Oatmeal & Honey Soap
I’ve shared several DIY bath and body recipes over the past years but one that I’ve always wanted to try is soap making. I thought that the process of making traditional soap was complicated but then I found melt and pour soap. My long time readers know I love anything that will save me time, and this fits the bill! The name says it all – melt and pour. That’s it! But there are lots of different types of soap bars and add-ins you can combine to make wonderful smelling soap that has great benefits for your skin.
For this soap, I chose a honey-based soap because honey has antibacterial properties and is also moisturizing, soothing, and healing. I chose oatmeal to mix in because it has anti-inflammatory properties, is also moisturizing, and can be used as a gentle exfoliator to help remove dead skin cells.
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Here is what I used for my first try:
- 1 lb honey melt & pour soap
- 1/2c oatmeal, ground into a powder
- 2T honey
- 5 drops of vitamin e oil
Most melt and pour soap bases come in 1lb blocks. First, cut the soap into smaller squares for easier melting and place them in a microwave-proof bowl. This Pyrex measuring cup is my favorite because it has the spout for easy pouring.
Microwave for 30-second intervals, stirring in between until the soap is fully melted.
Carefully remove your bowl from the microwave, it will be hot, and place on a heat-safe surface. Next, add in your additional ingredients and stir.
Pour evenly into your soap molds. I have only used this silicone mold, but will probably try different molds in the future for more shape options.
Make sure that your mold is either on a flat surface or on a tray for easy moving to a flat surface. I left the mold on the counter until the soap hardened, about an hour.
This recipe yields 6 bars, but it can easily be cut in half to make less. The only issue I had was that the oatmeal settled at the bottom. I was hoping it would be distributed throughout the bar evenly for gentle exfoliating when I used the soap. It wasn’t a big deal, I just flipped the bars over when I washed to use the oatmeal side.
Note: The bar doesn’t suds up like most commercial soaps, but it didn’t seem to make a difference as far as cleaning goes. It may be because I used glycerin, I’m not sure but I will update this post if I find a different product I like better.
