Servings: 6 soap bars
Cost: $4 - $20 / 4€ - 16€
Equipment
Ingredients
Lye Water
- 100 g distilled water
- 64 g lye (100% sodium hydroxide)
- 50 g carrot pureé optional
- 1 tsp sodium lactate
Oils
- 200 g extra virgin olive oil
- 150 g refined or organic coconut oil
- 25 g castor oil
- 50 g sunflower oil
- 25 g refined or organic shea butter
Add After Trace
- 8 drops grapefruit seed extract (GSE) (anti-oxidant)
- 14 ml essential oil litsea cubeba/may chang optional (3,5 tsp)
- alcohol or witch hazel to sprinkle
Instructions
Get Ready!
- Wear goggles and gloves! Look at “Safety Precautions” in the video above or in Soap Making Safety Precautions
- Watch the video above about "Cold Process Soap Making Tutorial" or read the post Learn To Make Cold Process Soap for instructions on cold process soap making before starting. These are generic but important steps for all recipes.
- Assemble everything: ingredients, equipment, safety equipment. Prepare your workstations. Measure all the ingredients. Don’t start the recipe without having everything ready!
- Carrot pureé is used as a natural colorant in this soap. It's an optional ingredient. But then again, what's a carrot soap without carrots? :)
Prepare the Carrot Pureé
- Prepare some carrot pureé to add to the lye water: peel and slice a carrot and then simmer it in water (just like preparing boiled carrots). When it's soft, remove it from the water and make the pureé with an immersion blender.
Heat the Oils
- Heat the oils to melt completely the solid oils.
Prepare the Lye Water
- The remaining water from the boiled carrot can be used as part of the lye water, but you must use the water ONLY at room temperature.
- Make the lye solution according to How To Make Lye Water, pouring the carrot purée into the water in the beginning. Mix it until the vapors start to dissipate. The lye water will turn into dark orange-brownish.
Make the Soap Batter
- Use as a target temperature 40ºC for the oil-lye solution mixture. If necessary, you can reheat the oils, but not the lye solution.
- Use a strainer to pour the lye water into the oils. The strainer will catch any remaining bits of carrot and lye.
- Reach trace with the immersion blender.
- Add after trace ingredients: the extract and essential oil (s). Stir with just a spoon.
Molding and Curing
- Pour the dough into the molds using a pitcher and sprinkle with alcohol or witch hazel.
- Wait 48 hours, keeping an eye on the hardness of the soap. Unmold and let the bars cure for 4 to 6 weeks. See How To Cure Soap for more information.
- Enjoy your carrot soaps!
Video
Tried this recipe?Send a pic to @herbalcochete!
