I hope you enjoy these Homemade Solar Soap Instructions. I love to make it this way when ever I can…
When I made this solar soap in the car (rosemary/lavender shampoo bar), it was a last minute thought since it had been a fairly hot sunny day.
At 4:30 in the afternoon it was running a little late, earlier in the day to catch the optimal heat would have been better but there was just enough time to get the heat I needed to bring the soap to gel.
I snapped a few pictures so that you could see how I did it…
First I set a few things from the kitchen to level out the seat. That way the soap wouldn’t spill or set unevenly in the molds.
Since it was getting late and I wasn’t sure how long the heat was going to last I put a hot water bottle in with the soap. I also had an oven thermometer to see how hot it was. It read 100`F.
Next I covered it with two new garbage bags to attract and hold the heat.
And lastly I tucked it in with a double fleece blanket to keep the heat in.
It all took minutes to put together. The hardest part was trying not to open the car door to check the heat. I did peek often enough to check on the gel status. Once I saw that it had reached gel stage I was able to leave it alone :0)
That’s that. If you can catch it early enough on a hot day you can even melt some of your oils – coconut will melt and even shea butter especially if you have a metal pot – I used a smaller metal canning pot.
Of course you must be careful to set them securely so that you don’t get a spill. No one is going to be happy with a car seat covered in oil!
We are lucky to have an older car so if there is an accident it isn’t going to be a huge problem. Interestingly, I also find since the windows are older they aren’t tinted as the new ones so the car gets hotter easier.
IMPORTANT: If you have kids you should be sure that they can’t get in there, to either spill things or get into something that may harm them such as raw soap. And of course as always, follow Soapmaking Safety Rules.
I like to leave it at least a few hours, if the time is right I leave it to cool overnight and take them out in the morning.
After I removed the soaps from the car I popped them in the freezer with some concerns about removing the soaps since it was quite sticky due to the high Castor Oil content.
NOTE: Harder bars pop out quite nicely after a short time in the freezer – no hair dryer needed!
If you normally cook your soap, homemade solar soap is a great way to save a little electricity and do something a little different.
Just wanted to pop in to let you know that I am going to be closed for shipping over the March break and the week after.
If there is anything that you are going to need over that time be sure to place your order this week, I will be sure that it is packed and shipped before the break.
Here are the dates
Closing March 12.10 until March 28.10
Shipping will resume on Monday March 29.10
At that time I hope to have a few surprises ready for you – some new ingredients, fresh content and recipes here and the old site down/new one up and maybe some new learning resources.
I hope that you are getting the nice weather lately – spring is just around the corner!
Have a Great Day!
Jan
BTW, part of my plans for this year is to expand on the how to guides and do some video and possibly online classes as well.
If you have a preference as to what you’d like to see, just let me know in the comment section below and I will add it to the list.
Every vote counts!
I am aghast that I haven’t made time to get down to some serious Christmas time soap making. This past week has been a whirlwind of driving in crappy weather and all that fun stuff that seems to always land right before Christmas.
Maybe this week I’ll get down to it (crossing fingers!)
I thought that you might like to see this recipe from last year. I gave this soap out as gifts and used it myself for quite awhile and never got tired of it, not once.
If you make it, send me your pictures! I’d love to post them.
So here it is -
HOLIDAY WOODLANDS SOAP RECIPE.
Essential Oil Blend…
I made this soap using the Angels Wings essential oil blend.
I used
4 parts fir needle
2 parts white grapefruit
1 part frankincense
That blend had smelled quite light and pretty to me as it was.
After I made the soap, I found that it became quite woodsy, it reminded me a little of opening up an old cedar chest, probably the combination of fir and frankincense. The frankincense really comes through although there is quite a bit of a smaller amount.
This makes a really nice man’s soap, but I like it too :0)
I also used the same recipe, but had to make a few changes, of course.
Here is the recipe that I used to make a 1lb batch.
HOLIDAY WOODLANDS SOAP TAKE 1
Castor Oil .5oz
Cocoa Butter 4oz
Coconut Oil 5oz
Canola Oil 4oz
Shea Butter 2oz
Aloe/Sunflower Oil .5oz
5 oz water
2.25oz lye
I used .5oz essential oils.
THE RESULTS
I love this soap!
I decided to mix a bit of green and red mica in.
I mixed up a small bit of each separately and drizzled it in using layers.
I poured a layer of the white base, then drizzled some red across the top, then some green.
Then I did another layer, finishing with a layer of the red and green.
I cooked it in the over at about 170* for 2 hours, shutting the oven off and leaving the soap in until a little after noon the next day.
A LITTLE WHITER
My daughter pointed out that the soaps would have been nicer if the base was a little whiter.
I tried to keep it white but I will have to try harder.
As it dries, it seems to be turning more and more beige.
Next time I’m going to try some vegetable shortening to replace some of the canola and see what happens.
I’ll keep you posted!
