soap crafting polar bear soap diy melt and pour soap recipe (1)

Easy Melt and Pour Polar Bear Soap Recipe + Tutorial for Beginners

November 10, 2014

Learn how to make DIY polar bear soaps for winter fun with this easy melt and pour soap recipe for beginners! This cute soap making tutorial is a great project to make with kids as a winter family craft project. Made using glycerin melt and pour soap, this homemade soap is a great way to get started in soap crafting if you want to learn how to make soap without lye.

DIY Polar Bear Soap: Easy Winter Craft Idea

Kids and parents can enjoy soap crafting together with this tutorial for making easy melt and pour polar bear soaps! This DIY polar bear soap is super cute and it’s so easy to make. It’s a fun and creative winter kids craft they make themselves or with some adult supervision for younger children. This glycerin soap recipe is also a great adult craft project for those wanting to learn how to make soap without lye.

If you’re looking for an easy melt and pour soap recipe for beginners, but want to make a less than basic homemade glycerin soap, then this winter soap crafting project is a must! Not only is this melt and pour soap recipe perfect for beginner soapmakers, it’s also a great winter craft when the kids are bored at home.

I especially love making these DIY polar bear soaps as homemade gifts. They’re great not only for DIY holiday gifts, they also make great birthday gifts and party favors.

You can make these easy melt and pour soaps one at a time to get the hang of it, or if you don’t want a dozen soaps sitting around in your home. Alternately, you can also double this glycerin soap recipe to make multiples for seasonal or holiday gifts.

As the scent for these homemade soaps is optional, you also don’t have to worry about fragrances irritating sensitive skin.

Easy Melt and Pour Soap Ingredients

You will need the following melt and pour soap ingredients to make these winter polar bear soaps:

Clear melt and pour soap base – This soap base is used as the water for your soap. It needs to be clear so that the soap turns blue when the soap colorant is added, rather than a pastel. It also allows you to see the blocks of soap “ice” through the soap “water.”
White melt and pour soap base – The white glycerin soap base will be cut into cubes to create the soap “ice” for the polar bear to stand on.
Blue liquid soap color – A liquid soap colorant is an easy way to tint a glycerin soap base.

Tools to Make Polar Bear Soap without Lye

These are the tools you will need to make DIY polar bear soaps without lye:

Plastic toy polar bear (mine is from this Arctic plastic toy set)
Crafters Choice™ Basic Round Silicone Soap Mold
Spray bottle with rubbing alcohol
Glass Pyrex measuring cup, or other heat safe container
Digital kitchen scale
Microwave
Sharp knife, such as a Chef’s knife
Fork, or other utensil for stirring

How to Make Melt and Pour Polar Bear Soap

Following are instructions on how to make one melt and pour polar bear soap:

Begin by weighing out 2.25 oz. of the clear melt and pour soap base of your choice, using a digital kitchen scale. (I used this Aloe Vera & Olive Oil Melt and Pour Soap Base.)
Use a Chef’s knife, or other sharp knife, to cut the glycerin soap base into cubes.
Place the soap cubes into a glass Pyrex measuring cup or other heat safe container. Then microwave the melt and pour soap base in the microwave, in 30 second increments, just until melted.
Carefully remove the melted soap base from the microwave. The glass may be hot, therefore I recommend using a pot holder or tea towel to remove the container of soap. Now stir the melted soap base with a fork, or other utensil, until the soap melts
Next, ddd three drops of the liquid blue soap color to the melted glycerin soap. Stir the soap with fork to mix the colorant into the base.
Once combined, pour the liquid soap into one cavity of the round silicone mold.
Now spritz the top of the soap with rubbing alcohol to remove any air bubbles. (Rubbing alcohol and isopropyl alcohol are the same thing. I recommend using 99% isopropyl alcohol. However, you can use an alcohol with a lower percentage if the higher isn’t available to you.)
Allow the soap to solidify in the mold at room temperature. If desired, you can place the mold in the refrigerator to speed up cooling times. However, I don’t recommend placing the soap base in the freezer as it can make the clear base cloudy.
Once the soap in the mold has hardened, proceed to the next step.
Weigh out 1.1 oz. of the white melt and pour soap base. Cut the glycerin soap into small cubes. Then arrange the soap cubes on top of the solidified blue soap, so they resemble blocks of ice.
Now weigh out the remaining 1.65 oz. of the clear melt and pour soap base. Cut the soap into cubes, then heat in the microwave until melted.
Add two drops of blue soap color to the melted soap base. If you like, you can also add a pinch of white mica or biodegradable glitter. Stir to combine.
Spritz the top of the soap in your mold once again with rubbing alcohol. Then slowly pour the soap you just melted onto, and around, the white soap chunks.
Next, place the polar bear on top of the white soap chunks. Its feet should rest just inside the blue soap you just poured, so that he stays put once the soap cools.
Now spritz the top of the soap again with rubbing alcohol to remove any air bubbles.
Allow the winter polar bear soap to harden completely. Then carefully remove the melt and pour soap from the mold.

How to Store Melt and Pour Soap

Melt and pour soap contains glycerin, a humectant, which attracts water. In order to keep your glycerin soaps from attracting dew and to help them last longer, I recommend wrapping the soaps tightly in foodservice film for storage or to give as homemade gifts.

How Can I Scent My Homemade Glycerin Soaps?

If desired you can scent your homemade glycerin soaps using either a skin safe fragrance oil or essential oils.

To scent your polar bear soaps using a fragrance oil, add up to 2% of the soap weight to the melted soap base. (Or follow manufacturer’s guidelines for making melt and pour soap, not exceeding the maximum usage rate.)

For essential oils, use approximately .5% (or a half percent) of the soap weight to scent your homemade glycerin soaps.

Yield: 1 Glycerin Melt and Pour Polar Bear Soap

Polar Bear Melt and Pour Soap Recipe + Instructions

Learn how to make these DIY polar bear melt and pour soaps for winter fun. Made without lye, this easy melt and pour soap recipe is perfect for beginners and a wonderful, winter family craft project.

Active Time 15 minutes

Additional Time 1 hour

Total Time 1 hour 15 minutes

Difficulty Easy

Materials

3.9 oz. clear melt and pour soap base
1.1 oz. white melt and pour soap base
5 drops blue liquid soap color

Tools

plastic toy polar bear
Round silicone soap mold
spray bottle with rubbing alcohol
glass Pyrex measuring cup
digital kitchen scale
microwave
knife
fork

Instructions

Ue a digital kitchen scale to weigh out 2.25 oz. of clear melt and pour soap base. Then use a knife to cut the soap base into cubes.

Place the cubed soap into a glass Pyrex measuring cup, or other heat safe container.

Heat the soap in 30 second increments in the microwave until melted.

Remove from the microwave and add three drops of the liquid blue soap color. Stir with fork to mix.

Pour the melted blue soap into one cavity of the silicone mold.

Spritz the top of the soap with rubbing alcohol to remove any air bubbles. Then allow the soap to solidify at room temperature.

Weigh out 1.1 oz. of the white melt and pour soap base and cut into small cubes. Arrange the cubed soap as desired on top of the solidified blue soap.

Now weigh out 1.65 oz. of the remaining clear melt and pour soap base. Cut the soap base into cubes, then heat in the microwave until melted, in 20-30 second increments.

Add two drops of blue soap color. Then stir to combine. Allow the soap to cool to between 120°F-125°F.

Spritz the top of the soap in the mold with rubbing alcohol. Then slowly pour the melted soap onto and around the white soap chunks.

Now place the polar bear on top of the white soap chunks with his feet in the blue soap you just poured.

Spritz the top of the soap once again with rubbing alcohol to remove any air bubbles.

Allow the soap to harden completely. Then carefully remove the polar bear soap from the mold.

Wrap your homemade melt and pour soaps tightly in foodservice film.

Notes

To scent your polar bear soaps, you can add skin safe fragrance oil to your soap base when melted. Use up 2% of the soap weight, or follow manufacturer's guidelines for making melt and pour soap. For essential oils, use approximately .5% of the soap weight.

how to make soap without lye diy melt and pour soap recipe polar bear soap winter crafts

More Winter Melt and Pour Soap Crafting Projects

If you like this winter soap tutorial, then you may also enjoy these other melt and pour soap crafting projects:

For more homemade soap recipes like this one be sure to follow my boards on Pinterest. You can also find and follow me on Blog Lovin’, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.