How to Make Donut Soap Using the Cold Process Soapmaking Method

Learn how to make DIY donut soap bars with watermelon powder. These small batch, artisan soaps are made using the cold process soap making method, and are a great way to nourish and care for skin. 

DIY Donut Soap

If you love doughnuts but they don’t love you, try making this DIY donut soap instead! Crafted using the cold process soapmaking method, these DIY donut soaps are formulated to be high conditioning/low cleansing bars. They’re naturally colored with rose kaolin clay to mimic a “baked” pink donut and also contain watermelon fruit extract powder which is high in vitamin C and and amino acids that can help to promote rejuvenated looking skin.

In addition, this DIY donut soap recipe also contains skin conditioning camellia (tea seed) oil, babassu oil and mango seed butter. It’s then iced with a natural melt and pour soap base “donut glaze” and topped with real candy sprinkles! Keep reading to learn how to make your own DIY donut soap with my natural cold process soap recipe!

Cold Process Donut Soap Recipe

© Rebecca D. Dillon

Ingredients:

These are the ingredients you will need to make this natural donut soap recipe:

• Mango butter
• Castor oil
• Babassu oil
• Olive oil
• Sesame oil
• Coconut oil
• Camellia oil
• Distilled water
• Lye/sodium hydroxide
• Sodium lactate (60% solution)
• Rose kaolin clay
• Watermelon fruit extract powder
• Fragrance oil
• Cold Process Soap Notes:

Following are my notes on how to make donut soap using the cold process soap making method:

• I’ve included a screenshot from SoapCalc (above) to make resizing the recipe for my DIY donut soap easier and so you have an idea of the overall soap bar quality. (SoapCalc is great tool for anyone wanting to create their own custom soap recipes from scratch. You can learn how to create your own custom soap recipes using a lye calculator here.)
• Because my DIY donut soap is palm free, I did a steeper water discount than normal and included sodium lactate in the soap recipe to get a harder bar.
• I used a sparkling limoncello fragrance oil for my donut soaps. You can use any fragrance oil of your choosing, however, be aware that if it contains vanilla, your donut soaps will turn brown.
• My DIY donut soap recipe yields a baker’s dozen or 13 donut soaps.
• I used this 2 pack of silicone donut molds that my boyfriend gifted me for Valentine’s Day to make these soap donuts.

How to Make Donut Soap

You should be familiar with making cold process soap before trying this soap recipe. If you’ve never made cold process soap before – or any kind of soap in which you’re working with lye – I strongly recommend you start with a beginner soap recipe so you get a feel for the process and know you can create a successful soap. Otherwise, you’ll follow your basic cold process soapmaking instructions to create your DIY donut soap. You should adhere to all basic safety precautions when working with lye.

Here is how to make cold process donut soap:

1. Begin by measuring out the amount of water called for in the recipe into a heat safe container. Next, use a digital scale to weigh out the lye.
2. Slowly pour the lye into the water in a well ventilated area. Stir the lye until it has dissolved, then set the lye-water aside.
3. Next, weigh out the soapmaking fats – these are all of the oils and the mango butter called for in the recipe.
4. Heat until melted then set aside.
5. Allow the lye-water and the melted soapmaking oils to cool to around 95°F. Once they’ve reached this temperature, you’re ready to make soap.
6. Weigh out the sodium lactate and stir it into the cooled lye-water.
7. Then weigh out the clay, watermelon fruit powder and fragrance oil. Add these ingredients to the melted oils and mix to combine with a stick/hand blender.
8. Now slowly pour the lye-water into the melted oils.
9. Mix with a stick blender until you reach trace then evenly pour the donut soap batter into the molds’ cavities. Cover if desired with plastic film or parchment paper and set aside in a safe location.
10. Remove the soap from your molds the next day or the day after depending on the hardness of the soap donuts. If your soap doesn’t gel then you may need to wait an extra day or two before unmolding to get your DIY donut soap to release cleanly from the molds.
11. Allow your donut soaps to cure 4-6 weeks. Once your soaps have cured, your ready to add the icing and sprinkles!

How to Decorate Donut Soap with Soap Icing

Once you’ve made your donut soaps, it’s time to decorate them. By decorating this cold process soap, they’ll look like real donuts rather than soap. Here is how to decorate your soaps with soap icing so they look like donuts:

1. To create your soap icing you’ll need a clear melt and pour soap base. I specifically used Crafter’s Choice detergent free hemp melt and pour soap base. Cut up several ounces of the soap base into squares and melt in the microwave in 30 second increments until melted.
2. Next add your desired colorant for the soap glaze. I used Nurture Soap’s vibrant yellow mica. Stir in desired amount – I recommend about a quarter teaspoon – and scent if desired.
3. Allow the soap glaze to cool slightly. Just before it starts to solidify, you’re ready to apply the glaze.
4. Dip your first soap donut, top down, into the soap icing donut glaze. Turn over and place onto a cutting board or other work surface. Immediately add candy sprinkles of your choice.
5. Repeat this process with all of the donut soaps one at time, until you’ve decorated all of your donut soaps.

Tip: If you prefer to add soap icing rather than a glaze to your soap donuts, simply add more colorant to the clear melt and pour soap base, allow to cool but not solidify, then drizzle as desired across each of the soaps.

Yield: 13 donut soap bars

Donut Soap Recipe

Print

Learn how to make a donut soap recipe using the cold process soapmaking method. This DIY donut soap is palm free and is formulated to create a high conditioning, low cleansing soap bars.

Prep Time 30 minutes

Active Time 30 minutes

Additional Time 1 hour

Total Time 2 hours

Difficulty Intermediate

Materials

• 4.8 oz. mango butter
• 1.6 oz. castor oil
• 3.2 oz. babassu oil
• 7.35 oz. olive oil
• 6.4 oz. sesame oil
• 3.85 oz. coconut oil
• 4.8 oz. camellia oil
• 9.75 oz. distilled water
• 4.25 oz. lye/sodium hydroxide
• 1 oz. sodium lactate (60% solution)
• .25 oz. (about 2 Tbs.) rose kaolin clay
• .6 oz (about 2 Tbs.) watermelon fruit extract powder
• 1.7 oz. fragrance oil (optional)

Tools

• digital scale
• immersion blender
• aluminum free heat safe containers
• aluminum free utensils
• stove, microwave or double boiler
• silicone donut soap molds

Instructions

1. Measure out the water into a heat safe container. Then use a digital scale to weigh out the lye.
2. Slowly pour the lye into the water in a well ventilated area. Stir until the lye dissolves completely, then set the lye-water aside.
3. Weigh out the oils, omitting the fragrance oil, and mango butter into a heat safe container.
4. Heat until melted either at reduced power in the microwave, on the stove top or in a double boiler. Set aside.
5. Allow the lye-water and the melted soapmaking oils to cool to around 95°F.
6. Once the lye-water, cools, weigh out the sodium lactate and stir it into the lye-water.
7. Weigh out the clay, watermelon fruit powder and fragrance oil. Add these ingredients to the melted oils and mix to combine with an immersion blender
8. Slowly pour the lye-water into the melted oils.
9. Mix the soap batter with the immersion blender until you reach trace. Then evenly pour the donut soap batter into the donut mold cavities.
10. Remove the soap from your molds 24-48 hours later.
11. Allow the soaps to cure 4-6 weeks. Once your soaps have cured, you can decorate the donut soaps with icing and sprinkles.

You’ve now made your own DIY donut soap! All that’s left is to wrap and label your soaps as desired for personal use or gifting. (These make fantastic party favors!) If you’re planning to sell your homemade donut soaps, be sure to label them according to FDA guidelines. Not sure how to label your creations? I highly recommend the book, Soap and Cosmetic Labeling: How to Follow the Rules and Regs Explained in Plain English, by Marie Gale.

For even more of my soap recipes and tutorials, be sure to follow my Simply Soapmaking Pinterest board and my DIY Bath and Body Pinterest board. You can also find and follow me on Facebook, Twitter, Blog Lovin’, and Instagram. Or  subscribe to my newsletter so you never miss a post.