Difficulty: Intermediate
Time: 1 hr
Yields: 1000 g soap or 10 bars
Orange spice has a warm orange scent with spicy notes of cinnamon and clove, the perfect blend for Christmas. Using only natural ingredients, this soap is palm-free, vegan, 100% natural, and if you use organic oils, you can even add organic to this list!
The orange/brown colour in this soap comes from the finely ground calendula petals and the cinnamon spice. Grinding the petals will ensure a more even tone through the soap. The longer you let the petals infuse the oils, the stronger the colour of your soap will be. If you just want orange without the brown, you can leave out the cinnamon spice. For a more intense orange, add more finely ground calendula petals. If you don’t have calendula in your garden, you can get dried organic calendula petals from Pure Nature.
The soap mold I’m using is the loaf soap mold with wooden support box , which holds about 1200 g of soap.
If you have never made cold-process soap before, I strongly suggest you check out the basic cold process soap tutorial first.
Before starting, please read the safety and precautions post, especially since this tutorial requires the handling of caustic soda!
ONE: First, prepare your lye. Weigh out the caustic soda in a small container. Measure the water in a small pyrex or other heat proof glass jug. Then carefully add the caustic soda to the water and gently stir until all the caustic soda has dissolved. Optional: stir in one teaspoon of sodium lactate, a natural additive, which will make the soap harder. Set aside to cool.
While you are waiting for the lye to cool down….
TWO: Get all the other ingredients ready:
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- Grind calendula petals in a coffee grinder until you have about 1 tablespoon of finely ground calendula petals.
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- Prepare your essential oils blend. Measure out 20 ml sweet orange essential oil, 5 ml cinnamon leaf essential oil and 3 ml clove bud essential oil in a small beaker.
- Take 5 cinnamon sticks and carefully cut them into half.
THREE: Weigh out the coconut oil in a pyrex jug and heat in microwave on high for two minutes or until melted.
FOUR: Weigh and add the sunflower oil, olive oil and castor oil.
FIVE: Add 1 tablespoon of finely ground calendula petals and 1 teaspoon of cinnamon spice. While you are waiting for the lye to cool down, it will allow the warm oils to be infused by the calendula petals.
SIX: Add the essential oil blend and give everything a good stir. Because we are using cinnamon and clove essential oils, which are known to accelerate the soaping process, adding them to the oils will dilute them and slow down the acceleration somewhat.
When the lye has cooled down to room temperature…
SEVEN: Make sure you are still in protective gear (goggles and gloves). Carefully pour the lye to the oils and whisk until the mixture has emulsified.
EIGHT: Keep stirring with the whisk until the soap mixture starts to thicken. Don’t be tempted to use a stick blender because the soap will suddenly start accelerating!
NINE: Pour the soap into the mold. Tap the mold gently on the bench a free times to get rid of any air bubbles.
TEN: Using a spoon, push the soap to one side along the whole length of the soap, so you have like an slope in the middle and a high top on one side only. Push in the cinnamon sticks in equal distances – one for each bar of soap. Sprinkle some calendula petals over the top.
ELEVEN: Leave it to cure in the mold for a few days, before carefully removing. Leave to cure for another day before cutting it into bars. The bars will need to cure for a further 8-10 weeks until they’re ready.
Natural orange spice soap
Ingredients
- 400 g olive oil
- 200 g coconut oil
- 120 g sunflower oil
- 30 g castor oil
- 104 g caustic soda
- 200 ml water
- 1 teaspoon sodium lactate (optional)
- calendula petals
- 1 tablespoon finely ground calendula petals
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon spice
- 20 ml sweet orange essential oil
- 5 ml cinnamon essential oil
- 3 ml clove essential oil
- 5 cinnamon sticks
- soap loaf mold (1000ml)
Directions
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- Prepare your lye: carefully add the caustic soda to the water and stir gently until all the caustic soda has dissolved. Optional: add one teaspoon of sodium lactate. Set aside to cool.
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- Prepare your other ingredients:
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- Using an electric coffee grinder, finely grind up calendula petals until you have about 1 tablespoon of powder
- Prepare your essential oils blend: add 20 ml sweet orange essential oil, 5 ml cinnamon essential oil, and 3 ml clove essential oil in a beaker.
- Carefully cut 5 cinnamon sticks in half.
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- Weigh out the coconut oil in a pyrex jug and heat in the microwave on high for 2 minute or until melted.
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- Weigh and add the olive oil, sunflower oil and castor oil.
- Add 1 tablespoon of finely ground calendula petals, 1 teaspoon of cinnamon spice and the essential oils blend you prepared earlier. Stir well.
- When the lye has cooled down to room temperature, carefully add the lye to the oils and using only a whisk, stir the oil/lye mixture until it has emulsified and thickened (medium to thick trace).
- Pour into the soap mold.
- Using a spoon, push the soap to the middle along the whole length of the soap.
- Push in the cinnamon sticks equal distance apart on the top of the soap. Sprinkle on some calendula petals.
- Leave to cure in the mold for a few days, before removing and cutting. The bars of soap will need another 8-10 weeks of curing.
what temperate should both oils and lye be before mixing
I soap at room temperature, or slightly higher than room temperature. The whole temperature debate comes from commercial (mass-production) soap making, which use 1000 L vats and not our small quantities. When you make soap in such big vats it is important to have both the lye and the oils in an optimal temperature range. However, we make soap in small quantities and then the most important part is that we don’t have too high temperatures. I always tell my students to make sure that the lye is at room temperature or below and the oils can be slightly warm to touch still. I hope this helps!
What is cinnamon spice?
This is the powdered spice that you can use in your cooking. It’s basically ground up cinnamon bark.
Can this soap be made by using a soap base and the essential oils?
Yes, you can use a soap base and then add the essential oil blend to it. You’ll have to adjust the amount though.
I think you meant 400 g of coconut oil, right?
No, it’s 200 g coconut oil. It’s not a 1000 g oil recipe, but only 850 g. Slightly smaller.