Play Dough Soap DIY: A Fun Kids Activity That Encourages Hand Washing

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March 17, 2020 By Rebecca D. Dillon 13 Comments

Encourage hand washing and make bath time fun with this play dough soap recipe, made with liquid Castile soap. This DIY play dough bath soap is easy to make, and older kids can even make it themselves. Don’t have liquid Castile soap on hand? Try it with body wash or baby shampoo. You can even scent these with kid safe essential oils for aromatherapeutic bath time fun! A creative, kid-approved project to try when you’re stuck indoors, this project is perfect for those who homeschool or have bored children at home.

Growing up, my son used to spend hours playing with Play-Doh at the table. He would squish, squeeze, and mold the dough into different shapes and then smush it into a ball and start over again. This play dough soap recipe feels just like Play-Doh, but it’s made with the same liquid castile soap you use to wash your hands and body.

Older kids can help make this play dough bath soap recipe, too, and it’s a fun sensory activity. Just be careful that they don’t touch the melted coconut oil, as it is hot. You’ll also want to take care that the oil has cooled before they start kneading the soap play dough.

What is Play Dough Soap?

Play dough soap feels just like real Play-Doh, but it’s a soap. It lathers and washes your hands and body just like soap, but it’s also fun for kids to play with.

You can mold it into shapes and let it air dry for a custom bar of soap. Or you can store it in an airtight container to use it as a dough. Kids like playing with squishy dough, so they will probably like the softer soap better.

You can also use this play dough bath soap to make shapes to place on top of your melt and pour soap or cold process soap. They don’t get as hard as soap, so they may get dinged up if you are shipping them or transporting them to shows to sell.

How Do You Store Play Dough Soap?

If you keep your play dough soap stored in an airtight container, it will last for a few months. You can pinch off some as needed to use as a soap or to mold into fun shapes.

Keep in mind, however, that play dough soap will dry out if it’s not covered. You can shape it and let it dry if you want. When you want to use it, you’ll just need to get it wet and pinch off a piece to use.

How to Make Play Dough Soap

Making DIY play dough bath soap is really easy and only requires a few ingredients — many of which you probably already have in your kitchen pantry. The must have ingredients for this soap play dough recipe are cornstarch, liquid soap and coconut oil. Mica powder, which is used as a colorant, as well as essentials oils to scent your soap play doh are completely optional.

Liquid Castile Soap

The liquid Castile soap in this recipe is what really washes your or your child’s skin. I recommend using Dr. Bronner’s Baby Unscented Pure Liquid Castile Soap.

You can use your favorite baby wash or body wash. If you use a scented one, omit the essential oils. Using a body wash will probably give you more lather since they have additives to create more suds.

A true liquid castile soap made with olive oil won’t have a lot of lather. Depending on the brand that you use, there may not be a lot of lather. That’s okay. You don’t need lather to get clean.

Coconut Oil

I added some coconut oil to make this play dough bath soap recipe more moisturizing. Since coconut oil is a solid at room temperature, it also firms this soap so it’s more like a dough. Coconut oil melts at 76 degrees, so the soap will soften as you play with it.

You can add another carrier oil or omit it completely. If you do add a liquid carrier oil, you may need to add more cornstarch. I recommend sweet almond oil, fractionated coconut oil, or grapeseed oil. They are all dry oils that will soak into the skin quickly.

Mica Powder

I used mica powder to color my play dough soap recipe because it won’t stain your hands or skin. Food coloring can also be used, but it will stain your hands as you make the soap dough and when you use it. It can also stain your sink or bathtub when you use the soap.

Mica powder also has a wider range of colors. I wanted the scents to mostly match the colors, and that can be difficult with food coloring.

Essential Oils

If you’re making this soap play dough recipe for kids, it’s important to use only kid safe essential oils. Essential oils are generally safe for kids over two or kids over ten.

Some fun essential oils for kids are:
Lime essential oil (10+) for alertness
Lemon essential oil (2+) for clarity
Sweet Orange essential oil (2+) is uplifting
Lavender essential oil (2+) is relaxing
Frankincense essential oil (2+) to clear the mind

I specifically used Simply Earth essential oils for my soap dough recipe. They offer quality essentials at great prices. And I’m a huge fan of their monthly essential oil recipe box! (Use coupon code: SOAPDELIFREE when you subscribe to the box for a coupon for $40 off your next purchase. You do NOT have to subscribe to buy individual oils.)

Ready to get started? You’ll find the recipe for making DIY soap dough for your kids below!

Play Dough Soap Recipe

Ingredients:

1 cup cornstarch, plus more for kneading
½ cup liquid Castile soap
1 tablespoon coconut oil
Mica powder
8-9 drops kid safe essential oil

Directions:

To make DIY play dough soap, place the cornstarch in a medium sized bowl. Then add the liquid Castile soap the same bowl with the cornstarch.

Now melt coconut oil in the microwave for 20 seconds. Pour the melted coconut oil over the cornstarch and soap mixture. Stir the ingredients together until the mixture is thoroughly combined. It will be runny.

If you want to make several colors of soap dough, separate the dough into two or more bowls.

Then add mica and essential oils, as desired. You want to use 9-10 total drops of essential oils for the entire batch of soap dough. I made three colors, so I used 3 drops per color. If you make four colors, use two drops per color.

Next, put some cornstarch down on a clean surface. Place the soap dough on the cornstarch and start kneading until it turns into a shapeable dough. You can add more cornstarch as needed. I added about 2 tablespoons for each of the three colors.

How to Use Play Dough Soap:

To use your soap dough, pinch off a small amount and use like soap. It will fully dissolve and disappear in the water.

Storing Play Dough Bath Soap:

You can store this soap dough recipe in an airtight container to keep it soft. It will stay soft for several days, depending on how much it is exposed to the air.

You can also make shapes with it and let it air dry. It will soften once it gets wet again.

I don’t recommend letting your kids play with this in the tub. If it gets wet for long enough, it will dissolve.

Although this soap recipe is natural, don’t let children who put things in their mouths use this soap unsupervised.

Since this dough will dissolve in water, I recommend setting it on a soap dish if you leave it out beside the sink.

Yield: 1 1/2 cups soap play dough

Play Dough Soap Recipe

Make hand washing and bath time fun with this DIY play dough soap recipe with kid safe essential oils. A kid-approved, DIY play dough bath soap kids craft project for family fun.

Prep Time 5 minutes

Active Time 30 minutes

Total Time 35 minutes

Difficulty Easy

Materials

1 cup cornstarch, plus more for kneading
½ cup liquid Castile soap
1 tablespoon coconut oil
Mica powder
8-9 drops kid safe essential oil

Tools

Glass bowls
Microwave

Instructions

Place the cornstarch in a medium sized bowl.
Add the liquid Castile soap.
Melt coconut oil in the microwave for 20 seconds.
Pour over the cornstarch and soap mixture, then stir until combined.
Separate the soap dough into three bowls, one for each color you are making.
Add the mica and essential oils. If you are making three colors, use 3 drops per color.
Place additional cornstarch onto clean surface. Place the soap play dough onto the cornstarch. Knead until it turns into a shapeable dough, adding more cornstarch as needed.

DIY Play Doh Soap for Kids with Kid Safe Essential Oils. A creative kids activity for bath time fun. Learn how to make DIY Play Dough Bath Soap for kids with this easy recipe that uses ingredients from your kitchen. This play dough soap recipe is a fun DIY kids crafts projects idea for kids bored at home. Make hand washing and bath time fun with this play dough bath soap recipe made with liquid Castile soap and essential oils for a safe natural fragrance. Get the play dough bath soap recipe now.

If you like my DIY soap play dough, then be sure to pin this fun kids activity to Pinterest for later. Or check out these other ideas for kids craft projects for when you’ve hit your limit. You can also discover more ideas for kids crafts on my Kids Crafts & Project Ideas Pinterest board.

Don’t forget to follow me on facebook, twitter and instagram for more great DIY ideas. You can also find me on Blog Lovin‘. Or sign up to receive an email whenever I share a new post!

Filed Under: Bath & Beauty Recipes, DIY Craft Project, Soapmaking Tagged With: bath and body, crafts, diy, diy crafts, easy, family activity, family fun, family project, kids, kids project, soap dough, soap recipe, soap tutorial, soapmaking

Hydrating Bastille Soap Recipe Plus Practical Tips on Flu Prevention

March 12, 2020 By Rebecca D. Dillon 7 Comments

What’s the story with the coronavirus? Is it really worth a full on toilet paper war? And more importantly, how can I protect myself from the coronavirus and diminish my chances of getting sick? Learn why the coronavirus shouldn’t be dismissed as your average flu. Plus easy, everyday tips on reducing your chances of becoming infected with COVID-19. I’m also sharing my favorite, hydrating Bastille soap recipe. It’s perfect for dry hand relief from overuse of cheap liquid hand soap and alcohol based hand sanitizers. Plus it’s the perfect project (new hobby?) to make while practicing social distancing to avoid the spread of coronavirus in your community.

Why Do We Need to Be Concerned About the Coronavirus?

The coronavirus has everyone up in arms. Whether you’re taking a no nonsense approach to the whole situation, are totally freaked out, or you simply think everyone is overreacting, it’s THE news right now. What I find the most troubling about COVID-19 is what we don’t know. As of yet, we have no clue if the virus will disappear once we have regular warm weather. It doesn’t act like a typical flu virus. It’s also highly contagious.

The current statistics put 3.65% people dying from the coronavirus worldwide. (In Wuhan, that number was 4.9% of the infected population. Source. With the death rate in Italy as of 3/13/20 at 6.7%.) Which, during a bad flu season, isn’t unheard of. However, approximately one in five people who develop this illness have to be hospitalized. 10% of which will require ICU treatment, per the European Society of Intensive Care Medicine.

To make matters worse, whereas the typical flu infects only 2 to 11% of the population each year, The Atlantic states that COVID-19 has the potential to infect 40-70% of people around the world. (This is now the generally accepted position among epidemiologists as well.) And that’s where it really starts to put this virus into a very sobering perspective. At that rate, it would have the ability to kills millions in the US alone.

So if this thing spreads like wildfire, like it has in China and Italy, it can seriously hamper, and even overwhelm, our health infrastructure. (Canada is already reporting that their hospitals would be unable to cope with a coronavirus outbreak.)

And it’s not just a concern for those with weakened immune systems, cancer or anyone over the age of 60. This virus is especially dangerous to anyone with diabetes, high blood pressure, cardiovascular disease, chronic respiratory disease, anyone who smokes or vapes and those with heart, lung or kidney disease. Many of my friends and family fall into one of these categories. And while I’d like to believe I’m invincible to anything life throws my way, I know that I’m not. I’m especially concerned for friends who recently had cancer (and have weakened immune systems,) my brother who has lupus and my dad who has both high blood pressure and cardiovascular disease. But beyond that, I care about the rest of the people in the world as well. Which is why I felt it was so important to address this topic on my blog.

I know I’ve made jokes, both publicly and personally, in regards to this being the beginning of the apocalypse and the start of the toilet paper wars. But what remains is that we all need to be diligent and treat this as a real and possible threat. Maybe not to the point we’re rioting outside of Walmart in Cleveland because baby formula is sold out and there’s nothing to cut crack with. But with reasonable measures in which we take not only our safety into account, but also the consideration and safety of others — most especially those at risk.

So if you’re over there hoarding toilet paper, ibuprofen, face masks and hand sanitizer, maybe check in with neighbors and donate some to those in need. I promise you don’t need a year’s supply of provisions to survive this thing. And we need the rest of the population to be able to protect themselves from the coronavirus as well. (If you have doubts, here’s a first hand account of someone who has actually had COVID-19.)

Common Sense Ways to Protect Yourself from the Coronavirus

Taking all this into account, here are some common sense ways to protect yourself from the coronavirus, or COVID-19.

Practice social distancing. That means avoiding close contact with anyone who is sick, as well as distancing yourself from people if the coronavirus is spreading in your community.
Avoid crowds or crowded areas and events.
Wash your hands often, for at least 20 seconds, using soap and water. This is especially important if you have been in a public space.
If soap and water are unavailable, use a hand sanitizer with at least 60% alcohol. (You may want to carry some with you at all times.) To use, rub hands together until they feel dry. (If hand sanitizer is sold out, here’s how to make DIY hand sanitizer that meets CDC minimum guidelines.)
Avoid touching your face (eyes, nose, mouth) with unwashed hands.
In public, stay 6 feet (or a coughing distance) from others.
Avoid shaking hands.
Disinfect your travel mug after every outing.
Keep disinfectant by every entrance to your home.
Clean and disinfect frequently touched surfaces every day. This includes tables, doorknobs, light switches, countertops, handles, desks, phones, keyboards, toilets, faucets and sinks. Household disinfectants should be at least 70% alcohol or an EPA-registered household disinfectant. Alternately, you can also use a bleach solution comprised of 4 teaspoons of bleach combined with 1 quart of water. (Or 1/3rd cup bleach per gallon of water.)
Avoid anyone with a cough and stay away from poorly ventilated areas.
If you need to cough, do so into your elbow or into a tissue, which is preferable, as it can be disposed of afterwards.
If possible, work remotely from home rather than going into the office. Most people get sick at work.
As there is a global shortage in face masks, donate yours to communities in need such as senior care facilities and caregivers to help slow the spread of transmission. You only need to wear a face mask if you’re sick, or caring for someone who is sick.
Donate excess supplies of hand sanitizer to those in your community who have none.
Make preparations in the chance that you do get sick and are quarantined. You will need two weeks worth of provisions, including food. (Not ten years of toilet paper.)
Don’t share anything with other people that comes in contact with your mouth or nose.
Ensure proper ventilation by keeping air circulation either by opening a window or using a fan.
Use a humidifier. Higher humidity will keep the protective membranes in your nose from drying out, which makes them less effective as they try to keep pathogens out. Mid-range humidity also appears to cause some viruses to decay faster.

Hand Washing with Soap and Water

Washing your hands is still the best way to protect yourself from the coronavirus. (I mean, we can’t all hide under a rock forever.) Unfortunately, most cheap, liquid hand soaps aren’t real soap. Much like alcohol based hand sanitizers, they can also dry out your hands when used frequently. This leaves hands feeling tight, dry and itchy. Sometimes they even crack. In turn, this leads to an endless cycle of hand washing followed with moisturizers.

But what if there was a soap that didn’t dry your hands out? An alternative that left your hands clean and also offered some level of dry skin relief?

There are actually a number of these alternatives. Many handmade, cold process soaps meet this criteria. And believe it or not, bar soap is no less sanitary than using liquid hand soap. It does the same job, without the drying side effects, provided the formula isn’t overly cleansing.

Soap can’t moisturize skin. It is, after all, a wash off product. However, it can hydrate skin. And by choosing a soap with a high level of conditioning and a lower cleansing level, you can actually avoid dry skin all together. Don’t let the lower cleansing level scare you, however. All that means is that it strips fewer oils from your skin. Soap, the combination of a fat and an alkali, is still soap. What hand washing with soap does is mechanically remove germs and pulls unwanted material off skin. Bar soaps does that.

In fact, good old soap and water is more effective than alcohol-based hand sanitizers, especially if hands are visibly dirty. This is because the proteins and fats found in things, such as food tend, to reduce alcohol’s germ-killing power. It’s also favorable over antibacterial liquid hand soap containing triclosan, which contributes to antibiotic resistance. Studies have shown that both antibacterial soap versus good, old fashioned soap and water perform the same against bacteria. However, when tackling cold and flu viruses, antibacterial soap has no benefits over soap and water. This is because viruses aren’t affect by triclosan.

Tips for Washing Hands

When washing hands, there is a right way and a wrong way. Here are some tips to get the most out of washing your hands with soap and water.

Avoid scrubbing your skin when washing hands. This can easily damage skin and cause cracks and small cuts that give pathogens a place to grow.
As bacteria likes to live under fingernails, it’s wise to keep your nails short so the area underneath is easier to clean.
Use a hand lotion or other moisturizer after washing your hands. This helps to keep your skin barrier intact.
Take your time when washing your hands. It takes about a minute to properly wash your hands. (Most of us take about 5 seconds.) However, washing your hands for a full 30 seconds can drop the bacteria count by 99.9%.

How to Make Bastille Soap

If you’re in the midst of social distancing, now is a great time to learn how to make soap! And with a number of wonderful soap making suppliers online, you don’t even need to leave your home for supplies. A basic Bastille soap recipe is an easy way to get started. Not only is this hydrating Bastille soap recipe great for repetitive hand washing throughout the day, if you or your family have sensitive skin, it can also help to alleviate some of your other skin care issues.

(This portion of this post originally appeared as a guest post, written by myself, on Everything Pretty.)

What is Bastille Soap?

Formulated with a high percentage olive oil in combination with additional soapmaking oils, Bastille soap is a modern twist on traditional Castile soap which is made using only olive oil. While a traditional Castile soap recipe contains 100% olive oil, modern Castile soap has a looser definition in which Castile soap is defined as any hard soap made from olive oil in addition to other fats and oils. However, purists reject any soap not made with 100% olive oil as Castile soap and instead term soaps made primarily, but not wholly, with olive oil as Bastille soap.

Like Castile soap, Bastille soap still entertains a high percentage of olive oil. Any cold process soap made with at least 70% olive oil is considered a Bastille soap. However, because Castile soap has low lather and requires an extended cure time, Bastille soap makes a wonderful substitute that results both in a better lather as well as a harder bar.

Additionally, as olive oil historically creates a gentle soap that is well suited for sensitive or delicate skin, Bastille soap tends to be gentler on skin than other types of soap. This includes many commercial soaps and beauty bars made with detergent foaming agents and poor quality ingredients. With bastille soap there is also less of a chance that you might develop an allergic reaction to the ingredients used as typically the ingredients for homemade soaps are chosen for their purity and benefits in skin care.

My hydrating Bastille soap recipe that I’m sharing with you today is comprised of 80% olive oil. I also have included coconut and castor oil for better lather and cocoa butter to make a harder soap bar, thus shortening the cure time considerably over Castile soap.

Tips for Making a Bastille Soap Recipe

While making homemade soap from scratch using fats (soapmaking oils and butters) and an alkali (lye or sodium hydroxide) involves a bit more know how than crafting your own melt and pour soaps, getting started with a basic recipe isn’t as difficult as one might presume. In fact, this basic bastille soap recipe can made in about hour and is a lot like baking a cake in many ways, though with weights rather than liquid measurements.

There are however, certain safety precautions you should take to avoid harm when working with a caustic material such as lye. These include wearing gloves, safety glasses and a safety mask that covers your mouth and nose. Nature’s Garden actually has a wonderful article on soap making safety where you can learn more about how to best protect yourself when working with lye.

If you’ve never made cold process soap before, I have an in-depth, cold process soapmaking tutorial here that instructs you on how to get started making homemade soaps from scratch. In addition, you can also find a plethora of soap making videos on YouTube, something that wasn’t available when I first started making soap many many years ago. So hopefully you’ll feel comfortable diving right in once you have a grasp of how it all works.

I know this information can seem like a lot at first for someone new to soapmaking, however, I promise you that once you start you won’t want to stop. Not only are cold process soaps a blessing for troubled skin, but they also make beautiful and functional homemade gift ideas for friends and family.

My hydrating Bastille soap recipe yields approximately six 3.5 oz. soap bars.

Hydrating Bastille Soap Recipe

Ingredients:

1.6 oz. refined coconut oil (10%)
.8 oz. castor oil (5%)
12.8 oz. pomace olive oil (80%)
.8 oz. cocoa butter (5%)

4.85 fluid oz. distilled water (30.5% of oil weight)
2.05 oz. sodium hydroxide (8 % super fat)

1 Tablespoon sodium lactate (60% solution), optional
.5 oz. essential oil (or essential oil blend) of choice

Instructions:

To make this hydrating Bastille soap recipe, you’ll begin by measuring out the water into a non-aluminum, heat safe container. Next, using a digital scale, weigh out the lye.

In a well ventilated area, slowly pour the lye into the distilled water, then stir until all of the lye has dissolved. Now set the lye-water aside to cool.

Meanwhile, while the lye-water cools, weigh out and combine the soap making oils (coconut oil, castor oil, olive oil and cocoa butter) in a non-aluminum pot. Then heat on the stove over medium-low heat until all the oils have melted.

Remove the soap making oils from heat once the oils have melted and allow to cool.

Once both your soap making oils and lye-water have reached about 90° – 95°F you’re ready to make your hydrating Bastille soap recipe!

If desired you can add one Tablespoon of sodium lactate (60% solution) to your lye-water prior to making soap for a harder bar and to give your soap an additional boost in lather.

Now slowly pour the lye-water into the liquified soap making oils then blend with a stick or immersion blender until you reach a light trace.

Weigh out the essential oil you’ve chosen to use, if a fragrance is desired, then add to the soap batter.

Continue mixing with a stick blender until you reach a medium trace, then pour the Bastille soap batter into a six-cavity rectangle silicone soap mold.

If desired, you can add flowers or decorative, cosmetic salt to the tops of your freshly poured soap. I added blue cornflowers to the tops of my hydrating Bastille soap bars.

Cover the soap lightly with plastic wrap then set aside in a safe location for 24-48 hours.

Once your Bastille soap bars are no longer soft, remove them from the mold and allow the bars to cure in a cool, dry location for four to six weeks.

If you need to resize my hydrating Bastille soap recipe to fit another soap mold, or to make a larger batch, you will need to run the recipe back through a lye calculator prior to doing so. You can find more information on how to use a lye calculator as well as additional information on how to create custom soap recipes here.

Not ready to make my hydrating Bastille soap recipe? You can purchase a number of lovely, handcrafted Bastille soap bars from artisans on Etsy here.

Love my hydrating Bastille soap recipe? Then be sure to pin this recipe to Pinterest for later. Or explore more of my cold process soap recipes here. You can also find and follow me on facebook, twitter, instagram and Blog Lovin‘. Or sign up to receive an email whenever I share a new post!

Filed Under: Health & Wellness, Lifestyle, Soapmaking Tagged With: bastille soap, bath and body, cold process soap, cold process soap recipe, cold process soapmaking, flu, flu prevention, health and wellness, healthy living, holistic, natural alternative, natural living, natural skin care, skin care, skin care products, soap tutorial, soapmaking, wellness, winter wellness

Soap Sponge DIY: An Easy Way to Exfoliate Skin & Reduce Plastic Waste

February 20, 2020 By Rebecca D. Dillon 6 Comments

Learn how to make a soap sponge to use as part of your daily skin care routine. These soaps are dual purpose with an exfoliating sponge and a soap in one product. With proper care, your homemade soap sponges will last about two months. And they offer a number of benefits, not just in skin care, but for the environment as well. Keep reading to discover the benefits of soap sponges, plus how to make your own with just two simple ingredients and a sponge.

The first time I saw a soap sponge in a soap making group on Facebook, I was intrigued. Was it a solid bar of soap with a sponge inside? Would that even be comfortable to use? How do you make one without making a mess?

Since I love playing with all things soap, I decided to take on the challenge and teach you how to make a DIY soap sponge without making a mess.

I was pleasantly surprised that a DIY soap sponge wasn’t messy or hard to make. It was actually one of the easier melt and pour soap making projects that I’ve done.

Unlike DIY loofah soap, which is a loofah embedded inside melt and pour soap, a soap sponge is a sponge that is infused with soap. It’s still soft and squishy, so it feels like and works like, well, a sponge.

Why Use a Soap Sponge?

First off, you may be wondering, what is a soap sponge? A soap sponge is exactly what the name implies. It’s soap in a sponge. So like body wash on a loofah, soap sponges lather and cleanse skin when used. But what are the benefit of using a soap sponge over traditional body wash?

They help reduce plastic use.

Going completely zero waste is nearly impossible. Everything comes in packaging even if it’s just the supplies for production. While bar soap and even syndet shampoo bars are a great way to reduce waste in your daily bath and beauty routine, not everyone loves bar soap.

There are a lot of body wash fans out there. This can make reducing plastic waste even more of a challenge. However, an easy way to ditch your plastic body wash bottle is by using a soap sponge! What makes this even more amazing, is that you can make your own DIY soap sponges yourself, at home.

Once the soap is gone from your soap sponges, you can reuse the sponges for household cleaning, such as tackling your grungy toilet or shower door.

They offer gentle skin exfoliation.

Another benefit of soap sponges is that they offer the added benefit of daily skin exfoliation without any extra steps.

Every day, skin cells die and rise to the surface of your skin before they eventually fall off. These dead skin cells make your skin look dull and sometimes feel itchy. The sponge I used exfoliates the skin to remove this top layer of dead skin cells.

Unlike a body scrub, this sponge is a gentle exfoliant. It’s safe for both kids and adults, even for sensitive skin. It gently removes dead skin cells without causing redness or irritation.

You won’t notice a big difference the first time you use it, but after several uses your skin will start to look brighter and healthier.

How to Make a Soap Sponge

The Best Sponges for Making Soap in a Sponge

I bought a set of 5 soft sponges to make my soap sponges. They are made with natural fibers and soft to the touch. They also have a rope in them so you can hang the sponges to dry after you use them.

These sponges are shipped in a vacuum sealed bag. As soon as I cut open the bag, they puffed up but they were deformed. I soaked them in water and squeezed them, and they looked great. Let them dry completely before dipping them in the soap.

The sponges I used measure 5.12 inches x 3.5 inches x 2 inches. If you use smaller or larger sponges, you may need to adjust the amount of melt and pour soap that you use.

Choosing Your Melt and Pour Soap Base

Since my sponges were multicolored, I decided to use a clear melt and pour soap. I didn’t add any colorant, but you can if you use a solid color sponge.

I used Crafter’s Choice clear melt and pour soap. Their clear soap is very clear and doesn’t set up too fast. It gives a decent lather for a melt and pour soap, so it makes a good soap for the bath. This brand also offers a number of options, including all natural options as well as bases with additives like aloe, shea butter, goat milk and even oatmeal.

While Stephenson’s also offers natural melt and pour soap bases, their bases tend to cool and set up more quickly. Therefore, I do not recommend their bases for this particular project.

Add a Natural Essential Oil Blend

Because I shower in the mornings, I wanted a fresh scent that would lift and lighten my mood. What better way to start a day, right? So I used the Happy Joy blend from Simply Earth. (It’s a recent, and one of my favorite additions, from their monthly essential oil recipe box.)

A blend of geranium, sweet orange, grapefruit, and ylang ylang, this natural essential oil blend works wonders at helping to get me motivated to start my day! It’s a light and fun scent. Plus, it’s also a synergy that can help boost your mood and uplift your spirits. I have a roller with this blend as well, and I keep it by my desk so I can use it while I’m working.

The Happy Joy essential oil blend is only kid safe for children over 10. Therefore, if you’re giving your DIY soap sponges to a child, try a kid safe essential oil blend. Alternately, you can also use a fragrance oil instead.

Ready to make your very first soap sponge? You can find the tutorial for making soap sponges below. But first, I wanted to share a few soap making tips before your get started.

Tips for Making Soap Sponges

I used sponges with a rope in them. The rope got dipped in the soap with the sponge, and it was fine. It got firm, but it wasn’t completely hard. The soap will dissolve the first few times you use it anyway.

You should be practicing safe soap making even with melt and pour soap. Always use heat proof gloves and eye protection when making a soap sponge because the soap is hot and can splatter. These gloves are PVC coated and liquid and heat resistant.

I put a clothes hanger on my cupboard knob and used S hooks to hang my soap sponges after they were done. They didn’t drip much, but I had newspapers on the counter to catch drips.

You will have some soap left over. Pour it into a small mold to use as a hand soap or save it for the next time you make soap sponges.

Unlike cold process soap, melt and pour soap doesn’t need time to cure. It’s ready to use as soon as it’s cool.

Soap Sponge Recipe

Ingredients:

2 sponges
8 ounces clear melt and pour soap
½ teaspoon Happy Joy essential oil blend

Instructions:

Use a digital scale to weigh out the melt and pour soap base. Then, using a sharp knife, cut the melt and pour soap into one inch cubes.

Next, combine the melt and pour soap cubes in a heat safe container. Melt the soap in the microwave in 30 second bursts until melted. You’ll want to stir the soap between each interval to help the soap melt faster, and ensure even heating.

Once the soap base melts, carefully remove the soap from the microwave. I recommend using a tea towel to handle the container as it may be hot.

Then, add the essential oil blend to the melted soap base. Stir well for at least 30 seconds to combine.

Now, while wearing heat resistant gloves, dip each edge of the sponge into the melted soap. Then dip the top and the bottom.

Squeeze gently to remove excess soap.

Repeat the process until the sponge will no longer hold any additional soap. Each sponge should soak up about 4 ounces of the melt and pour soap base.

If necessary, gently reheat the soap if it starts to solidify during the process.

Once you’ve completed making a soap sponge, hang to dry.

Your DIY soap sponge is ready to use once it’s cooled and hardened completely. However, I recommend waiting a day prior to use.

How to Use A Soap Sponge

The soap sponge isn’t a solid piece of soap, so it feels more like a sponge than a bar of soap. To use, just wet it and squeeze it to make a lather. Then use it like you would any soap.

How to Care for Soap Sponges

Water is the enemy of melt and pour soap. If you let this sit in water, the soap will dissolve quickly. To help it last longer, set it on a soap dish or hang it where it won’t get hit by water.

If you hang it up between uses, it should last about two months.

Yield: 2 Soap Sponges

DIY Soap Sponge

Make a dual purpose DIY soap sponge to use as part of your daily skin care routine to exfoliate and cleanse skin in one easy step for beautiful, glowing skin. An easy melt and pour soap recipe for beginners.

Prep Time 15 minutes

Active Time 45 minutes

Total Time 1 hour

Difficulty Easy

Materials

8 ounces clear melt and pour soap
½ teaspoon skin safe essential oil blend

Tools

2 bath sponges with rope
heat resistant PVC coated gloves
knife to cut soap
scale to weigh soap
microwave
bowl

Instructions

Cut the melt and pour soap into one inch cubes.
Melt in the microwave in 30 second bursts until melted. Stir between each interval to help the soap melt faster.
Remove the soap from the microwave carefully. Add the essential oil and stir well for at least 30 seconds.
Wear heat resistant gloves and dip each edge of the sponge into the soap. Then dip the top and the bottom. Squeeze gently to remove excess soap. Repeat the process until you each sponge is filled with half of the soap.
Hang to dry.

Zero waste skin care recipe for a DIY soap sponge. Learn how to make a soap sponge to use as part of your daily skin care routine. These soaps are dual purpose with an exfoliating sponge and a soap in one product. With proper care, your homemade soap sponges will last about two months. And they offer a number of benefits, not just in skin care, but for the environment as well. Discover the benefits of soap sponges, plus how to make your own with just two simple ingredients and a sponge.

Love this easy melt and pour soap making project for making DIY soap sponges? Then be sure to pin this recipe to Pinterest for later. And check out my Pinterest board for Easy Melt and Pour Soap Recipes for Beginners.

More Melt and Pour Soap Projects

If you enjoyed this tutorial and recipe for making DIY soap sponges, then you may also want to explore some of these other easy melt and pour soap recipes for beginners.

Discover more of my soap making projects by following me across all your favorite social media platforms. You can follow Soap Deli News blog on facebook, twitter and instagram. You can also find me on Blog Lovin‘. Or sign up to receive an email whenever I share a new post!

Filed Under: Bath & Beauty Recipes, DIY Craft Project, Soapmaking Tagged With: bath and body, crafts, diy, easy, eco-friendly, gift idea, melt and pour soap, melt and pour soap recipe, melt and pour soapmaking, natural skin care, skin care recipes, soap tutorial, soapmaking, zero waste

How to Make Melt and Pour Soap Recipes for Beginners: A Modern Guide to Natural Soapmaking

November 20, 2019 By Rebecca D. Dillon 9 Comments

Wondering, how do I make melt and pour soap recipes for beginners? I’ve got you covered. Keep reading to learn how to make easy melt and pour soap recipes with this modern guide to natural soapmaking that incorporates natural melt and pour soap bases with with natural botanicals, colorants and essential oils.

How to Make Melt and Pour Soap Recipes for Beginners

Traversing the soap-iverse for the right information.

There is SO much information on the internet, and Pinterest especially, on how to make melt and pour soaps for beginners. Some of those so called easy melt and pour soap recipes are spot on. The recipe works exactly the way it should and you’re presented with all the right information from the start. Unfortunately, there’s also a lot of bad soap recipes mixed in. And if if you’re a beginner soapmaker, incorrect recipes or flat out bad information can be costly as well as discouraging.

The first few times I made homemade melt and pour soaps, well, I messed up. One, I had no idea that using lavender buds in a melt and pour soap base would eventually turn the entire bar of soap brown! Not only did it not look pretty, but what was actually happening was that those botanicals were rotting. Can you imagine gifting a bar of homemade soap to a friend and then realize later on they’re slathering decaying plant matter on their skin? How embarrassing!

I learned from that mistake pretty quickly, thank goodness. However, it still bothers me, that close to twenty years after that incident, there are still bloggers sharing recipes with botanicals that just don’t work with melt and pour soap recipes.

Not long after my first major mistake making melt and pour soaps, I had another. (I mean, that’s how many of us learned prior to the youtube era. So PLEASE don’t be afraid to make mistakes. Occasionally it leads to a happy accident.) I bought a (way back) organic soap base that I decided to add cocoa butter too. The soaps looked great. I wrapped them in scrapbooking paper and gave them as gifts to family one Christmas. Unfortunately, I didn’t test my homemade soap bars before I gifted them. (I know. I know. But to err is human.)

Shortly after gifting my bars of homemade soap, I was told they didn’t lather. At all. (Scented paperweight, anyone?) Back then there weren’t really guides on how much of an additional ingredient you should add to your melt and pour soap bases. Luckily, that information is out there now. Along with insight on where and how to select the right melt and pour soap base for your needs. But where can you find all the information your need to make melt and pour soap recipes for beginners? And how do you know that it’s the right information?

Where do I learn how to make melt and pour soap recipes for beginners?

Are you a beginner soapmaker? Or do you simply want to learn how to start making homemade soaps using melt and pour soap bases? Then this is the perfect place to start your soapmaking journey! The new book, Easy Homemade Melt & Pour Soaps, by Jan Berry (which you can purchase here) is a modern guide to navigating the world of soap crafting and learning how to create custom natural soaps using botanicals, essential oils, natural colorants and soap bases. The latest addition to Jan’s collection of books, which also includes Simple Natural Soapmaking, this guide is the perfect way to learn how to make melt and pour soap recipes for beginners!

I received an advance copy of Jan Berry’s new book today to review. For those of you who don’t know, Jan and I are *almost* neighbors. She lives about an hour and a half north of me right here in Virginia! I’ve long been a fan of her blog, The Nerdy Farm Wife, and I have to tell you – her books are just as amazing. The photos inside her new book, Easy Homemade Melt & Pour Soaps, are absolutely dreamy! I especially love all the information on natural colorants for melt and pour soaps. Along with the RIGHT way to use those botanicals you now have a slew of and just realized they’re not going to look as pretty as you thought they would a few weeks down the road.

There’s really so much more to this soapmaking book than just the easy melt and pour soap recipes! By the time you’ve worked your way through the book, you’ll have some pretty solid knowledge on how to formulate your own custom soap recipes. And you definitely won’t feel like a beginner soapmaker anymore!

What’s Inside Easy Homemade Melt and Pour Soaps?

This book is divided into three parts. Each part combines for in depth information on making herbal soaps with natural botanicals, colorants and essential oils for successful products. There are also tips and tricks so you know the best way to make natural soaps without making the same mistakes I did.

Part 1: Getting Started

Everything you need to know about the different types of melt and pour soap bases, melting points and the ingredients. There’s also information on how to infuse soaps with herbs and flowers as well as the basic soapmaking tools and equipment you’ll need to get started. In addition, this section also includes a brief overview of tips for successful melt and pour soapmaking for your easy melt and pour soap recipes along with a basic melt and pour soapmaking tutorial to get you started.

Part 2: Melt and Pour Soap Recipes for Beginners

Part two of the book, Easy Homemade Melt & Pour Soaps, is filled with fifty amazing melt and pour and pour soap recipes for beginners. These easy melt and pour soap recipes are divided into six separate sections:

Nourishing Infusions
Spa Day Luxuries
Springtime Delights
Sunlight & Seashore
Field & Forest
Desert Inspiration

Recipes in the Nourishing Infusions section feature easy melt and pour soap recipes made with classic, skin soothing flowers and nourishing green herbs. The recipes include chamomile honeycomb slices (soap bars) infused with chamomile flowers and naturally scented with lavender and orange essential oils as well as facial soaps infused with thyme and rose.

In the Spa Day Luxuries section, you’ll discover melt and pour soap recipes for beginners that are designed to polish, cleanse and pamper skin. Highlights include charcoal & sea salt spa bars, adzuki bean & rhassoul clay bars, moringa detox bars and mocha mint massage bars. While the chapter on Springtime Delights includes easy melt and pour soap recipes for a spring weeds gardener’s soap, aromatherapy soap dough, floral bouquet (flower shaped) soaps and herbal soap favors perfect for weddings.

The Sunlight & Seashore section of the book highlights summer fun in the sun – and everything associated with that. Like the beach! Learn how to craft seashell mini soaps, sea glass guest soaps, ocean waves soaps, loofah soaps and mermaid tails soaps.

For those that love to forage, you’ll find the Field & Forest section perfect for your needs! There are melt and pour soap recipes for making pine resin infused soaps, a rustic woods shave soap, camping soaps and even a wildflower honey soap made from a goat milk soap base and scented with a natural blend of lavender and Peru balsam essential oils.

If aloe is your go to for soothing skin care, then the chapter titled, Desert Inspiration, may be your favorite. This natural skin care ingredient is key in these easy melt and pour soap recipes for beginners. Learn how to make triple aloe soap bars, cactus landscape soaps and even jojoba sage shampoo & body bars.

Part 3: Melt and Pour Soapmaking Information & Techniques Library

This section of the book, Easy Homemade Melt & Pour Soaps, is a must for anyone looking not just to recreate melt and pour soap recipes, but to also harness the knowledge needed to develop your own custom formulations. This chapter alone is a must for any soapmaking library. You’ll find yourself referencing it time and again for information on natural ingredients you can use in your own homemade melt and pour soap recipes.

Discover details on natural colorants along with photos of the finished soaps and the amounts needed to achieve the same look. There’s also in depth information on the properties of essential oils used in soapmaking along with essential oil blend ideas and recipes. Plus information on exfoliants and other additives you can use when crafting your own easy melt and pour soap recipes. You’ll also learn the eco-friendly ways to package and store the melt and pour soaps you create.

If you want to get extra creative with your melt and pour soap recipes for beginners, this section also highlight various melt and pour soap making techniques. Discover how to incorporate soap curls, cookies cutter shapes and embeds into your melt and pour soaps as well as how to use soap stamps and create layers. Can’t quite figure out that pencil line? There’s detailed information on creating a pencil line in melt and pour soaps as well as step-by-step photos on creating visually pleasing diagonals and triangles as part of your soap designs.

And, for those times, that things don’t quite work out the way you expected, information on troubleshooting things like separating layers, a lack of lather, soap shrinkage and more is also included.

In addition, there’s also a list of fourteen soapmaking suppliers you can source ingredients from in both the USA and Canada. (She even included one of my personal favorite suppliers, Mountain Rose Herbs.)

You can purchase Jan Berry’s new book, Easy Homemade Melt & Pour Soaps, on Amazon here.

To discover more from Soap Deli News blog, be sure to follow me on Pinterest, Blog Lovin‘, facebook, twitter and instagram. Or sign up for my newsletter. Alternately, you can explore my own easy melt and pour soap recipes for beginners here.

Filed Under: Books & Reading, Soapmaking Tagged With: book review, easy, eco-friendly, melt and pour soap, melt and pour soapmaking, soap tutorial, soapmaking, soapmaking books

Fall Soap Ideas: Creative Homemade Soap Recipes & DIY Ideas for Fall Soap Crafts

November 2, 2019 By Rebecca D. Dillon 5 Comments

Looking for fall soap ideas? Whether you need soap making ideas for soaps to craft and sell, DIY ideas for autumnal make and take crafts or even seasonal homemade gifts, these fall soap making ideas are the perfect solution! Keep reading to discover a beautiful fall soap collection of creative homemade soap recipes for fall as well as DIY ideas for fall soap crafts. Many of these homemade fall soap ideas and recipes are easy enough for beginners. And they’re a beautiful way to decorate your bathroom sink for autumn as well as the holidays ahead.

Fall Soap Ideas for Therapy & Fun

As summer wraps up and fall takes hold, you’re probably finding that you’re spending more time indoors. Especially as the those nighttime temps begin to drop lower and lower. (Some of you were even getting snow in September!) I know that for me, as soon as Halloween is over, it feels like it’s full speed straight into the holidays. Literally, every single year, I blink and it’s suddenly Thanksgiving. Same with Christmas directly after.

It’s no wonder most of us feel stressed November through December. Everyone is demanding more time in one way or another and you can go broke just throwing a single holiday dinner. This is where soap making comes in for me. Studies show that art therapy, regardless of skill level, can really boost your mood. And it also helps with seasonal depression. So whether I take time out for self care and soap my little heart out solo – or with a few crafty divas I call friends – crafting soaps for fall throughout the holiday season is cheaper than therapy and way more awesome.

Here’s a brand new fall soap recipe I wanted to share. It uses the same silicone mold that I used for leaf embeds on my cold process soap recipe for fall, but with a melt and pour base instead. (Be sure to check out that post for some amazing fall essential oil blends for soap!) I then added jojoba beads to the main bar of soap for mild exfoliation and extra hydration for skin. (For super dry or eczema prone skin, also be sure to try this moisturizing triple Brazilian butter soap recipe.)

Once you learn how to make this fall inspired soap, be sure to check out the links to other fall soap ideas I’ve shared after the recipe!

Fall Melt and Pour Soap Recipe

Ingredients for Leaf Embeds:

2.5 oz. white melt and pour soap base, of choice
.05 oz. Honey Apple Champagne fragrance oil
red-orange or similar soap colorant of choice
biodegradable red or orange glitter, to suit

Ingredients for Round Soap Base:

30 oz. white melt and pour soap base, of choice
.6 oz. Honey Apple Champagne fragrance oil
green jojoba beads, to suit
gold or brass biodegradable glitter, to suit
liquid green soap colorant or mica, to suit

Tools & Materials:

Leaf embed silicone mold
Round soap mold
Large glass Pyrex measuring cups, or similar
Utensils for stirring
Chef’s knife or other sharp knife
Spray bottle with isopropyl (rubbing) alcohol
Digital scale

Fall Soap Making Tips & Tricks:

I used a white melt and pour soap base for this fall soap idea. However, you can change the final look of your homemade fall soaps entirely by simply swapping out the white base with a clear melt and pour soap base. Alternately, you can also use a suspension soap base to have the glitters and jojoba beads evenly embedded throughout your soap bars. It’s also important to note that the glitter will sink to the bottom of the mold as it’s heavier than the base. While the jojoba beads will rise to the top.

You can control the suspension of the jojoba beads to some extent, however. By pouring the soap with the jojoba beads at a temperature between 120-125 °F, they are more likely to stay suspended than if you pour the soap hot. You do not want to add jojoba beads to your soap base at temps over 140°F as they will melt. Therefore, you may want to use a thermometer for this fall soap idea. (I love this digital laser infrared thermometer for soap making.)

Instructions:

You’ll want to make your leaf embeds for you fall soaps first. To do this, simply weigh out 2.5 oz. of melt and pour soap using a digital scale. Then, cut the soap into cubes with a sharp knife. (I like to use a Chef’s knife.)

Next, place the soap into a microwave safe container. I recommend a glass Pyrex measuring cup with a spout so your soap is easy to pour. Now melt the soap in the microwave in 20-30 second increments until melted. Be sure to stir the soap base after each heating.

Once melted, weigh out the fragrance oil and stir into the melted soap base.

Then, add the colorant to the soap. You can use any color you like as well as you choice of colorant type – whether it’s a soap color cube, liquid soap colorant or skin safe, cosmetic mica powder. Stir well to ensure the colorant is evenly incorporated throughout the soap. Be careful, however, not to go overboard. Less is more. So start with a little bit of color and work your way up. Otherwise your finished soaps may bleed color when used. If you’d like a really bold soap color, use a clear melt and pour soap base in lieu of the white soap base.

Now add the glitter to the melted soap base. Mix to combine. (You can also dust some glitter inside of the mold cavities, if desired.)

Slowly pour the soap into the leaf embed mold. The spritz the top of the soap you just poured with isopropyl (rubbing) alcohol. Set the mold with the soap aside to cool and harden.

While the embeds for your fall soaps harden, you can get started on the round soap base. I made my soap base in two separate steps with less color the second go round. Therefore the bottom half of my soap was a different color green than the top half. You can make the base in two steps if you’d like to use alternating colors. Or you can make it all at once so the round soap bars are the same color all the way through.

Weigh out 30 oz. of the melt and pour soap base. Cube the soap using a sharp knife, then combine in a large glass Pyrex measuring cup. Heat the soap the same as you did for the leaf embeds, in 30 second increments until melted.

Now add the soap colorant of your choice along with your favorite biodegradable glitter or bioglitter. Stir well to combine. Once the soap cools to between 120-125 °F, weigh out the fragrance oil and stir in.

Next, divide the soap mixture pouring one third of the soap into a separate container. Then add the desired amount of jojoba beads to the larger container of the melted soap base. Stir well to recombine, then pour the soap base into eight of the cavities of your round soap mold. They should each be filled about two thirds to three fourths of the way full.

Then spritz the tops of the soap you just poured with isopropyl alcohol to remove any air bubbles and set aside to harden.

Once your leaf soap embeds have hardened, carefully remove them from the mold. You’re ready for the next step as soon as the soaps in the round mold have solidified as well.

If necessary, reheat the remaining soap base, then add the desired amount of jojoba beads once the temperature cools. Mix well to combine.

Now spritz the round soaps in your mold with isopropyl alcohol. Place a leaf soap embed on top of each of the round soaps in the mold. Then carefully add the remaining melted soap base to the mold around each of the embeds. Spritz the tops of the soaps with isopropyl alcohol again to remove any air bubbles. Then set aside.

Once your fall soaps with leaf embeds have hardened, they can be unmolded. Wrap the unmolded soaps tightly in foodservice film for storage or for gifting.

More Fall Soap Ideas to DIY

Now that you’ve made my Honey Apple Champagne Fall Melt and Pour Soaps, be sure to try out one of these other fun fall soap ideas.

If you like these DIY fall soap ideas, then be sure to pin this post to Pinterest for later. You can also find and follow Soap Deli News blog on Pinterest here. Alternately, you can also discover more fall soap ideas here. Or try one of my other easy melt and pour soap recipes.

For more homemade soap recipes and DIY gift ideas, be sure to follow Soap Deli News on social media. You can follow me on Blog Lovin‘, facebook, twitter and instagram. Or sign up for my newsletter.

Filed Under: Soapmaking Tagged With: autumn, cold process soap recipe, crafts, easy, fall, fall crafts, hot process soap recipe, melt and pour soap recipe, melt and pour soapmaking, soap tutorial, soapmaking