Handmade Soap Recipes

Handmade soaps are a cheap alternative to commercially available soaps. The main difference between handmade soap and commercially available soaps is that you can make the soap smell of the fragrance you are fond of. Once you have tried a handmade soap, you will be able to make out the difference for yourself. Many people assume that making soap with hands is a difficult task. However, with these soap recipes, you will realize it is not as difficult as you assume it to be. Let's see some easy recipes to make soap at home.

Natural Handmade Soap Recipes

We will now see some organic soap recipes, which will soothe your skin as well as your mind.

Vanilla-Almond Soap
With this soap, you will be able to remove dirt and oil from the skin and not dry the skin in the process. Vanilla gives the soap a delicious fragrance and the almonds in the soaps gives it a nice texture.

Ingredients

• Whole Almonds 1/3 cup
• Castile Soap 4 ounce bar 1
• Distilled Water ¼ cup
• Almond Oil 1 tablespoon
• Vanilla Fragrance Oil ¼ teaspoon

Method

• In a food processor grind the almonds to a fine powder and keep it aside.
• Shred the soap into pieces.
• Now in a saucepan bring water to a boil, then reduce the heat and let it simmer.
• Remove the saucepan from the heat and add almond powder, almond oil and vanilla oil to the water and stir well, till it is well blended.
• Now add the shredded soap to the saucepan and stir well.
• Then take a spoonful of the soap and mold it into your favorite shape. Leave it aside till it hardens.

Citronella Soap
This soap also works wonders on the skin.

Ingredients

• Castile Soap (grated) 1 cup
• Water ½ cup
• Citronella Essential Oil 10 drops
• Eucalyptus Essential Oil 5 drops
• Pennyroyal Leaves (dried and crushed) 1 teaspoon

Method

• Add soap and water together and mix well.
• Then add all the other ingredients and mix with a mixer, till the soap doubles up in volume.
• Spoon the soap and shape it with your hands, but make sure you are really quick with this, as the beating action cools the mixture.

Olive Oil Soap
Like we all know, olive oil is versatile. It works wonders on the skin. With this soap you will be able to derive the richness of it. This recipe has lye in its ingredients list, you will have to take the required precautions when you are making soap using this recipe. In this recipe, there are no essential oils added for fragrance, as this is a basic recipe, you can add them as per your own choice.

Ingredients

• Pure Olive Oil 16 oz
• Lye 2 oz
• Water 6 oz

Method

• Heat the olive oil to 150 degrees Fahrenheit.
• Mix lye and water together and stir with a wooden spoon.
• Let the oil cool down to 120 degrees and then add lye and water mixture to the oil.
• Keep mixing them together, till you see trace coming out of it.
• Pour the mixture into a mold and let it set for 2 hours, before you remove the soap from the mold and hand mold it.

Lavender - Chamomile Soap
This is a very gentle soap and it can also be used on children. Due to the lavender oil in it, you will also feel relaxed after the use of this soap. Do you want to know what are the other handmade soap ingredients?

Ingredients

• Soap 1 lb
• Distilled Water 1/8 cup
• Fine Ground Chamomile 2 teaspoons
• Ground Lavender Buds 2 teaspoons
• Lavender Essential Oil 5 drops
• Chamomile Essential Oil 2 drops

Method

• Melt the soap in water using a double boiler.
• When the mixture reaches jelly like consistency, add chamomile, ground lavender buds, chamomile oil and lavender oil and mix the ingredients well.
• Pour the mixture into the mold and let it sit in the mold for about 2 to 4 hours before you remove it to hand mold.

For further reading,

• Dead Sea Mud Soap
• Oatmeal Soap
• Soap Making Process

When you are using handmade soap recipes to make soap, make sure you test the soap on your skin before you use, to avoid any allergies. I am certainly a big fan of these recipes and have stopped using the commercially available soaps, after trying and making these at home.