Confession time: I love soap. Not just your ordinary Dial or Dove, but the fancy hand-made soap that you get from small boutique stores. Why? It’s got a charm to it, they smell so much better than that traditional stale soap smell (which reminds me of cheap motels) and you can ensure that there aren’t any nasty, harmful chemicals in them.
Now, one bar of soap from said boutique can cost, well, a lot more than it should. If you make it yourself, though, you can have your own bar of soap for about $1.50. Yeah, I said $1.50. Cool, right? I recently jumped on the DIY bandwagon, and soap was my first pitstop. It’s super easy, fun, and makes for a great personalized gift. So, here’s how you do it.
1. Get all of your materials. Here’s what you’ll need:
- White Glycerin Soap. This is the soap base. It’s odorless, colorless, and the base of what you need. You can find these at Michael’s or online. I suggest getting the organic kind. They are made from a coconut oil base and the glycerin is refined. These usually go for about $12.
- A big microwave safe bowl.
- Soap molds. You can get traditional soap molds at any craft store, or if you’re looking to get a little more creative, you can use silicone cupcake forms. They come in all kinds of fun shapes, and work beautifully as a soap mold. Here’s what I used:
- Basic ingredients. There are no rules here, but for this batch, I used honey, coconut oil, coconut flakes, pure vanilla, pure almond extract, and essential oils. Pick whatever smells good to you and get creative. You can also add different soap colours.
2. Choose your fragrances. Here’s what I did for this batch:
- Exfoliating coconut: Coconut oil, pure coconut extract, coconut flakes, honey and a drop of vanilla. The coconut flakes act as a nice exfoliating scrub.
- Exfoliating coffee bean and almond: Pure almond extract, honey, and coffee grounds. The coffee grounds here act the same way the coconut flakes do. I didn’t have any grounds, so I opened up a Kurig K-Cup and stole some from there! Improvisation at its best!
- Sweet lavender: Lavender essential oil, honey and coconut oil.
- Grapefruit: Grapefruit essential oil and coconut oil.
- You can do any combination with any ingredients you want. Go to your local health food/ hippie store and pick out a few different essential oils that you like, pair them with honey, coconut oil, or whatever else you like!
3. Cut the glycerin base.
- Use a knife to cube up your soap base. Depending on the size of your mold, you will need a different amount of base, so just use your best judgement.
4. Melt the base.
- Put your base cubes into a microwave safe bowl. Microwave in 30 second intervals, stopping to stir. This part is very important! If you don’t stir every 30 seconds, the base at the bottom will overheat and lose its consistency.
5. Add the good stuff.
- Once your base is fully melted, it’s time to your oils and other add-ons. Again, the size and shape of your mold will determine how much oil you put in. There is no right way, so just use your best judgement. I always say the more the better. Once you get everything together, mix it up.
6. Pour the soap into your molds.
- And you’re done! Pour in your soap, and give it a solid hour to dry.
Voila! You’ve got your very own homemade soap! These babies make a great gift for your girlfriends. I’m planning on filling up an apothecary jar for my bathroom. The possibilities are endless! And once it’s all said and done, one sheet of base gives you about eight bars. That’s less than $1.50 per bar! I call that a deal.