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20+ natural homemade soap bar recipes that are great for beginners and experienced soap makers. Plus, I’m sharing a few tips and tricks for how to make natural bar soaps at home.
You can easily make your own soap bars at home with these soap recipes!
It is so important to learn a new practical skill. And DIY soap making is such a great and valuable skill to have!
Learning how to make your own soap bars from scratch is also very satisfying. I love making homemade products for our home. There’s always a sense of accomplishment when making things from scratch.
When I make a natural bar soap, I don’t like to use any ingredient which could be toxic. So I personally avoid any artificial dyes, perfumes, and additives that can be questionable.
Homemade natural soap bar recipes
Not ready to make your own soap bars? Try these amazing all natural artisan soaps and organic body care products.
When I make a natural bar soap, I don’t like to use any ingredient which could be toxic. So I personally avoid any artificial dyes, perfumes, and additives that can be questionable.
The recipes that I’m sharing in this post don’t contain any of those questionable ingredients that we are trying to avoid. Instead, they are all naturally made.
Methods of making homemade soap
There are 3 basic methods of making soap at home.
- Cold process – cold process soap takes about 4-6 weeks to cure before using the soap.
- Hot process – heated and cooked for awhile, typically in a crock pot as it needs a constant heat source. Can be used once it cools.
- Melt & pour – easy process without use of measuring out fats, liquids, lye. Simply cut, melt and pour into soap molds. Can be used once it’s cooled.
Is lye required?
The way that the saponification process works, animal fats or vegetable oils are reacted with sodium or potassium hydroxide (lye) to produce soap.
Simply said, yes it is needed when making a making cold and hot process soaps.
When working with sodium hydroxide, aka lye, be sure to work in a well ventilated area. And be sure to wear protective gear, such as eye goggles, gloves, long sleeves, etc.
However, you can make melt and pour soap bars without having to deal with the lye solution.
While I’m raising littles, I prefer to work with melt & pour soap bases. Because the dangers of working with lye are just too risky while they are toddling around the home.
Additive ideas
- dried herbs & flowers
- coffee grounds
- activated charcoal
- honey
- oatmeal
- clay
- seeds: apricot, raspberry, cranberry, etc
- milk powder
- aloe powder
- shea butter
- cocoa butter
- loofah
How to naturally color soap bars
There are many natural ingredients that can be used to color natural soap bars. I’m going to highlight a few of the most common and easily available options for homemade soap.
- Red / pink: beetroot powder, rose pink clay
- Orange: ground or shredded carrots, annatto seed
- Yellow: turmeric, curry powder, ground chamomile
- Green: alfalfa, spinach, green tea powder, spirulina
- Blue: indigo root
- Purple: alkanet root
- Black: activated charcoal
- White: kaolin clay
- Gray: bentonite clay
Generally you will infuse with the oils you are using for the soap bar. Some other options are to blend into the soap mixture.
For best results, follow the specific recipe when you’re beginning with your soap making journey.
Natural ingredients
When making your own soap bars, you can make it with the ingredients that you choose and the fragrance oils, additives, and colorants that you prefer.
The recipes that I’m sharing in this post don’t contain any of those questionable ingredients that we are trying to avoid. Instead, they are all naturally made with great ingredients.
The featured soap recipes in this post are great for both beginning and experienced soap makers.
There are recipes for making your soaps completely from scratch and also many simple melt and pour soap recipes. So there’s really a little bit of something for everyone!
Homemade Soap Bars
Here are recipes for making your soaps completely from scratch and also many simple melt & pour soap recipes. So there’s really a little bit of something for everyone!
Clay and Charcoal Soap Recipe
This super easy DIY Clay and Charcoal Soap Recipe is incredibly beneficial. It uses a melt and pour goat milk soap base. And it can easily be made vegan friendly by changing the soap to plant based soap.
DIY Oatmeal Easy Soap Recipe
This DIY Cinnamon & Oatmeal Easy Soap Recipe is so simple to make. Using a melt and pour soap base that contains clean ingredients. And because it is all plant based, it is Vegan friendly too.
Easy DIY Rosemary Vanilla Essential Soap
Photo Credit:thriftyjinxy.com
Easy DIY Rosemary Vanilla Essential Soaps recipe! It is so easy and inexpensive to make. And it is so much better than any store bought soap you can get! I love a soap recipe with herbs and essential oils, don’t you?
Easy Melt and Pour Soap Recipe: Rosemary Citrus
Photo Credit:www.lifenreflection.com
Together with a refreshing rosemary citrus melt and pour soap recipe! Combining lemon, sweet orange, and rosemary essential oils for scent. Along with lemon and orange peel for color. And goat milk soap base to suspend fresh rosemary within the soap, just because it’s pretty!
Soothing Lavender Soap Recipe with Frankincense
Photo Credit:natashalh.com
Soothing lavender soap recipe with frankincense. It’s fantastic for everyday use, but it also makes a nice non-food Valentine or a great DIY wedding favor.
Pink Grapefruit Exfoliating DIY Soap Making Recipe Anyone Can Make!
Photo Credit:www.lifenreflection.com
This homemade soap recipe came from my love of grapefruits’ fresh, sweet, citrus aroma.
Homemade Lavender Soap Bars
Photo Credit:learningandyearning.com
This simple lavender soap recipe is naturally colored with purple clay and scented with lavender essential oil. Be sure to use a light colored olive oil so the purple color really shines through.
Easy Homemade Goat Milk Soap
This is great tutorial for making homemade goat milk soap using a melt and pour base and essential oils. Create a combination all of your own or use my favorite blends!
Dead Sea Mud & Salt Hot Process Soap Recipe
Photo Credit:www.healingharvesthomestead.com
So simple, with only four oils….but it delivers a wonderful lather, cleansing and exfoliation, all while being incredibly conditioning for the skin. The essential oils also have anti-bacterial properties and are super refreshing! What more could you ask for in a natural, handmade sea salt soap recipe?
Loofah Soap with Jojoba Beads & Essential Oils
Photo Credit:happiestcamper.com
When combined with goats milk soap and essential oils, loofah soap provides deep moisturizing qualities that give your skin a healthy glow. The jojoba beads add an exfoliating property that leave your skin silky smooth.
Basic Bastille Soap Recipe with Essential Oils
Photo Credit:www.yourbeautyblog.com
Formulated with a high percentage olive oil in combination with additional soapmaking oils, Bastille soap is a modern twist on traditional Castile soap which is made using only olive oil.
A Hot Process Rose Petal Soap Recipe
Photo Credit:www.healingharvesthomestead.com
This Rose Petal hot process soap recipe is the perfect choice! It's quick and easy to make too.
How to Make Dried Herb Soap
Photo Credit:projectzenstead.com
This easy-to-make soap uses a melt-n-pour soap base and dried mint, chamomile and rosemary from the garden! It’s flavored with essential oils and smells as good as it looks!
How to Make Herb Infused Homemade Soap
Photo Credit:learningandyearning.com
This recipe uses both herb infused oil and herbal tea. Making an herb infused oil really is as simple as steeping quality herbs in a quality oil. Time and warmth are needed to allow the volatile oils in the herb to become infused in the oil.
Make Your Own Loofah Soap (Moisturizing and Exfoliating)
Photo Credit:learningandyearning.com
Sometimes our skin, particularly our feet and elbows, need a little extra lovin’ care. Moisturizing and exfoliating them goes a long way in keeping them soft and smooth.
Honey Comb Melt and Pour Soap Recipe
Photo Credit:www.yourbeautyblog.com
Honey is a great natural additive for soap, but I also made the soap look like a honeycomb both in color and texture. The technique that I used is so simple to do, too. You can make this honey melt and pour soap recipe in about 15 minutes.
Watermelon Soap Recipe with Real Watermelon Fruit
Photo Credit:www.yourbeautyblog.com
This watermelon soap recipe is a great way to enjoy your favorite summer fruit year round and naturally fight aging!
DIY Pumpkin Spice Goat Milk Soap
Photo Credit:thriftyjinxy.com
This DIY Pumpkin Spice Goat Milk Soap recipe is simple to make using only two ingredients and, of course, smells amazing.
Goats Milk and Honey Soap Recipe for Beginners
Photo Credit:practicalselfreliance.com
Goats milk contains natural vitamins that help to nourish skin and honey is a natural antimicrobial that helps to make a creamy, bubbly soap.
Mango-Avocado Anti-Aging Super Moisture Soap Recipe
Photo Credit:www.healingharvesthomestead.com
Plus, Two Variations: Pink Grapefruit, Cinnamon, & Patchouli OR Lavender-Lemon-Palmarosa
Make your own 100% coconut oil soap at home
Photo Credit:piwakawakavalley.co.nz
Two recipes, one for a 0% superfatted coconut oil soap to use purely to make your own washing powder. The second is a 20% superfatted pure coconut oil soap – basically the 1/4 moisturizing cream, without all the extra cruddy chemicals and processing that goes with it.
Homemade Goats Milk and Honey Soap ~ Easy Melt and Pour Recipe
Photo Credit:practicalselfreliance.com
Goats milk and honey soap is a beautiful handmade gift to make or receive. By using a goats milk melt and pour soap base, you can skip the risk of dealing with lye and the hassle of milking a goat. The resulting soap is still handcrafted with love right in your home kitchen, and the shape, add-ins, and scents are all your own.
How to Make Elk Tallow and Use It to Make Homemade Elk Tallow Soap
Photo Credit:www.healingharvesthomestead.com
Tallow and lard are just wonderful to cook with and make the flakiest crusts too. Also you can make handmade soap!
Avocado Cold Process Soap Recipe
Photo Credit:escentualweb.com
This recipe puts the focus on avocado oil. Avocado oil is high in Vitamins A, D and E, as well as amino acids. It is good for dry, sensitive skin.
How to Make Soap at Home- Beginner’s Guide to Soap Making
Photo Credit:melissaknorris.com
If you’ve been wanting to learn how to make soap at home, then this beginners guide to soap making is your episode. The different ways to make soap, when to choose which method, and how to get started with cold process soap making with lye water.
Hot Process vs. Cold Process Soap (Which is Better?)
Photo Credit:www.healingharvesthomestead.com
Here are the pros and cons of hot process soap making versus cold process soap making based on my own experiences with each method.
How to Start Soapmaking on a Tight Budget
Photo Credit:saltinmycoffee.com
If you’d like to get started with soap making, but you’re afraid of the cost involved, this post is for you. You really can start making soap without spending much on supplies and ingredients.
Using Fragrance Oils vs. Essential Oils in Your Homemade Body Care Products
Photo Credit:www.healingharvesthomestead.com
You’ll find out the positives and negatives of using both essential oils and fragrance oils, including “natural” fragrance oils in your handmade body care items.
Natural Soap Colorants: 44 Ways to Color Your Homemade Soap Naturally
Photo Credit:www.diynatural.com
A list of ways you can color your soap naturally.
More natural home posts:
FAQs
What 3 ingredients are needed to make soap? ›
So stuff we're going to need to make this very very basic soap the ingredients are super simple
What is the most natural soap bar? ›Dr. Bronner's Pure-Castile Bar Soap is made with the purest certified organic oils that go smooth on your skin. No dyes, whiteners, or synthetic fragrances. The fragrances used in this soap come from pure essential oils of lavender, almond, citrus, tea tree, rose, and eucalyptus.
What natural ingredient makes soap lather? ›Oils such as coconut and castor oil help create a bubbly, foamy rich lather. On the other hand, soaps made primarily with olive oil, such as Castile type soaps, will produce a rich and creamy rather than bubbly lather. The naturally retained glycerin in handmade soap also helps create a lovely lather.
How do you make soap not toxic? ›- 1 cup baking soda.
- 2-5 tablespoons water.
- 10 drops eucalyptus essential oil.
- 10 drops peppermint essential oil.
- 10 drops lavender essential oil.
- Soap colorant (optional)
- Silicone mold.
NO, chemically-speaking, soap itself cannot be made without lye. Soap is made by blending oils (like olive oil or coconut oil), a liquid (water, goat's milk, etc.), and an alkali (lye). Lye is needed to convert oils into soap.
What is the healthiest soap in the world? ›What is the best soap without chemicals? According to our research, EcoRoots' face and body bars are the best natural soaps. We also highly recommend Dr. Bronner's Pure-Castile Liquid Soap and Tom's of Maine Natural Beauty Bar Soap for Sensitive Skin.
What is the healthiest body soap to use? ›The best types of bar soaps are made from vegetable (not mineral) oil blends and have the glycerin put back in so they clean without drying skin. For liquid and foaming soaps, liquid castile soap is best, and often cheaper than the scented, antibacterial options anyway.
What is a natural foaming agent? ›Decyl Glucoside. A gentle and mild natural surfactant which doesn't contain any impurities. It is obtained from 100% renewable vegetable origin and is produced by the reaction of glucose from corn starch with the fatty alcohol decanol, which is derived from coconut.
What soap lathers the most? ›- Fresh Seaberry Exfoliating Soap. ...
- Herbivore Bamboo Charcoal Detoxifying Soap Bar. ...
- L'Occitane Extra-Gentle Soap. ...
- Viktor & Rolf Flowerbomb Soap. ...
- Origins Gloomaway Grapefruit Bath Bar. ...
- Chanel No. ...
- Dove White Beauty Bar. ...
- Caress Daily Silk Beauty Bar.
In general, there are four methods to make soap - cold process, melt and pour, hot process, and rebatch. There are pros and cons for each, and every maker has a personal preference. If you're wondering which method may be the best for you, find information below. And find soap making supplies here.
Is homemade soap good for your skin? ›
It will not be an overstatement if we say that handmade soaps are the gentlest skincare products you can use for your skin. Since they are devoid of harsh chemicals, they provide a natural and long-lasting glow to your skin. In addition, it clears the pores of the skin and also maintains its moisture levels.
What can replace lye in soap? ›Instead, we use potassium hydroxide and sodium hydroxide from soap making suppliers. The strength of each is controlled so you can predictably formulate and make gentle soap recipes. You can use these types of lye to make soap from scratch using the cold-process or hot-process methods.
What is a good substitute for palm oil in soap making? ›Cocoa Butter:
It is extracted from the cocoa bean and is also very popular in cooking as well as soap making. Stable even levels of palmitic, stearic & oleic acids- gives hardness, a creamy lather & good conditioning. All these factors mean it is a close 2nd to palm oil in soap making.
It is certainly possible to make an acceptable cold process soap using baking soda or washing soda, but lather performance suffers compared to the same soap formula without them. This supports the conventional wisdom that they are better used in a hot process soap (after the cook) or in a rebatched soap.
Can you use baking soda instead of lye to make soap? ›It is certainly possible to make an acceptable cold process soap using baking soda or washing soda, but lather performance suffers compared to the same soap formula without them. This supports the conventional wisdom that they are better used in a hot process soap (after the cook) or in a rebatched soap.
How do you make homemade soap for beginners? ›- Mix water and lye, set aside to cool.
- Melt oils, set aside to cool.
- Blend lye water and oils to form a soap “batter”
- Pour into mold and let harden for a day.
- Turn out of the mold, cut into bars and let cure for 2-3 weeks.
Dove is primarily made from synthetic surfactants, vegetable oils (such as palm kernel) and salts of animal fats (tallow). In some countries, Dove is derived from tallow, and for this reason it is not considered vegan, unlike vegetable oil based soaps.
What can replace lye in soap? ›Instead, we use potassium hydroxide and sodium hydroxide from soap making suppliers. The strength of each is controlled so you can predictably formulate and make gentle soap recipes. You can use these types of lye to make soap from scratch using the cold-process or hot-process methods.
How was ancient soap made? ›Ancient Mesopotamians were first to produce a kind of soap by cooking fatty acids – like the fat rendered from a slaughtered cow, sheep or goat – together with water and an alkaline like lye, a caustic substance derived from wood ashes. The result was a greasy and smelly goop that lifted away dirt.
Can bar soap be made without lye? ›In short the answer is no. Soap must be made using lye. Lye is the key ingredient in making soap. All products that are legally allowed to be called soap, must have gone through the process of saponification.
What is a natural soap base? ›
Some all-natural soap bases include avocado oil, organic shea butter, glycerin, Aloe Vera, cocoa butter, olive oil, almond sweet oil, castor oil, coconut oil, vitamin E oil, and more.
Is glycerin soap natural? ›Unlike many OTC soaps, pure glycerin soap is all-natural. It doesn't contain alcohol, fragrances, or other chemical-based ingredients that could irritate your skin. This makes glycerin soap vegan-friendly and a great option for people with sensitive skin.
Does Dove soap have lye in it? ›Yes, Dove is made with lye!
Is it cheaper to make your own soap? ›Conclusion: making nice soap is the same cost as buying cheap soap at the store. Making basic soap is cheaper than buying it.
Does all natural soap contain lye? ›If you're wondering whether natural soap is made with lye, then the answer is very straight forward: yes. If there's no lye used in the production process, it isn't soap.