If you are making your own soap for the first time, you should opt for the so-called cold process: fats and lye are not boiled, but combined at temperatures of up to 60 degrees – that is much easier. The choice of fats determines the skin tolerance, the consistency and the foam of the soap: for example, a high proportion of olive oil makes it very hard and mild. Rapeseed oil is also good for sensitive skin . Castor oil, on the other hand, tends to soften soaps, but lathers well.
Recipe Orange Cinnamon Soap
LASTS: about 30 minutes (plus one to three weeks of rest)
COST: approx. 23 euros/12 soaps
LASTS: approx. 2 years
Ingredients:
- 200 grams of olive oil
- 300 g Coconut fat
- 100 grams of rapeseed oil
- 100 grams of sunflower oil
- 235g cold water
- 103 g baking soda (e.g. in pharmacies)
- 7 ml of orange essential oil
- 3 ml of cinnamon essential oil
- 1 teaspoon turmeric mixed with a little water
- 12 dried orange slices (e.g. in a craft store)
- Silicone mold for about 12 bars of soap (e.g. via www.sansavon.com)
- Enamelled or made of stainless steel 3 liter pot
- 1 liter bowl, enamelled or made of stainless steel
- Rubber gloves, plastic apron and goggles
Preparation:
First put on the protective clothing. Heat the fats in the pot to approx. 60 degrees. Pour the cold water into the bowl and slowly stir in the sodium hydroxide weighed to the nearest gram. Pour the resulting sodium hydroxide solution into the fats and stir until you get a pudding-like consistency. Mix in the turmeric, orange and cinnamon oil . Then pour the soap paste into the silicone mold and place a dried orange slice on each soap . Cover the surface airtight with kitchen foil and leave the container well insulated for at least 24 hours. If the soap cannot be easily removed from the mold, it helps to remove the soapput in the freezer for half an hour. The finished soap should rest in a cool place for one to three weeks. During this time, the lye content decreases and the pH drops.
