In celebration of the release of Soap Crafting, we’re continuing our special series of cold process tutorials inspired by the book. If you missed it, check out yesterday’s awesome beer soap (yes, we said beer) and then get ready for today’s recipe filled with another fun additive.
Sweet, juicy and perfect for a picnic, strawberries are one fantastic fruit to eat. They also happen to be wonderful in soap as well. This recipe includes fresh strawberry puree, real cream and strawberry seeds. If you haven’t experimented with additives in cold process soap yet, this is an excellent place to start. One thing to keep in mind: because this soap has so many natural additives, it has a shelf life of about 6 months.
What You’ll Need:
1. 05 oz. Cocoa Butter
8.75 oz. Coconut Oil
17.5 oz. Olive Oil
3.5 oz. Palm Oil
1.75 oz. Palm Kernel Flakes
2.45 oz. Sweet Almond Oil
4.9 oz. Sodium Hydroxide
10.4 oz. distilled water
1 tablespoon Strawberry Seeds
1.2 oz. cream
3 oz. strawberry puree
Fragrance blend of:
.8 oz. Strawberry Fragrance Oil
.8 oz. Sun Ripened Raspberry Fragrance Oil
.5 oz. Summer Fling Fragrance Oil
Click here to add everything you need for this project to your Bramble Berry shopping cart!
If you have never made cold process soap before, I highly recommend you get a couple of basic recipes under your belt. This is not a recipe to make on your first try at soapmaking. Check out this (free!) 4-part series on cold process soap making, especially the episode on lye safety. Bramble Berry carries quite a few books on the topic as well, including this downloadable book on making cold process soap.
COLOR PREP: Disperse 1 teaspoon of the Fired Up Fuchsia into 1 tablespoon of Sunflower or Sweet Almond Oil (or any other liquid oil) and 2 teaspoons Titanium Dioxide into 2 tablespoon of liquid oil. Use a mini mixer to get clumps worked out smoothly.
ADDITIVE PREP: Using a food processor, grind up about a dozen fresh strawberries to yield 3 oz of puree. Then, portion out 1.2 oz. cream into a second container. Set both containers aside.
FRAGRANCE PREP: Create the fragrance blend by combining the Strawberry, Sun Ripened Raspberry and Summer Fling Fragrance Oils in a glass bowl. Mix well and then set aside.
SAFETY FIRST: Suit up for safe handling practices! That means goggles, gloves and long sleeves. Make sure kids, pets, and other distractions and tripping hazards are out of the house or don’t have access to your soaping space. Always soap in a well-ventilated area.
ONE: Once the oils and lye water mixture are under 120 degrees F (and ideally within 10 degrees of each other), slowly and carefully add the lye water mixture to the oils and stick blend to light trace. Set aside to cool. If you’d like a harder bar of soap that lasts longer in the shower and releases faster from the mold, you can add Sodium Lactate to the cooled lye water. Use 1 teaspoon of Sodium Lactate per pound of oils in the recipe.
TWO: After the lye and oils have been thoroughly stick blended together (think thin trace – not thick), split the batter into two cups: one with about 1.5 cups of batter and the second with about 2 cups of batter.
THREE: In the original container, add the strawberry puree and 1 tsp. of the dispersed Fired Up Fuchsia Colorant.
FOUR: In the second 2-cup container, add 2 teaspoons of dispersed Fired Up Fuchsia.
FIVE: In the remaining 1.5 cup container, add the Strawberry Seeds.
SIX: Add 1 tablespoon of Titanium Dioxide to the cup with the Strawberry Seed batter. Add another tablespoon of Titanium Dioxide to the cup with the strawberry puree to lighten this color up. It’s quite a dark, almost brown color, without it. Using a wire whisk, thoroughly mix the colorants and additives into each cup of soap batter.
SEVEN: When the batter has reached a thin trace, pour about half the container of cream (.6 oz.) in the container with the Strawberry Seeds. Pour the remaining half (.6 oz.) into the container with the strawberry puree. Using a wire whisk or a stick blender, mix the cream into the batters.
EIGHT: Split the fragrance blend in thirds, pouring approximately .7 oz. of the oil into each cup of batter.
NINE: Pour approximately one-third of the strawberry puree batter into the silicone mold.
TEN: Starting at one end of the mold, pour about half of the pink-colored batter in a wave pattern until you reach the other end of the mold. Do the same with half of the white-colored batter.
ELEVEN: Pour almost all of the remaining puree soap into the mold. Save about a half cup to complete the final top design.
TWELVE: While pouring over a spatula, pour two-thirds of the remaining pink soap over the top of puree soap. Tamp the mold on the table to release bubbles and smooth out the surface, and then use the same spatula technique to pour two-thirds of the remaining white soap. Tamp the mold again to release bubbles.
THIRTEEN: Pour the remaining puree soap on top of the mold in a loop-de-loop pattern, from one end of the mold to the other (far right). Then, pour the remaining white soap over it, making a stretched out, horizontal zig-zag from right to left (center). Finally, pour the pink soap in an opposite zig-zag to fill in the space left by the white soap (far right).
FOURTEEN: Insert a chopstick of dowel about 1/4 of an inch into the soap. Start in the bottom left-hand corner and drag the tool up and down through the soap, slowly making your way to the far end of the mold.
Spray the entire top with 91% – 99% Isopropyl Alcohol to reduce soda ash. Cover and insulate for 24 hours and unmold after 3-4 days. Allow to cure for 4-6 weeks and enjoy!
I ran the recipe through the lye calculator, and noticed that the water as percent of oil weight was 30%, instead of the normal 38%. What is the reasoning behind this? Thank you,
I bought the kit to make the soap thinking I have done a few soap making projects and thought I could do this one with no problem. I don’t think I am ready for this, I have read the directions a few times trying to plan everything out.
I am looking for suggestions using the same items that the kit came with; so I can still make some soap and work on my soaping craft.
Hi Melanie!
This recipe is advanced, so you may feel more comfortable trying some beginner recipes first. 🙂
We have some great beginner recipes on this blog that use many of the same ingredients. We also have a YouTube channel that includes informative videos. They may help you out!
-Kelsey with Bramble Berry
Black, White and Gold All Over Cold Process: http://www.soapqueen.com/bath-and-body-tutorials/cold-process-soap/black-white-gold-cold-process/
Cold Process Beginner’s Kit How-To + Free Soap Band Template: http://www.soapqueen.com/bath-and-body-tutorials/cold-process-soap/cold-process-beginners-kit/
Basics of Cold Process Soap Making: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLAADF6209996265D2
hello
is the cream u use same as food cream that we whip it for cakes ?
thank you 🙂
Hi Cay!
It is! 🙂
-Kelsey with Bramble Berry
I want to try this recipe but use a 2 lb. loaf mold (32 oz.) instead. I ran it through the lye calculator to achieve this, but how much cream would I then use? Is there a certain percentage that I could follow for adding creams or goats milk after trace? I know to deduct it from the water, but I am having a hard time figuring this out. Thanks.
Hi Theresa!
The amount of cream used was about 10% of the total water amount. I would first find out how much water you need, then add 10% of that in cream during trace. I hope this helps 🙂
-Amanda with Bramble Berry
Thank you Amanda! I am going to try making this this weekend. Do you discount the water for the 10% of cream added after trace then? Thanks again for all of your help!
Is it possible to replace the palm kernel flakes with something else, like sodium stearate maybe? I’d like to try this but don’t have any palm kernel flakes at the moment. Thanks. Love your sites.
Hi there!
If you’d like to replace the Palm Kernel Flakes, I would recommend adding a little bit more Cocoa Butter, and Palm Oil. The Palm Kernel Flakes contribute to a hard bar, but so do Cocoa Butter and Palm Oil :). I would just divide the 1.75 ounces of Palm Kernel Flakes between the two, and run it through the lye calculator again 🙂 I hope this helps!
-Amanda with Bramble Berry
I used this recipe last weekend and everything during the soap making process seemed to go perfectly. I removed the loaf from the mold last night and did not notice anything strange until I started cutting the loaf into bars. The middle section started oozing what I believe is the fragrance oil. What would cause this only to occur in the middle (strawberry puree layer)? All other areas, even those consisting of the same batter are fine. Ph is 8. The bars look great except the leaking holes in the middle :o{
Hi Andrea!
So sorry about the delay in response, somehow I missed your comment! Hmm. When you stirred in the fragrance oil, were you at a thick trace? I wonder if the fragrance was not fully incorporated. When working with fresh ingredients in soap (like strawberries) sometimes interesting things can happen! I would love to hear what happened with this bar! Did it stop oozing?
-Amanda with Bramble Berry
Just out of curiosity, what will happen to the soap after six months?
Hi Emma!
After six months, because we have used fresh fruits and cream, it can start to go rancid, so you will want to make sure to use it within that time period! =)
-Becky with Bramble Berry
Exce….lent !!
Good morning!
We are so happy that you like this tutorial. If you get a chance to try it out, let us know how it turns out for you. =)
Happy Soaping!
-Becky with Bramble Berry
Tonight I looked at it & it has a layer of oil that somehow separated from the rest of the soap. The rest of the soap seems to have set
Have you ever seen this? Can you tell me what I did wrong?
Hi Ginni!
It sounds like the fragrance or essential oil you were using might have separated from the rest of the soap. Do you happen to have a picture of your soap so that we could do some more investigating of what might have happened? We definitely want to help you get to the bottom of this!
-Becky with Bramble Berry
I tried making this & a few things happened. First I got the soap to a thin trace like it says then, but by the time I added all the additives to all the different layers, the 2 batches I poured off the original started to get super thick, so pouring them in was a little difficult, so it ended up being more layered then swilrled which is fine, just different then yours. 20 minutes later after just sitting there, the last layer which ended up being the layer with the strawberry puree turned back to liquid. It has been rather hot where I live, could that be the problem?
I have no idea what happened? Any ideas? Will it still set up?
Thanks,
Ginni
Hi Ginni!
I am so sorry to hear that you are having a bit of trouble with your recipe. If you could tell us a bit more about what is going on, we would be more than happy to help you troubleshoot. What were the temperatures you were working with and did you substitute or change anything in the recipe?
-Becky with Bramble Berry
I tried this recipe today, I didn’t have much of a problem thickening up on me much (it did a bit but was still workable) but my puree mixture did the same thing as you said. It got super watery on me and since the other two (white and pink)mixture’s were thicker I was a little bit in panic mode. I ended up spooning my top to blend it so it didn’t turn out like the pics shown. I live in California so I don’t think the weather was an issue.. it was a nice cool day and I had my temps at the same temps the tutorial said to have them at. I’m hoping the soap turns out, I’ll find out tomorrow. Was a fun project though.
Cheryl
Hi Cheryl!
Yay! We are so excited that you decided to have a little fun and try out this recipe. Be sure to let us know how your soap turns out, we’d love to see any pictures that you may have taken on Bramble Berry’s Facebook page. =)
Happy Soaping!
-Becky with Bramble Berry
Hi,
I love this soapqueen blog, I’m a newbie so I’m learning a lot :-). I love your products and your services too. Thank you for having such a great customer service. A+
I was just wondering can this strawberry and cream soap be made with M&P.
thanks!
Good morning, Denise!
Because you are adding actual pureed strawberries and cream to this particular soap, it isn’t going to work very well with the melt & pour bases. Anything you add to the bases is actually going to change the consistency and lather of the product, and a puree will not last very long in your soap as well. If you are interested in getting a similar scent of strawberries and cream, I would suggest a blend of Vanilla Select and Strawberry Fragrance Oils.
Vanilla Select: https://www.brambleberry.com/Vanilla-Select-Fragrance-Oil-P3888.aspx
Strawberry: https://www.brambleberry.com/Strawberry-Fragrance-Oil-P3858.aspx
I hope this helps! Let us know if you have any other questions. =)
-Becky with Bramble Berry
I wish I wasn’t so terrified of CP soaps. This looks like an awesome soap!
If you ever decide that you’re ready to take the plunge, keep in touch! We’d love to help get you started. =)
Kristen with Bramble Berry
What’s the shelf life since it has puree? Or should I add a preservative?
I can’t wait to make this one!!
This soap will have a shelf life of about 6 months. A preservative wouldn’t do much since the high pH level of the soap prevents bacteria and mold growth in the soap (the same role a preservative would play), but neither will prevent rancidity. Let us know how making the soap goes!
Kristen with Bramble Berry
Oh boy this one sounds wonderful! If I keep making so much soap I will never need to leave my tub. Now does the strawberry & the cream change the shelf life of the soap at all? Shame we did not have this tutorial in June when the local strawberries were in season. Say do you think this recipe could be changed to raspberries mine will be ready to eat in about two weeks. What fragrence combo would be good for those?
The book by the way is wonderful! And as most will suspect my list of purchases is growing as I go through the recipes. Thanks for such great inspiration and good reliable products to work with.
ML
Hmmm, raspberries could be fun! The only thing I can guess would change is the color of the soap that contains the raspoberries, but try out a small test batch and see how it goes. Regarding shelf life, I would be cautious of using this soap much past 6 months.
Thanks for the book kudos! I’ll be sure to pass along to Anne-Marie =)
Kristen with Bramble Berry
Thanks for all the great recipes and inspiration you give us. I have decided to treat myself to your book for my birthday in September. I don’t think I can wait another moment. I am hoping to win it in the soap club challenge but I think the reality is I should just order it.
Thanks AM, you and all your staff are great.
How sweet! I can’t wait to hear what you think of the book. Watching Anne-Marie develop the recipes and go through the publishing process has been pretty amazing, and I feel like the book really shows her dedication. Happy birthday! =)
Kristen with Bramble Berry
I love this tutorial!! I’ve been experimenting with fresh fruits, and strawberry has quickly become one of my favorites!
I can’t wait for you to try it! Let us know what you think =)
Kristen with Bramble Berry
Can you replace the cream with goat’s milk? I have lots of goat milk 🙂
I don’t see why not! Just keep in mind that Goat Milk may have a different final color in the final soap than the cream did. The two products have different properties that will have unique reactions in soap. Goat Milk is amazing in CP and will result in a great bar!
Kristen with Bramble Berry
Gorgeous! I love cream in my soaps too! Is there a photo with a clearer view of the sides of the bars (not the tops)? I’d like a better idea of how the puree turned, very interested in trying this!!
The puree turned a reddish-brown, which I think complements the color scheme of the soap well! Here’s another picture with a better side view. =)
-Kristen with Bramble Bery
Do you have printable versions of these tutorials? I love this!
Hi Rebecca,
I think we can get you a PDF of this. Let me see what I can do! =)
Kristen with Bramble Berry
I would love one too. Also. How long does this soap last since it has fruit in it? Does it mold after time? One more thing… I would love it if you came up with a recipe using Coconut oil, Olive oil, shea butter and Cocoa butter. I cant seem to get mine right.
Good morning, Shaunna!
This particular soap should last up to six months and smells fabulous the whole time! Because of the pH of cold process soap, no mold is going to grow in this recipe (even with the puree!). We do hope you get chance to try it out soon and would love to hear your feedback.
If you could tell us more about the recipe you are working with, we could help suggest some ideas for you. 🙂
Happy Soaping!
-Becky with Bramble Berry