The Homemade Soap How-To for The Rest of Us
Let me be clear, I am your average crazed Mom. I’m not a Martha Stewart clone and I don’t mainline HGTV or Pinterest. No, I’m more of a utilitarian Mom – I generally don’t have time for crafts or hobbies given my break-neck schedule. In fact I spend most of my time running from fire-to-fire all the while winging it and pretending like I know what I’m doing (when most of the time I don’t.) I take what’s in front of me and try to find the best solution to the problem at hand, which leads me to my discovery of homemade soap.
Let me set the stage for you. Two summers ago I had the brilliant idea to plant lavender all over my yard. Being the black-thumb that I am, I keyed into the words “perennial,” “hardy” and “resilient” in the description of the plant and thought, “that’s right up my alley – let’s get a metric ton of lavender, plant it everywhere and let it go to town.” What I failed to consider were the flowers, and the fact that if you want the lavender to continue to grow you must prune it. So like a good homeowner I did it – reluctantly – in the heat of summer. To my horror, all of the plants exploded with new growth and I was inundated with lavender! So the question in front of me became, “What the Hell am I going to do with all of this!!”
So like every good Mom I consulted Pinterest and discovered the amazing world of melt-and-pour soaps. There were literally over one-hundred different recipes that all highlighted the main ingredient – lavender! This was it – the solution to my problem! Not only was it was super easy and cheap, it was fast and something Little Miss could help me with! And so my foray in to soap making began…
Fast forward to today, my current favorite recipe is Lavender Chamomile soap, it combines lavender and chamomile tea in a goat milk soap base. It’s a natural moisturizer, smells great and makes a fantastic gift for any occasion! In fact I made this soap as a gift for all my daughter’s teachers this year, as well as for all the women in my rather large family! To my satisfaction, they all asked (with a serious face) where I bought it only to be shocked when I replied that I made it. For a woman that tends to gravitate to the world of gift cards for holiday gifts this was fantastic!
So from my home to yours – I give you homemade Lavender Chamomile Soap. Enjoy!
Homemade Lavender Chamomile Soap
Supplies:
Chamomile Tea (2 tea bags)
Large Pyrex Cup
Step one: cut 1 pound of the soap base into cubes. Place soap cubes in a large pyrex cup and melt in microwave in 30 second intervals, mixing after each until fully melted.
Step two: Stir in 10-15 drops of lavender essential oil into the melted soap. Stir in 1-2 tablespoons (more if desired) of dried lavender flowers and the dry chamomile tea leaves. Stir until fully incorporated. Tip: the more tea and lavender you incorporate the more exfoliating characteristics it has.
Step three: Pour into soap mold and allow hardening for a few hours. Tip: if you see air bubbles on the surface you can spray them with rubbing alcohol.
Voila! You have homemade lavender chamomile soap just like the expensive stuff you see at craft shows for a fraction of the cost! Now that you know how simple this is, the sky’s the limit on the types of soaps you can make. The basic principle is the same the only thing that differs are the ingredients. So go crazy!
