatory and purifying properties.

Recipe 5

Are you greedy for cocoa? Below I propose a recipe for a homemade soap with this ingredient!

The ingredients to make it are:

• 650 grams of olive oil
• 150 grams of coconut oil
• 109 grams of caustic soda
• 304 grams of distilled water
• Two teaspoons of bitter cocoa powder
• 30 grams of cocoa butter

Again, to make this recipe you can follow the basic cold method. Cocoa butter, together with bitter cocoa powder, must be added during the ribbon phase. Before adding, however, it is necessary to melt the cocoa butter and then add the cocoa powder. After that, mix the two ingredients well and finally add them to the ribbon. After this step, the procedure remains unchanged.

Tips and Tricks

For a variegated effect, do not mix the cocoa butter and cocoa powder excessively with the ribbon, but mix little and pour immediately into the molds. In this way your soap will have colored streaks that will make it different from the usual.

Recipe 6

Very often, in the recipes for homemade soap, the use of caustic soda is required which, however, for beginners could prove dangerous and difficult to handle. If you do not want to use this ingredient, you can opt for several much simpler and safer recipes. For example, ash can be used, an element used since very ancient times for this type of purpose.

What is needed is:

• 1 kg of ash;
• 750 ml of olive oil;
• 5 liters of water;
• 50 gr of starch;
• Fragrances to your liking (for example perfumed essential oils).

First of all, the so-called lye must be prepared by putting water and ash in a pot and cooking the mixture for about two hours, always being careful not to burn it, stick it to the walls of the pot or create excessive lumps. At the end of the two hours, a white cloth must be spread over a bucket and the mixture poured over it in such a way as to filter it and deprive it of impurities. In another pot, the oil must be poured and brought to a temperature of 30°. In the meantime, about a liter of lye should be left in the bucket to which the starch will be added. The rest of the mixture is poured into the pan with the oil. Continue to mix and then add the part of the mixture with starch. Finally, you can add drops of essential oils or perfumes if you want to have a perfumed soap. The final compound obtained must be placed in molds or left in the bucket and must rest for at least two weeks.

Homemade cold soap.

The procedure used to make homemade cold soap exploits the natural heat that is obtained from the chemical reaction of caustic soda once combined with water. Accuracy is very important in this procedure: in fact, ingredients must be weighed with special scales also measure grams. This is because the saponification reaction may undergo variations or fail even for a minimum calculation error.

Furthermore, to give the desired shapes to homemade cold soap it is advisable not to use metal molds such as copper, aluminum or iron and prefer plastic or silicone molds instead. Goggles are needed to protect the eyes, gloves and the mask.

You will need these ingredients for this recipe:

• 32 gr of caustic soda.
• 250 ml of EVO oil.
• 75 ml of distilled water.
• A precision balance.
• Old newspapers.
• A blanket.
• A mold.
• A preferably wooden spoon.
• Baking paper.
• Gloves, goggles and mask.
• Disposable container for soda.
• Immersion blender.
• A very resistant bowl.

Before starting, you must first coat the work surface with old newspapers or the mold with parchment paper. Then wear a mask, goggles and gloves. Weigh all the ingredients (pay attention to soda that will be weighed separately in the disposable container). Then pour the water into the resistant container first and gradually add the soda (never do it the other way round) and mix. The soda will react with the water and the mixture will reach a temperature of 90°, then leave everything to rest for a while, paying particular attention not to inhale the fumes.

After pouring oil into the soda very slowly and with the immersion blender, blend everything for about 30 minutes until a thick and creamy mixture is obtained. At this point you can add the drops of essential oil that will give the soap fragrance. Now pour mixture into the mold and beat on a flat surface to avoid the formation of air bubbles. Now cover mold with a blanket and let it rest for about 48 hours. After that you can divide the block at will by leaving it on a tray covered by a cloth for about 40 days to “mature”.

Recipe 7

A soap for acne, when looking for effective ingredients against acne, try one of these.

• thyme
• Turmeric
• Biological sulfur

Rosehip Ingredients:

In this case, we will describe how to prepare a soap for acne with thyme.

• Dry thyme
• Dye
• Thermometer
• Olive oil
• Sodium hydroxide
• Coconut oil
• Rectangular mold
• Soap
• Demineralized water
• Almond oil
• Thyme essential oil
• Gloves, goggles and protective mask

Preparation:

First, mix the water and soda in a sturdy bowl. This combination reaches very high temperatures. Therefore, always move avoiding splashes. It is preferable to cover the skin while doing it. Then heat the oils in a saucepan, about 40 ° C. Mix and then add the oils, then the bleach (water and soda) and turn with a mixer for a few minutes. Then, add the thyme oil and the coloring. The latter, in reality, is optional.

Next, put in the mold and decorate with thyme. Cover it until it dries (2/3 days). Finally, cut and store for a month or 40 days.

Recipe 8

Here we are at the last recipe to prepare a homemade soap. In addition to having many health benefits, green tea can be used to create natural soaps. What are its properties? It is moisturizing and rich in antioxidants.

Ingredients:

• 450 grams of coconut oil (3 and 1/2 cups).
• 80 grams of olive oil (8 spoons).
• 300 grams of shea butter (2 and 1/2 cups).
• 125 grams of caustic soda (1/2 cup).
• 320 milliliters of demineralized water (1 and 1/2 glass).
• 30 grams of tea or camellia oil (3 tablespoons).
• 10 grams of green tea powder (1 tablespoon).
• Aromatic essence of green tea (to taste).

Preparation:

First of all, as in the previous soaps, pour the soda over the water and mix. Then, melt the shea butter and coconut oil in a saucepan. Once dissolved, add the olive oil and turn off the heat. Next, prepare 30 grams of green tea oil and 10 grams of green tea powder to add to the mixture. They will be used eventually. Pour the oil into a large bowl and combine with water and soda when both have reached an average temperature. Beat gently with a blender.

When it comes to a puree-like consistency, add the green tea and green tea oil by mixing. Also add the aromatic essence to taste. Put in the mold together with the powdered green tea and leave it dry for 24 hours. Cut and store for up to 4 weeks.

Recipe 9

The combination of the best oil par excellence with one of the most extraordinary fats that nature has given us for our beauty.

Ingredients:

• 60 gr of pure shea butter
• 960 gr of extra virgin olive oil
• Caustic solution
• 310 gr of sage infusion
• 137 gr of caustic soda

Preparation:

Wearing the protections, weigh the caustic soda and dilute it in the cold brew. Put the fats in a pan and heat over low heat. Add a teaspoon of rice starch or rice flour or cornstarch to perfume, will serve as a fixative. When oils and caustic solution are at 45° add them; before whisk, dilute the green oxide in a spoonful of water and add it to the pasta soap. Blend until the ribbon; add the perfume, mix well and pour in the mold. Insulate well and turn out after 24 hours.