Cedarwood & Baking Soda Soap Recipe for Cleansing & Deodorizing Skin

Learn how to make a baking soda soap recipe. This homemade baking soda soap with cedarwood essential oil is perfect for getting rid of dirt and grime, while also deodorizing odors caused by body sweat and food. It also works great on acne prone skin. Plus it’s palm free.

Can You Make Cold Process Baking Soda Soap?

Is it possible to make a cold process baking soda soap recipe? Chemists will tell you no. I’ve read countless times that unless you’re rebatching an existing soap bar, that cold process baking soda soap just won’t work. This isn’t entirely true. I know because I’ve done it.

Like vinegar and citric acid, baking soda works to reverse the saponification process that cold process soap goes through to make soap. This can lead to a failed soap batch or a really soft soap that never actually hardens. However, there are ways to craft a baking soap recipe using the cold process soap making method so that it does indeed work. You simply need to make a few adjustments to your recipe. Those adjustments include reducing the superfat of the cold process soap recipe to 0, while also making not to the baking soda until your soap batter has reached trace.

Normally, it’s not advisable to use a 0% superfat when making soap. That is, of course, unless you’re making a 100% coconut oil soap for use as a laundry stain remover or a solid dish soap. This is because it leaves room for error when making the soap. There’s the potential for your soap recipe to end up lye heavy if mistakes are made. Therefore, you’ll normally see most cold process soap recipes with a superfat of at least 5%. Superfat not only compensates in the case of error, however. It also gives the bar more skin conditioning properties. This is because superfatting soap allows extra oils in the final soap bars to remain unsaponified.

Baking soda reverses the saponification process to some extent. Therefore, despite using a 0% superfatted soap recipe with baking soda, the resulting soap will in fact have some superfat as a result. Even without adding it in. If you’re formulating your own baking soda soap recipe using the cold process soap making method, I recommend a recipe that creates a hard bar, with a higher cleansing percentage. You should also discount the water to at least 30% (or less) of the oil weight. And, more importantly, always add the baking soda once you reach trace. Never before. Otherwise, you run a high risk of a failed batch.

About My Deodorizing Baking Soda Soap Recipe

This particular baking soda soap recipe was inspired by a local restaurant owner, Hunter, who owns a fantastic little restaurant called Lucky in downtown Roanoke, VA.  It’s been one of my favorite places to eat and drink — Hunter is quite the mixologist — since it opened. If you’ve ever worked in a restaurant you’re well aware of the array of odors you take home with you everyday. Not being the biggest fan of smelling like his restaurant during his off duty hours, Hunter asked me to create a deodorizing soap for him that would not only get him clean, but also wash away the smell of food and other odors you pick up in the service industry.

My homemade cedarwood and baking soda soap recipe is the result of that request. I created this particular cold process recipe to be palm free for those who aren’t able to locally source sustainable palm oil or prefer not to use it entirely. What this homemade soap does have, however, is odor zapping baking soda and cedarwood essential oil as well a touch of skin loving cocoa butter. While it does have a high cleansing level for extra lather, you’ll find that this baking soda soap recipe is also formulated to be highly conditioning so the two balance out.

Cedarwood & Baking Soda Soap Recipe

Yield: 47.3 oz. (1,342.12 grams) before the cure

Ingredients:

3.2 oz. / 90.72 grams Castor Oil (10%)
6.4 oz. / 181.44 grams Cocoa Butter (20%)
8.95 oz. / 253.73 grams 76° Melt Point Coconut Oil (27.97%)
9.3 oz. / 263.65 grams Pomace Olive Oil (29.06%)
4.15 oz. / 117.65 grams Sunflower Oil (12.97%)

9.6 fl. oz. / 272.16 grams distilled water (30% of oil weight)
4.74 oz. / 134.43 grams lye/sodium hydroxide (0% superfat)

2 oz. baking soda
2 teaspoons white kaolin clay
1 teaspoon walnut shell powder, or to suit
1/16 teaspoon woodland green pigment powder
1 oz. / 28.35 grams cedarwood essential oil (3.13% of oil weight)

Materials & Tools:

Digital scale
Stainless steel pot
Stick/Immersion blender
Heat safe containers
Measuring spoons
Measuring cup
Loaf mold
Spatula

Baking Soda Soap  Recipe Making Notes:

It’s important to note that 3.13% is the suggested maximum, skin safe usage rate for cedarwood essential oil in a soap recipe. Therefore it is important, should you make changes, not to increase this amount when making my baking soda soap recipe. (You can learn more about the maximum usage rate of popular essential oils in soap here.)

My baking soda soap recipe will fit inside this silicone loaf mold or another similar mold. You can also use two sets of silicone molds with individual cavities. However, you won’t be able to pull off the pencils lines without using a loaf mold.

Follow basic cold process soap making instructions to make my cold process baking soda soap recipe. You should make sure you are not using any utensils or equipment that contain aluminum. All containers should be heat safe. In addition, take all safety precautions including wearing protective clothing (long sleeves), gloves and goggles.

Instructions:

Prepare the lye-water solution first. To do this, weigh out the lye into a heat safe container. Then measure out the distilled water into separate heat safe container, such as a heat safe pitcher.

Slowly pour the lye into the water. Then stir until the lye dissolves completely. Set the lye-water aside to cool.

Now, use a digital scale to weigh the olive, castor, coconut, and sunflower oils, as well as the cocoa butter. Combine these soap making fats in a stainless steel pot. Then heat on the stovetop over medium to medium-low heat until all oils have melted. Once fully melted, remove from heat.

In the meantime, weigh out the baking soda, clay and the cedarwood essential oil into separate containers. Measure out the walnut shell powder and pigment powder. Set aside.

Once the lye-water and melted soap making oils reach about 100° F, you’re ready to mix the soap batter.

Start by adding the kaolin clay to the melted soap making oils. Mix into clay into the oils using a stick blender.

Once the clay is fully incorporated into the oils, slowly pour the lye-water into the oils. Mix the lye-water and oils together with a stick blender until you reach a light trace trace. Then stir in both the cedarwood essential oil and the baking soda. Mix to combine.

Now pour roughly one third of the soap into the loaf mold. Smooth the soap out in the mold using a spatula. Then lightly dust the soap in the mold with walnut shell powder so that the entire surface is covered.

Once you’ve added the walnut shell powder, add the green pigment powder to the remaining soap in the pot. Mix well using the stick blender.

Finally, pour the remaining soap batter from the pot into the mold over the walnut shell powder and the first layer of soap. Even out the soap using the spatula. If desired, cover and insulate for 24 hours.

Unmold the baking soda soap 24 to 36 hours later. Then cut the soap into bars. Allow the baking soda soap bars to cure a minimum of four weeks prior to use, for best results. (Cold process soaps will fully saponify within about 72 hours. However, a full cure not only makes the soap harder, but also increases the lather and final performance of the soap.)

Tip: For a harder soap with a lower superfat, reduce the amount of baking soda called for in the recipe to 1 oz.

Yield: 47.3 oz. before the cure

Cold Process Baking Soda Soap Recipe

Print

This homemade baking soda soap recipe with cedarwood essential oil is naturally cleanses skin, while also deodorizing odors caused by body sweat and food smells. A palm free soap recipe that also works great on acne prone skin.

Prep Time 15 minutes

Active Time 30 minutes

Additional Time 1 hour

Total Time 1 hour 45 minutes

Difficulty Intermediate

Materials

• 3.2 oz. / 90.72 grams Castor Oil
• 6.4 oz. / 181.44 grams Cocoa Butter
• 8.95 oz. / 253.73 grams 76° Melt Point Coconut Oil
• 9.3 oz. / 263.65 grams Pomace Olive Oil
• 4.15 oz. / 117.65 grams Sunflower Oil
• 9.6 fl. oz. / 272.16 grams distilled water
• 4.74 oz. / 134.43 grams lye/sodium hydroxide
• 2 oz. baking soda
• 2 teaspoons white kaolin clay
• 1 teaspoon walnut shell powder
• 1/16 teaspoon woodland green pigment powder
• 1 oz. / 28.35 grams cedarwood essential oil

Tools

• Digital scale
• Stainless steel pot
• Stick/Immersion blender
• Heat safe containers
• Measuring spoons
• Measuring cup
• Loaf mold
• Spatula

Instructions

1. Weigh out the lye into a heat safe container. Then measure out the distilled water into separate heat safe container.
2. Slowly pour the lye into the water. Then stir until the lye dissolves completely. Set the lye-water aside to cool.
3. Use a digital scale to weigh the oils and cocoa butter. Combine the ingredients in a stainless steel pot. Then heat on the stovetop over medium to medium-low heat until melted. Once fully melted, remove from heat.
4. In the meantime, weigh out the baking soda, clay and the cedarwood essential oil into separate containers. Measure out the walnut shell powder and pigment powder. Set aside.
5. Once the lye-water and melted soap making oils reach about 100° F, you’re ready to mix the soap batter.
6. Add the kaolin clay to the melted soap making oils. Mix into clay into the oils using a stick blender.
7. Once the clay is fully incorporated into the oils, slowly pour the lye-water into the oils. Mix the lye-water and oils together with a stick blender until you reach a light trace trace.
8. Then stir in both the cedarwood essential oil and the baking soda. Mix to combine.
9. Pour roughly one third of the soap into the loaf mold. Smooth the soap out in the mold using a spatula. Then lightly dust the soap in the mold with walnut shell powder so that the entire surface is covered.
10. Once you’ve added the walnut shell powder, add the green pigment powder to the remaining soap in the pot. Mix well using the stick blender.
11. Pour the remaining soap batter from the pot into the mold over the walnut shell powder and the first layer of soap. Even out the soap using the spatula. If desired, cover and insulate for 24 hours.
12. Unmold the baking soda soap 24 to 36 hours later. Then cut the soap into bars. Allow the baking soda soap bars to cure a minimum of four weeks prior to use.

If you’d like to explore more soap making projects, be sure to try my other cold process soap recipes here. You can also follow me on your favorite social media platforms, including facebook, twitter and instagram, as well as on Pinterest and Blog Lovin‘.