MAKING YOUR OWN SOAPS.

 

Making your own soap is a bit of a messy job, but it's well worth the trouble. Not only are you ensured of using the purest of ingredients on your skin,and of having the exact fragrance you want, but with all the perutations there are in ingredients and shape, you can be sure of creating a unique product for your efforts.

Which essential oils you use to fragrance the soap is up to you, and you can have a lot of fun making blends. Here are three formulae you might like to try; they each contain enough essential oil for 250g of grated soap:

 

MORNING FRESH:-

Grapefruit - 4 drops

Lime - 2 drops

Lemon - 1 drop

Basil - 2 drops

Lavender - 2 drops.

 

GENTLEMAN'S SPICE:-

Nutmeg - 1 drop

Bay - 2  drops

Lime - 6 drops

Clary Sage - 2 drops.

 

COUNTRY LIFE:-

Lavender - 6 drops

Geranium - 2 drops

Chamomile - 1 drop

Rosemary - 3 drops

 

For the base, use 100% pure, unscented soap. Excellent additions would be oatmeal, almond meal, carrot oil, jojoba oil or olive oil.

METHOD :-

Bring to the boil a quantity of water that is half the volume of the grated soap you intend to use. Put this in a bowl over a pot of boiling water on the stove and add the grated soap. Stir until the soap is fully melted ( it becomes quite sticky and sloppy at this stage ). Take the bowl off the heat and leave until it is starting to set, then add your chosen essential oils. Mix thoroughly together.

You can scoop out the soap and mould it to the shape you want or, if you prefer, put it into pre-prepared moulds. You can use old soap boxes for a traditional shape, or any small carton or container you like the shape of, as long as the container is well oiled or lined with greaseproof paper ( kinda like making a cake !). Leave until well set, and then turn out the soap. If the soaps are intended as presents, wrap them in coloured tissue paper before they go in the wrapping paper.