A springtime soap
In time to welcome warmer days, a floral soap that is brimming with herbal magic 🌸
Weekend scenario: a storm in the background, dark clouds glooming all around, include the sound of near-constant raindrops and the occasional thunder, just to keep things interesting. Add two brown sheep, wet and loud, and a handful of chickens who insist on flying over the fence to roam the cabbage patch, demanding humans to don a rain jacket every hour or so to rescue said cabbages. Fit in a wee child feeling under the weather (obviously), and throw in endless audiobooks. Get the fire going in the woodstove for warmth and company and a hot chocolate within hand reach. Was I really heralding spring’s arrival only a few weeks ago? Add in some acts of community care, too: helping other-than-human people cross the road (those salamanders sure do love living dangerously), sharing eggs with neighbors, and voting.
Fool’s spring or not, though, the blooming daffodils and fruit trees know what they’re on to, and the arrival of the warmer days (soon!) sounds to me like the perfect excuse to get some new concoctions going. Maybe something that takes a little while to be ready, so when spring does come, it will be ready to unwrap, like a little treasure saved for sunny days… Do you see where I’m going here? Doesn’t spring rhyme with soap… Or is that just me?
Soap was one of those preparations that used to terrify me. Directions seemed overly complicated, and the thought of using lye made me feel uneasy, as if soap-makers were some kind of highly secretive society. That was until one of the Elders in my grandparents’ village, where we lived before, told me about her soap recipe using ashes. Surely, if my neighbor could make her own soap, creating her own lye and all, I could also give it a go. And so I did. I now make my soaps sing store-bough lye, but maybe one day, when I’m an Elder too, I’ll be using ashes, too. Or maybe before that — but I’d say it’s nice to have something radical like that to aspire to.
Now, have you made soap before? If you feel uneasy about it, you know I’ve been there too. I realized it’s one of those things that only takes doing once to dissipate any insecurities. Follow a sound recipe, grab your kitchen scale, open your windows wide (or better yet, do it outside if the weather is nice), and go for it. I promise you, soap-making is easier than it may seem, and there’s no such thing as a soap-makers secret society (but I guess I couldn’t tell you about it if there were, so just trust me here). Making your own soap opens doors to so much creativity, from the oils you use to the herbs you choose to include. Plus, one single soap-making session will give you enough bars to keep you going for months and months, plus some for giving away in your community. And doesn’t the idea of welcoming spring with a fresh bath of floral soap sound just delightful?
Alright, roll up your sleeves—we’re doing this! Below I’m sharing my springtime soap recipe, which I’m sure you’ll enjoy 🌸
This hard and nourishing bar of soap is brimming with herbal magic! Nettle (Urtica dioica) and calendula (Calendula officinalis) come together in this cheery recipe to bring their skin-soothing and anti-inflammatory qualities, making this soap ideal for daily use on the hands, face, and body.
Since this soap includes herb-infused oil and an overnight nettle infusion (and maybe a foraging foray, too!), it requires some planning ahead. If you don’t have a jar of calendula-infused olive oil sitting in your cupboard, you will want to start by preparing it because it requires about six weeks to be ready — you can find my tutorial for a simple herb-infused oil in this post and follow it using calendula. Once your oil is infused and you are ready to make your soap, prepare a strong overnight nettle infusion the evening before your soap-making adventures. I’ll share the directions for this below!
Of course, you can leave out the herb-infused oil and nettle infusion entirely and use plain olive oil and water instead. However, few things beat a lovingly crafted bar of soap infused with herbaceous goodness, so I hope you embrace the time and intention called for to create this project!
Overnight nettle infusion
Makes 1 ½ cups of infusion
you will need
5 heaping teaspoons of nettle (Urtica dioica) leaves, dry
1 ½ cups (350 ml) water
directions
Place the dried herbs in a heat-proof jar and cover with the just-boiled water.
Cap and allow to infuse overnight on your kitchen counter.
The following morning, strain your infusion and press the herbs well with the back of a spoon to extract as much liquid as possible.
And just like that, it’s soap-making day!
Nettle & calendula soap
Please note that the soap ingredients in this recipe are provided in grams to ensure accurate quantities. This is part of the ploy to have a great bar of soap! Consider weighing each ingredient beforehand by placing it in a pitcher on your kitchen scale and zeroing out the weight.
you will need
mask, goggles and gloves
glass jug
kitchen scale
277.4 g overnight nettle infusion (see direction above)
98.5 g lye
300 g calendula-infused olive oil (see basic directions here)
350 g cocoa butter
80 g coconut oil
non-reactive saucepan, such as stainless steel or enamel
thermometer
hand blender (ideally, one designated just for soap-making)
2 ml (approx. 40 drops) rose (Rosa spp.) essential oil (optional)
soap mold, which can be lined with wax paper
additional smaller silicon molds, in case the main mold isn’t enough
rose (Rosa spp.) petals, dry, for decoration (optional)
directions
Start by preparing the lye water, wearing a protective mask, goggles and gloves. Fill the glass jug with previously measured nettle infusion and slowly mix in the lye, stirring with a wooden spoon until it’s well dissolved, being careful to avoid spillage. Remember to add the lye to the water and not vice versa. Do this outside, if you can, because vapors will be released. Alternatively, work in a well-ventilated room. The water mixture will heat considerably. Put it aside and allow it to cool slightly.
Combine the oils and butter in a saucepan on low heat, stirring until melted, then remove from the heat.
When both the oils and lye water are at the same temperature, somewhere between 35ºC and 50ºC (86ºF and 122ºF), pour the lye water into the oils and start blending with the immersion blender, carefully avoiding spillage.
Keep blending until the mixture thickens and reaches a light to medium trace.
Pour the soap into the mold. Keep smaller silicon molds handy in case your soap mold isn’t large enough.
If using, sprinkle rose petals on the surface and press them slightly using the back of a spoon.
After 24 hours, your soap should have hardened and be ready to remove from the mold and cut into bars with a knife. If it is still too soft, allow it to harden for another 12 to 24 hours.
Allow the bars to cure for 4 to 6 weeks in a cool, dry location. During this time, the soap will keep on hardening as any excess water evaporates.
I hope you enjoy trying this soap recipe! If you’re new to soap-making, I’d love to hear what you’re making of the experience so far — did you also feel that, once you get to it, it flows really easily and becomes fun?
If you’re a seasoned crafter, do share: what are some of your favorite soap recipes? I’d love to add some new ones to my toolkit!