This natural soap recipe features rose clay, powdered milk (optional) and cocoa butter.
The overlapping ingredient list and heart shapes coordinate nicely with the rose milk bath bombs in my previous post. (Found HERE, if you missed it!)
The weeks leading up to Valentine’s Day present a wonderful opportunity to find and stock up on a variety of inexpensive heart shaped molds at your local grocery and craft stores.
The silicone mold shown in this rose clay soap tutorial was purchased at my local Walmart for just a few dollars.
Rose Clay Soap Recipe
All measurements are by weight. You must use an accurate scale to make soap.
8 oz (227 g) distilled water
3.95 oz (112 g) sodium hydroxide (lye)
3/4 teaspoon rose clay
13.5 oz (383 g) olive oil (48.2%)
8 oz (227 g) coconut oil (28.6%)
3.5 oz (99 g) sweet almond or sunflower oil (12.5%)
3 oz (85 g) cocoa or kokum butter (10.7%)
2 tablespoons powdered milk (cow, goat or coconut), optional
essential oil, if desired (I used 10 g geranium + 10 g lavender + 8 g clary sage)
Yield: 2.5 pounds of soap (7 to 8 bars, or 12 to 14 heart shapes, as shown)
* This soap has a reduced water amount on purpose, to help it release more easily from the molds.
** If you don’t have cocoa or kokum butter, lard or tallow can be used instead, with no significant change in lye amount.
Ingredient & Supply Sources
I purchased supplies for this recipe from the following places:
Local Grocery Store – powdered milk, distilled water, heart shaped molds
Bramble Berry – rose clay
Soaper’s Choice – oils
Mountain Rose Herbs – cocoa butter
Amazon – food grade lye
Before You Begin
If you’ve never made soap before, be sure you’re completely familiar with the process before proceeding.
You may also find my Natural Soap Making package helpful – it includes:
my Natural Soap Making ebook
companion guides on Milk Soap Making and Shampoo Bars
a printable Soap Making Checklist
a Guide to Lining Molds
plus a small private Facebook group where you can ask me soapmaking questions and share photos of your projects!
Directions to Make Rose Clay Soap
Step 1: Make the Lye Solution
Wearing gloves, goggles and long sleeves, weigh the distilled water into a stainless steel or heavy duty plastic pitcher. I use an old Tupperware pitcher or heavy duty plastic buckets from the paint section of my local DIY store. Look for plastic with a recycle symbol number 5 on it and it should be good to use. (Never use aluminum utensils or pots when making soap as it will react adversely with lye.)
Next, weigh the lye into a small cup or container. Sprinkle the lye into the water (not the other way around or you might get a lye volcano) and gently stir with a heavy duty plastic or silicone spatula or spoon until the lye is completely dissolved. The temperature will get really hot. Work near an open window, outside or under an exhaust fan. Avoid breathing in the resulting strong fumes that linger for a few moments. (If you have sensitive lungs, breathing problems, or are concerned about the fumes, consider wearing a mask such as THIS ONE.)
Carefully stir the rose clay into the hot lye solution. (Alternatively, you can dilute the clay with twice as much water and add it at trace. Both ways give a similar color.)
Set the lye solution aside in a safe place where it won’t get disturbed and allow it to cool down for around 30 to 40 minutes, or until temperature reaches around 100 to 110°F (38 to 43°C)
Step 2: Weigh and Heat the Oils
Weigh out the cocoa butter and coconut oil and heat gently until melted. Add the other oils. If needed, you can heat the combined oils and butter further until the temperature is around 90 to 100°F (32 to 38° C).
(You don’t have to be extra fussy with temperatures though. Some like to make soap at room temperature, while others prefer even hotter temperatures than I use. There’s a wide range of personal preferences that work just fine.)
Add the powdered milk to the oils and stir in by hand or with your immersion blender.
If you’d like to ensure that your soap has a longer shelf life, add 1 gram (about 40 drops or 1/4 teaspoon) of Rosemary Antioxidants to the warmed oils.
You can buy Rosemary Antioxidants from Mountain Rose Herbs. Since you only need a tiny bit per batch of soap, one bottle will last for ages and is well worth the extended shelf life it provides.
Step 3: Combine and Mix Until Trace
Pour the lye solution into the warm oils. Using a stick or immersion blender (looks like THIS and is not a handheld mixer) stir the solution with the motor off for around 30 seconds. Turn the motor on and blend for half a minute or so. Stir for another 30 seconds with the motor off, then again with the motor on and so forth. Don’t run the stick blender continuously so you don’t risk burning out the motor and/or causing excessive air bubbles in your finished soap.
Alternate with this method until trace is reached. “Trace” is when your soap batter gets thick enough to leave an imprint or tracing, when you drizzle some of it across the surface. Above is a picture of a soap batter at a medium trace.
Hand-stir in any essential oils, if using.
Step 4: Pour Into Mold(s)
This is a cold process soap recipe, which means you don’t cook it or add any extra heat, so at this point it’s ready to pour into the mold(s).
After pouring, cover the mold(s) gently with a sheet of freezer or parchment paper, then a light blanket or towel to help hold in the heat.
Peek at your soap every so often. If you see a crack developing down the middle, it’s getting too hot, so move the mold to a cooler place in your house.
You might see the soap change from darker to lighter colors in spots and even take on a translucent, jelly type texture, especially in the middle. That’s all perfectly normal – it just means your soap is going through gel phase.
After 24 hours, remove the freezer paper and blanket/towel, then let your soap stay uncovered in the mold for 1 to 2 days or until it’s firm enough to release fairly easily. If needed, you can pop the mold(s) in the freezer for 4 to 6 hours until completely solid, then try removing.
Step 5: Cure and Enjoy!
If you used a loaf mold, after unmolding your soap, allow it to cure in the open air for a few days before slicing into bars.
Cure the soap on wax paper or coated baking racks for 4 to 6 weeks before using, though I usually start testing a bar at 3 weeks for personal use.
Shelf life of homemade soap is often given as one year, but it will depend on the quality of ingredients you start with and how it’s stored. Keep your finished soap in a cool area away from excess heat, sunlight and humidity.
If you enjoyed this tutorial on making Rose Clay Soap from scratch, sign up for my newsletter HERE to get my best herbal projects, soap ideas, and DIY body care recipes sent straight to your inbox, once per month. (No spam ever, unsubscribe at any time.)