Lavender Melt and Pour Soap

This easy lavender melt-and-pour soap is a fun, rewarding, and productive homestead project. It’s a perfect way to start your soapmaking journey.

Lavender, lovely lavender. This woody herb from the Mediterranean graces us with its heavenly aroma and beautiful flowers, and is often appreciated for its relaxing and calming properties. Lavender gets its name from the Latin verb lavare, meaning “to wash,” and that is just what ancient Greeks and Romans did. They used lavender in their baths, on their laundry, and in their beds, as well as a spice to enhance their cooking. Increasing numbers of studies show that lavender may indeed be effective in the treatment of certain neurological disorders.

So, let’s celebrate lavender and enjoy its benefits by making some great smelling and skin pleasing soap!

Here’s what you’ll need:

• 1 pound oatmeal melt-and-pour soap base
• Lavender essential oil
• Lavender flowers for decoration, optional
• Soap mold
• Glass mixing bowl
• Wooden spoon
• Soap cutter or knife
• Kitchen thermometer
• Kitchen scale

To make this soap, you must first cut and melt the soap base. I cut the soap with my wavy soap cutter into cubes and placed them in a double boiler on the stove to melt the soap slowly without scorching it. You can microwave the soap base to melt it, but I prefer the double boiler method.

Once melted, allow the soap base to cool to approximately 138-140°F before mixing in your essential oils. If added when the mixture is too hot, the scent may fade quickly from your soap and we don’t want that!

While you’re waiting for your soap to cool, weigh out the lavender essential oil and flowers. I used 10 grams of lavender essential oil, which results in a strong smelling soap, and 2.5 grams of lavender flowers. Tanya over at the blog Lovely Greens has a great post about safe essential oil use in soapmaking. You shouldn’t just add any amount of essential oil you want because even therapeutic, organic oils can irritate skin if used incorrectly, so I recommend giving her post a read through.

I do recommend using a kitchen scale to precisely measure the oil and flowers, however, if you only have traditional measuring spoons, 10 grams of lavender essential oil measured about 1.5 tablespoons of oil. I have found measuring spoons vary greatly, so I cannot guarantee results if you choose not to use a kitchen scale. The 2.5 grams of lavender flowers measured about 1/8th of a cup.

Now that the mix is at the right temp, stir in the lavender essential oil and lavender flowers. Working quickly, pour the soap mix into the silicone mold. If you overfill one section, use a spoon to transfer mix over until the molds are equally filled. This isn’t precise, it’s for home use so I don’t mind if it’s a bit rustic.

Allow the soap to cool for at least 4 hours. Once fully cooled, you can pop your soap from the mold and enjoy!

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Lavender Melt-and-Pour Soap

This skin-soothing oatmeal lavender soap is is a breeze to make and is the perfect introduction to making your own soap at home.

Yield: 6 bars

Author: Trish

Equipment

• 1 pound of oatmeal melt-and-pour soap base
• soap mold
• organic lavender essential oil
• Lavender flowers (optional, for decoration)
• kitchen thermometer
• glass mixing bowl
• double boiler (I just placed glass bowl overtop a small pot of boiling water)
• wooden spoon
• soap cutter or knife
• kitchen scale (optional)

Materials

• 1 pound oatmeal melt-and-pour soap base
• 10 grams lavender essential oil organic, therapeutic grade
• 2.5 grams lavender flowers

Instructions

• Begin by heating water for the double boiler. I placed the glass mixing bowl overtop a small pot of water to create the double boiler.
• Cut the melt-and-pour soap base into cubes and place in glass mixing bowl double boiler. Heat the soap base until fully melted, stirring occasionally.
• Once soap base is fully melted, cool to approximately 138-140 °F. A thermometer is essential for this part. If the mix is too hot, it can cause the essential oils to fade and your soap won't smell as good.
• Once cooled to appropriate temperature, stir in essential oil and lavender flowers.
• Working quickly, pour soap into the molds.
• Let soap set and cool for at least 4 hours, or overnight.
• Now that your soap has set, it is ready to enjoy! You can wrap it or package it to give as gifts or save for your own home!