This is our week of homemade soap, and today’s recipe is for cold process lavender sugar soap. I used the lavender from our garden, and if you’re interested in growing and harvesting your own lavender (easy as pie), make sure to read my post here, which gives you all the details you need to know.
Otherwise, in case you missed Monday’s recipe, that is where you find the step-by-step, detailed instructions with photos. It gives you the how-to, as well as tips for making this a safe process. You won’t want to miss it, so click here before you begin making soap. If you already know the process, continue reading for the cold process lavender sugar soap recipe!
(Don’t forget to Pin for later).
Melt your oils – 2/3 cup of coconut, olive, and another type, such as canola, grapeseed, almond, etc. I used grapeseed for my third oil. I heat them in the microwave for a minute.
Measure 3/4 c distilled water in a mason jar, and slowly pour 1/4 c lye crystals as you stir. You’ll want to protect yourself, and make sure you’re adding them slowly enough that the crystals can dissolve before you add more.
(It was raining so I put mine under the tree to protect it).
Wait for nearly an hour until both the oil and lye mixture cool off to between 95° and 105°F. I try to get it as close to 105° as possible, and usually have to heat the oil back up for 15-20 seconds so that it reaches the correct temperature range at the same time as the lye.
Slowly pour the lye into the oil mixture and stir by hand for 5 minutes.
Use an immersion blender until it reaches trace (like vanilla pudding).
Add 1/4 cup of slightly dried lavender blossoms (a week should do the trick to get the buds to fall off the stems), plus 1/4 c sugar, plus 10 drops of lavender oil if you really want a stronger scent. My soap smells very fresh with only a slight hint of lavender.
When it’s well blended …
place them in your soap moulds. I had 6 small ones
and I complemented with a silicone cupcake pan where I made 4 more.
Cover your moulds with saran wrap, and cover that with a towel.
That keeps the heat in, which is good for the saponification. After you’ve let them sit like that for 24 hours, remove the soaps from their moulds and place them on a tray, lightly covered with a towel. If you have a tray in grid-form where there are holes you don’t need to do anything. But if they are resting on a solid surface you’ll need to turn them over once a week as they cure. Let them cure for one month. (For tips on cleaning the materials, click on Monday’s post, link at the top).
I chose to add sugar because I wanted the soaps to lather well. This is the lather for the green tea soap.
I don’t know if you can see the difference with the lavender sugar soap, but it’s creamier and there are more suds. It is a little softer than the tea soap, while still being a true bar soap. Nothing mushy about it.
It was just what I was hoping for.
I keep getting more ideas for soap. What are the types of fragrances you would be tempted to try? Or would like someone else to try? 😉
Click here for green tea soap (this is also my instructional post mentioned at the beginning of the post), and click here for lemon-sage soap.
- 2 thermometers, one long.
- 1 mason jar
- 1 bowl
- soap molds
- saran wrap and towel
- gloves
- white vinegar
- ¼ c lye
- ¾ c distilled water
- ⅔ c coconut oil
- ⅔ c olive oil
- ⅔ c another oil, like almond, canola or grapeseed
- ¼ c lavender blossoms
- ¼ c sugar
- 10 drops lavender oil (optional)
- Prepare all your equipment and protect yourself well.
- Heat all the oils in the microwave for 1 minute.
- Slowly pour the lye into the distilled water, a little at a time, until it's dissolved.
- Let sit for close to an hour until both the lye mix and oil mix are between 95 and 105°F.
- If you need to, heat the oils again for another 15 seconds or so.
- Pour lye slowly into oil.
- Stir by hand for 5 minutes.
- Add lavender and sugar, and use immersion blender until it looks like vanilla pudding.
- Put in molds, cover with saran wrap, and then a towel. Let sit for 24 hours.
- Remove from molds and let cure for a month - covered loosely with a towel, but with exposure on all sides to air.
