Pumpkin Spice Soap
Cold process pumpkin spice soap made with real pumpkin puree and nourishing oils for a creamy, gentle bar perfect for fall.
Yield: 12 (4oz) bars
Equipment
- digital scale
- thermometer
- immersion blender
- measuring cup (for water)
- plastic cup or a small jar (for lye)
- medium or large pot (to melt fats)
- metal or wooden spoons
- rubber gloves
- glasses or protective goggles
- soap molds OR a shoe box lined with baking paper
Materials
- 11.55 oz tallow
- 9.90 oz coconut oil
- 9.90 oz olive oil
- 1.65 oz castor oil
- 10.50 oz water
- 4.50 oz lye (sodium hydroxide)
- 2 oz pumpkin puree
- 0.5 oz cinnamon essential oil
- 0.5 oz cloves essential oil
Instructions
- Place the tallow, coconut oil, olive oil and castor oil in a medium stainless steel pot. Turn the heat on medium low and heat the fats until completely melted. Once melted, take the pot off the heat.
- While the fats are melting, put on your protective clothing and a mask. Either take your lye and water outside or stand by a wide open window. Slowly add the lye into the water while stirring and keep stirring until the lye completely dissolves.
- Let the oils and the lye solution cool to 37°-43°C (100°-110°F). They do not have to be both the same exact temperature, as long as they are both in that temperature range or within less than 10 degrees of each other. It is best to have two separate thermometers and stick one in each container. If like me you only have one, wipe it well after each check so you don't get any oil into lye water or vice versa.
- Often you will find that either the oils or the lye solution cool faster. To make sure that they come to the right temperature at the same time, you can place either or both in a hot or cold bath.
- When both the oils in the pot and the lye solution in the jar have cooled to 37°-43°C (100°-110°F), it is time to add the lye into the oils. Slowly pour the lye into the pot of oils while stirring. You should see the oils thickening and becoming cream-colored immediately.
- As soon as you have stirred the lye solution into the pot of oils, swap the spoon for the immersion blender and start blending the soap. You don't have to blend all the time - blend for a few minutes on low to medium speed, then just stir with the blender for a few minutes, and repeat. You want to continue blending and stirring until your soap reaches light or medium trace (see notes below).
- Add the cinnamon essential oil, cloves essential oil, and pumpkin puree and quickly blend them in for about 20 seconds. Adding the puree and the oils will thicken the soap so you need to be quick.
- Pour the soap into the mold and spread it quickly with a spoon or spatula until the surface of the soap is flat and even.
- Cover the soap mold with plastic and place a couple of towels on top to insulate it. Leave it covered for 24 hours.
- After 24 hours have passed, it is time to check if the soap has hardened enough to be removed from the mold and cut into bars. If it still seems a bit too soft, re-cover it and leave to cure for another 24 hours.
- When your soap has hardened sufficiently, remove it from the mold and cut it into 12 bars with a large sharp knife.
- Because it is a cold process soap recipe, the bars will need to cure somewhere cool, with a good airflow and out of direct sunlight. Place the bars on a cookie cooling rack, a wooden board or a large piece of cardboard and let them cure for 4 to 6 weeks. Turn them once or twice during that time so they can cure more evenly. After the curing time is up your soap is ready to use or to gift!
Notes
- If you prefer an unscented soap, leave out the essential oils.
- Instead of or in addition to cinnamon and cloves essential oils you could use nutmeg or allspice essential oil. Make sure the total weight of the essential oils you choose is 1 ounce.
- For darker colored soap with pumpkin puree well blended in, add the puree into the soap at light trace. For lighter colored soap with darker amber specks of pumpkin still visible, add the puree at medium trace.