Summer Soap Recipe Scented with Essential Oils

Learn how to make this summer soap recipe. Created for enjoying the outdoors when the weather heats up, this DIY soap is formulated with a simple essential blend that help to repel biting insects common during this time of year. Not only does this essential oil blend lend this homemade soap an amazing scent, but it’s also all natural. So, there’s not need to worry about irritation from synthetic fragrances.

Naturally Scented Summer Soap

Summertime is also festival time, and if you’re like me the insects eat you alive if you don’t take measures to keep them away. As I’m heading off to Floyd Fest – for the first time EVER! – at the end of July, I decided to craft a special festival soap to take with me just for this very occasion. After all, it can become rather unpleasant being in the woods for four straight days with dozens of mosquito bites.

Despite soap being a wash off product, if scented with the right essential oils, it can still repel those biting buggers. In fact I used to make a straight lemongrass soap for summer that my brother would request every year before his own camping trips. It worked out just fine for his purposes. Because I’m such a sweet girl, however – wink – I’ll also be mixing up an essential oil blend with some witch hazel in a spray bottle to mist my clothes and ankles as the July heat does it’s best to turn me into a puddle. I also added some skin conditioning oils to this homemade summer soap recipe in case the sun does a number and dries it out.

Keep reading to discover how to make a summer soap with a natural scent blend for all your outdoor activities this season.

Homemade Summer Soap Recipe

© Rebecca D. Dillon

This homemade summer soap recipe contains a natural scent blend of essential oils that smell wonderful and help to repel biting insects. It will yield 20-24 bars depending on how they are cut.

The recipe consists of two layers. Therefore you will need to make the recipe using the ingredient list in two separate batches. I recommend that you prepare the ingredients to make this DIY soap at the same time. Then mix the ingredients together from the ingredient list with the ones from the ones listed for Batch A that are added at trace first. Once the soap batter has been poured, follow with the second batch. Then layer it on top of the first inside your loaf soap mold.

To create a fun summer scent for your homemade soaps, each layer contains a different essential oil blend. These oils smell wonderful together. And while they aren’t traditional summer fragrances that would remind you of the beach, they do serve a purpose! Combined, these summer soap scents help to naturally repel biting insects such as mosquitoes and annoying insects like gnats.

Following is my original recipe for making a wonderful homemade soap for summertime.

Summer Essential Oil Soap Ingredients (x2):

These are the ingredients need to create both layers of this cold process soap recipe:

• 5.4 oz. 76° melt point coconut oil
• 9 oz. sustainable palm oil
• 9 oz. rice bran oil
• 3.6 oz. soybean oil
• 1.8 oz. grapeseed oil
• 3.6 oz. shea butter
• 3.6 oz. cocoa butter

At Trace:

• 12 fluid oz. distilled water
• 4.8 oz. lye (sodium hydroxide)

Batch A: Summer Scent Blend

This essential oil blend is used to scent the bottom layer of your DIY summer soaps. It also includes mica to color the bottom layer of your soap loaf. These ingredients should be added at trace. Here’s what you need to scent your summer soaps:

• .85 oz. lavender essential oil
• .15 oz. lemon eucalyptus essential oil
• .05 oz. tea tree oil
• .05 oz. lavender flowers
• lavender ultramarine pigment or mica powder, to suit

Batch B: Essential Oil Blend

This second blend of essential oils is used to add a natural fragrance to the top layer of your summer soap bars. Again, when making the second batch of soap to add onto the first, you should add the summer soap scent at trace. Here’s what goes into the second layer:

• 1 oz. lemongrass essential oil
• .15 oz. peppermint essential oil

Tools and Equipment:

In addition to the ingredients used to formulate this homemade soap, you will also need some tools and equipment to make this summer soap recipe. Before you begin, you will need to gather the following:

• Goggles: Protective eyewear will prevent damage to your eyes if the soap batter or lye-water is splashed or spills.
• Gloves: Nitrile gloves also protect hands from accidental burns that can occur when working with lye.
• Digital scale: A scale is used to weigh all of the ingredients for this summer soap recipe and the essential oil scent blends.
• Stainless steel pot: This is used to mix the soap batter on the stove top. You should never use aluminum to make cold process soap as it creates a dangerous chemical reaction.
• Thermometer:  You need a thermometer so you can accurately judge the temperature of both the lye-water and soap making oils before you mix them together.
• Immersion blender: Also known as a stick or hand blender, this tool makes it quick and easy to mix your scented summer soap and bring it to trace.
• Pitchers and measuring cups: You’ll need a heat safe pitcher or container to mix your lye-water in as well as to weigh out the soap making ingredients.
• Large mixing spoons: I use a long plastic spoon, like the wooden ones but plastic, to mix my lye water. I also use a heavy duty metal spoon to scoop out semi-solid oils and butters.
• Spatula: A spatula makes it easy to get all of the soap out of the pot and into the prepared soap mold. It is also used to smooth down the layers and tops of soap.
• Loaf soap mold: I used a wooden loaf mold my dad made me for this DIY summer soap. However, you can use a similarly sized silicone mold, if desired. If using a wooden soap mold, you will need to line it first with either a small office trash bag or parchment paper. (Find the dimensions for this mold and learn how to make a wood loaf soap mold here.)

How to Make DIY Summer Soap

If you’ve never made cold process soap, then I recommend starting with a basic one or two oil recipe. Otherwise, be sure to brush up on how to make cold process soap first. This ensures that your homemade soap turns out correctly and no errors are made.

Before you get started, remember that you’ll need to make two batches of soap in two separate pots for this natural homemade soap recipe. The final summer soap recipe will fill two of my wood loaf soap molds. If you want to make a smaller batch, you can halve the recipe. However, you will need to run the homemade soap recipe back through a lye calculator to ensure that the amount of water and lye is correct. (Learn how to resize a cold process soap recipe here.)

Here are the steps need to make summer soap with a summer essential oil scent blend:

1. Combine equal amounts of all soapmaking oils into each pot and prepare two containers of lye-water. (Each pot should have 5.4 oz. coconut oil, 9 oz. palm oil, 9 oz. rice bran oil, 3.6 oz. soybean oil, 1.8 oz. grape seed oil, 3.6 oz. shea butter and 3.6 oz. cocoa butter. Then each container of lye-water should contain 12 oz. distilled water and 4.8 oz. of lye.) Prepare according to the instructions on how to make cold process soap.

2. Once each container of lye-water and oils have cooled, you are ready to mix your soap. Start by mixing one container of lye-water into one pot of soapmaking oils. At a light trace, weigh out and stir in the ingredients listed for Batch A – the lavender, eucalyptus and tea tree essential oils, lavender flowers and the pigment powder. Mix well using your immersion blender. Once it reaches a thick trace pour the soap evenly into the bottom of BOTH of your lined molds.

3. Now mix your second batch of soapmaking oils and lye-water together, weighing and adding the ingredients for Batch B – the lemongrass and peppermint essential oils – at trace. As lemongrass essential oil turns the soap a lovely shade of yellow, you won’t need to use a colorant for this layer.

4. Once ready, pour the soap from this batch evenly into the two soap molds over top of the summer scented lavender/colored soap.

5. Cover and insulate for 24 hours, then unmold and cut the soap into bars. Allow your finished summer soap bars to cure for a minimum of three weeks before use.

More Summer Soap Recipes and Ideas

For more summer soap ideas and recipes, be sure to check out these other DIY soaps:

• Citrus Soap Recipe: This summer citrus soap recipe contains an invigorating essential oil blend of peppermint, orange and lemongrass to cleanse and condition skin.
• DIY Seashell Soap: This easy melt and pour soap recipe is a fun summer craft project that will remind you of summertime trips to the beach!
• Aloe Soap Recipe: This aloe vera soap recipe with neem oil is a cold process soap that uses aloe vera gel for its natural skin care benefits that help to soothe summer sunburns.
• Calendula Soap Recipe: This summer calendula soap recipe with calendula infused oil and essential oils promotes skin health when used for your daily skin care routine.
• Blood Orange Soap Recipe: This orange soap recipe contains orange powder and blood orange essential oil making it wonderful addition to your summer skin care routine.
• Sunflower Soap Recipe: Learn how to make soap with this easy melt and pour soap recipe for summer sunflower soap.
• DIY Watermelon Soap: This cold process watermelon soap recipe is an easy way to enjoy the skin care benefits of vitamin C without irritating skin.
• Lavender Citrus Soap: Make this easy, natural lavender citrus soap recipe to amp up your summer skin care routine while enjoying the benefits orange oil offers.

For more great homemade bath, body, beauty and soap recipes to enjoy this summer, be sure to follow Soap Deli News across all of your favorite social media platforms. You can find me on Facebook, Twitter, Blog Lovin’, and Instagram. Or  subscribe to Soap Deli News for future updates, DIY projects and recipes.