Sweet Orange Chilli Soap

Sweet Orange Chilli Soap is a different take on the very popular Orange Soap. It’s an orange soap with a kick, although the kick is just in the name. No chilli kicks in using the soap! I promise! When I saw the Sweet Orange & Chilli fragrance at Zen Aroma, I knew it would be the perfect combo with Cocavo’s Chilli and Lime oil. But I wasn’t sure if it was going to work (chilli and soap hmm 🤔). So I had to test it out first. And I can assure you it’s all good. The soap smells delicious with the Sweet Orange & Chilli fragrance.

It’s no secret that I love the Cocavo oils, both for cooking and for soap making. For soap, they make for really nice hard soaps with plenty of fluffy lather, and because it’s one tub of oil, it makes so easy to use for making soap. All you need to do is melt the oil, which you can do in the microwave, and you’re ready to make soap. This is perfect for beginners, and I do occasionally use these oils in my classes.

Cocavo: https://cocavo.co.nz
Zen Aroma: https://zenaroma.co.nz

PLEASE NOTE I’M NOT AFFILIATED WITH COCAVO OILS IN ANY WAY. I JUST REALLY LIKE WORKING WITH THEIR OILS!

For one tub of Cocavo oil, you need 58 grams of caustic soda (NaOH). Dissolve the caustic soda in 120 grams of cold water to make the lye solution, and leave it to cool down. In the meantime, melt the Cocavo oil, and pour it into your soap pot (= a bowl or container to make the soap in. It should be twice the volume of the amount of soap you are making, so in this case, about 1 litre volume).

Once your lye solution has cooled down to room temperature, add the lye to the oils and mix it well. You can use a stick blender or whisk by hand, but you do have to mix it well. You want it emulsified and just start to thicken. And then pour it into your mould, and voila, you have soap! (You do still need to cure it for 6-8 weeks though!)

It’s so easy to use a pre-blended oil mix, which you can only do if you know the exact make up of the blend. Cocavo oils are 80% coconut oil and 20% avocado oil.

So here’s the recipe and instructions on how to make this delicious Sweet Orange Chilli Soap:

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Sweet Orange Chilli Soap

Makes roughly 500 ml of soap

Please make sure to wear protective clothing, safety goggles and gloves. For more safety and precautions on how to handle and use lye click here

Ingredients

1 tub Chilli Lime Cocavo oil (400 g)

58 g caustic soda (15% superfat)
120 g water

15 ml Sweet Orange & Chilli fragrance

Instructions

1. Weigh out 120 grams of COLD water into a heat proof container, such as a Pyrex jug or polypropylene plastic (PP) container
2. Weigh and 58 grams of caustic soda (NaOH), and stir carefully, avoiding any splashes. Set aside to cool down.
3. In the meantime, open the lid of the Cocavo tub, and place it loosely back on top. Heat in the microwave until the oils are completely melted.
4. Pour into a larger bowl or container and add the fragrance. Give it a quick stir.
5. Once the lye solution has cooled down to room temperature, add it to the oils.
6. Mix by hand with a whisk or use a stick blender until the oils/lye mixture has emulsified and started to thicken.
7. Pour into the mould.
8. Optional: sprinkle some flower petals, such as calendula petals, over the top
9. CPOP: place the mould into the oven at 70C (160F) for one hour and then turn off the oven, but leave the soap inside with the door closed overnight
10. The following day, unmould and cut into bars.
11. Cure the bars for a further 6-8 weeks before using.
12. Enjoy!

Substitutions:

If you don’t have access to Cocavo oil in your country, the blend is 80% coconut oil and 20% avocado oil. That’s 320 grams of coconut oil and 80 grams avocado oil.

Instead of Sweet Orange & Chilli fragrance, you can use 15 ml of sweet orange essential oil