Making herbal soaps is one of the most fun aspects of making your own soap. The smell of fresh herbs and knowing that you are making a truly natural product gives you a really great feeling. What’s even more pleasing is being able to give these wonderful herbal soaps to your friends and family.
One of the most popular herbal soap making pastimes is making peppermint herbal soap. Besides loving the smell of peppermint this soap give people a cooling sensation and is a really nice soap for summertime. It also has properties that will help to sooth itchy skin especially if you are itching from bug bites. Peppermint is also known for it’s relaxing properties and just the scent alone can take away that stressful feeling after a hard days work. It is also extremely good at clearing up congestion. Great for allergy season.
Another favorite is putting peppermint and rosemary together. This is popular in soaps but also in herbal soaps for hair conditioner and shampoos. When you are making your soap you will be using freshly chopped peppermint leaves as well as fresh rosemary. Herbal soap making should always be done with the freshest ingredients and not with essential oils if possible.
One of the good things about herbal soaps is that they do not use by-products from animals. No beef tallow or any animal fat is used. If one does use oils in making herbal soaps they are normally vegetable oils such as coconut, canola oil, palm or olive. You’ll also find that with herbal soaps the glycerin will stay in the soap, unlike commercial soaps that remove it.
Many soaps also have healing properties. Soaps made with tea tree oil are excellent for wounds or rashes, and also have properties to be a bug repellent. For acne people find that tangerine soap works very well. For a soap that will help to soothe the skin one should try making an apricot kernel soap as it is full of fatty acids.
Most people to not realize that commercial soaps are made with sodium tallowate. Basically this is a combination of lye and lard. These soaps also commonly use animal fat as it is much cheaper than using vegetable oils. These fats can clog up your pores and basically are very bad for your skin. There is a whole list of toxic chemicals that can be found in commercial soaps and this is one reason why so many people prefer herbal soaps.
If you are not going to make your own herbal soaps, make sure that what you do buy, either in a store or online, does not contain any animal by-products and make sure that glycerin is listed as one of the ingredients. Also choose a soap that will have a great fragrance so that you get the full aromatherapy effect.
It is far more economical and a lot more fun to make your own herbal soaps. One word of caution. If you start giving them away as gifts you’re going to have orders for your herbal soaps coming out of your ears. People absolutely love herbal soaps and they will soon have you making special batches for them with their own favorite scents. Don’t be surprised if you start thinking along the lines of your own herbal soap business. It can be quite profitable.
Below are some basic soap recipes that are unscented for you to begin with. You can add your own herbs and experiment with them so that herbal soapmaking becomes a great hobby.
Unscented Soap Basic Recipe #1
6 oz sodium hydroxide (lye)
16 oz distilled water
12 oz coconut oil
12 oz olive oil
19 oz vegetable shortening (Crisco)
Unscented Soap Basic Recipe #2
6 oz sodium hydroxide (which is lye)
14 oz distilled water
12 oz coconut oil
16 oz palm oil
20 oz olive oil
Happy herbal soap making!!
