With fall right around the corner it’s time to cook, bake and soap with everything pumpkin. This Pumpkin Spice Swirl Cold Process is made with real pumpkin puree, and scented with Pumpkin Spice Fragrance Oil for a classic fall scent. The swirl is created using the drop swirl technique; check out this Soap Queen TV video to see this swirl in action. We got lucky with this particular batch…the swirls ended up resembling pumpkins in the center!
To keep the soap from discoloring, the fragrance oil is only added to the dark brown portion of the soap. Read more about fragrance discoloration here. When adding water based additives like pumpkin puree, a water discount can be beneficial. This recipe contains a 15% water discount to compensate for the water in the puree. A water discount is optional, but it will help prevent glycerin rivers. It will also cut down on cure time because there is less water to evaporate.
Another thing to consider when working with additives is temperature. The pumpkin puree contains natural sugars which will increase the temperature of the soap. To prevent overheating, you may want to place the soap in the fridge for several hours (up to overnight) after pouring into the mold. I would not recommend insulating or promoting gel phase in this recipe. If you’re looking for more pumpkin-centric recipes, check out the Pumpkin Puree Cold Process Soap and the Pumpkin Spice Latte Cold Process Soap.
What You’ll Need:
Tall Narrow Wood Loaf Mold
10.5 oz. Canola Oil
.8 oz. Castor Oil
9 oz. Coconut Oil
9 oz. Palm Oil
7.8 oz. Olive Oil
.8 oz. Pumpkin Seed Oil
1.2 oz. Shea Butter
5.4 oz. Sodium Hydroxide Lye
11 oz. Distilled Water (15% water discount)
2.5 oz. Pumpkin puree
Titanium Dioxide
Brown Oxide
Tangerine Wow! Colorant
Yellow Oxide
1.1 oz. Pumpkin Spice Fragrance Oil
Click here to add everything you need for this project to your Bramble Berry shopping cart!
If you’ve never made Cold Process soap before, stop here! I highly recommend checking out our FREE four part SoapQueen.tv series on Cold Process Soapmaking, especially the episode on lye safety. And if you’d rather do some reading, Bramble Berry carries a wide range of books on the topic, including my newest book, Soap Crafting. You can also checkout the digital downloads for that instant gratification factor.
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.
COLOR PREP: To ensure that the Titanium Dioxide blends smoothly into the soap batter, we recommend micronizing it before dispersing it in oil. Please note this is an optional tip but it does help with the titanium dioxide clumping in the soap =) To micronize colorant, simply use a coffee grinder to blend the colorant to break up any clumps of color and prevent streaks of white from showing in the final soap. We like to use a coffee grinder that has a removable, stainless steel mixing area for easy cleaning. Then, disperse 1 teaspoons of the colorant into 1 tablespoons of sunflower or sweet almond oil (or any other liquid oil). Then in separate containers, disperse 1 teaspoon of the Brown Oxide, Tangerine Wow! Colorant and Yellow Oxide into 1 tablespoon lightweight liquid oil. Use a mini mixer to disperse any clumps.
MOLD & TOOL PREP: Line the Tall Narrow Wood Loaf Mold with freezer paper with the shiny side up. For tips on how to line the mold, click here.
ONE: Slowly and carefully add the lye to the water and gently stir until the lye has fully dissolved and the liquid is clear. Set aside to cool.
TWO: Melt and combine the coconut oil, olive oil, canola oil, castor oil, pumpkin seed oil, shea butter and palm oils (remember to fully melt then mix your entire container of palm oil before portioning). Once the lye water and the oils have cooled to 130 degrees or below (and are ideally within 10 degrees of each other), add the lye water to the oils and stick blend until thin trace. If you’d like a harder bar of soap that 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. For this recipe, you’d add about 2.5 sodium lactate.
THREE: Once the batter has reached a light trace, pour off about 6 oz. of soap into a small container. Add 1/4 tsp. dispersed brown oxide and half of the fragrance oil (it’s okay to eyeball it). Then stick blend it to a medium to thick trace.
FOUR: Once it has reached a medium to thick trace, pour the brown soap into the mold. Tap down the mold on the counter to even out the layer as much as possible.
FIVE: Add all of the pumpkin puree to the remaining soap and use a whisk to stir in.
SIX: Pour off two containers measuring about 300 mL each. To the remaining soap, add 1.5 Tbs. dispersed titanium dioxide and use a whisk to thoroughly stir in. Pour about 1/4 of the white soap into the mold slowly, being careful to not break into the dark brown layer on the bottom.
SEVEN: To one of the small containers of soap, add 1/2 tsp. dispersed brown oxide and 1/2 tsp. dispersed yellow oxide. Stir to mix in the colorants. Add the remaining fragrance oil to the dark brown soap. To the other container, add 2 tsp. dispersed Tangerine Wow! Colorant and 1 tsp. dispersed Yellow Oxide. Stir to thoroughly mix in the colorants.
EIGHT: Begin pouring the brown and orange soap into the mold from about 6-10 inches above the mold, allowing the colors to break into the white soap. Pouring from varying heights will help the colors break through, creating the drop swirl effect.
NINE: Continue to pour the white, brown and orange soap until a small amount of each color remains. Keep enough white soap to cover the top. Tap the mold on the counter to help get rid of bubbles.
TEN: Gently pour the remaining white soap on top. Then, pour thin lines of the brown and orange soap down the length of the mold. Don’t worry about making the lines perfect.
ELEVEN: Insert the tip of a dowel or chopstick into the very top layer of the soap. Drag the chopstick across the lines of soap width wise in a “S” shaped curve. Then, drag the chopstick down the length of the mold. Spritz with 99% isopropyl alcohol to avoid soda ash.
TWELVE: To prevent this soap from overheating due to the natural sugar content in the pumpkin puree, place the soap in the fridge for several hours up to overnight. Remove from the fridge and allow to sit in the mold for 3-4 days. Unmold, cut and allow to cure for 4-6 weeks. Enjoy!
Have you ever tried adding food additives to your cold process soap? I would love to hear your tips and tricks.
- Tall Narrow Wood Loaf Mold
- 10.5 oz. Canola Oil
- .8 oz. Castor Oil
- 9 oz. Coconut Oil
- 9 oz. Palm Oil
- 7.8 oz. Olive Oil
- .8 oz. Pumpkin Seed Oil
- 1.2 oz. Shea Butter
- 5.4 oz. Sodium Hydroxide Lye
- 11 oz. Distilled Water (15% water discount)
- 2.5 oz. Pumpkin puree
- Titanium Dioxide
- Brown Oxide
- Tangerine Wow! Colorant
- Yellow Oxide
- 1.1 oz. Pumpkin Spice Fragrance Oil
- Slowly and carefully add the lye to the water and gently stir until the lye has fully dissolved and the liquid is clear. Set aside to cool.
- Melt and combine the coconut oil, olive oil, canola oil, castor oil, pumpkin seed oil, shea butter and palm oils (remember to fully melt then mix your entire container of palm oil before portioning). Once the lye water and the oils have cooled to 130 degrees or below (and are ideally within 10 degrees of each other), add the lye water to the oils and stick blend until thin trace. If you’d like a harder bar of soap that 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. For this recipe, you’d add about 2.5 sodium lactate.
- Once the batter has reached a light trace, pour off about 6 oz. of soap into a small container. Add ¼ tsp. dispersed brown oxide and half of the fragrance oil (it’s okay to eyeball it). Then stick blend it to a medium to thick trace.
- Once it has reached a medium to thick trace, pour the brown soap into the mold. Tap down the mold on the counter to even out the layer as much as possible.
- Add all of the pumpkin puree to the remaining soap and use a whisk to stir in.
- Pour off two containers measuring about 300 mL each. To the remaining soap, add 1.5 Tbs. dispersed titanium dioxide and use a whisk to thoroughly stir in. Pour about ¼ of the white soap into the mold slowly, being careful to not break into the dark brown layer on the bottom.
- To one of the small containers of soap, add ½ tsp. dispersed brown oxide and ½ tsp. dispersed yellow oxide. Stir to mix in the colorants. Add the remaining fragrance oil to the dark brown soap. To the other container, add 2 tsp. dispersed Tangerine Wow! Colorant and 1 tsp. dispersed yellow oxide. Stir to thoroughly mix in the colorants.
- Begin pouring the brown and orange soap into the mold from about 6-10 inches above the mold, allowing the colors to break into the white soap. Pouring from varying heights will help the colors break through, creating the drop swirl effect.
- Continue to pour the white, brown and orange soap until a small amount of each color remains. Keep enough white soap to cover the top. Tap the mold on the counter to help get rid of bubbles.
- Gently pour the remaining white soap on top. Then, pour thin lines of the brown and orange soap down the length of the mold. Don’t worry about making the lines perfect.
- Insert the tip of a dowel or chopstick into the very top layer of the black soap. Drag the chopstick across the lines of soap width wide in a “S” shaped curve. Then, drag the chopstick down the length of the mold. Spritz with 99% isopropyl alcohol to avoid soda ash.
- To prevent this soap from overheating due to the natural sugar content in the pumpkin puree, place the soap in the fridge for several hours up to overnight. Remove from the fridge and allow to sit in the mold for 3-4 days. Unmold, cut and allow to cure for 4-6 weeks. Enjoy!
Your soaps are simply amazing! ..:-)
But is there anyway you could calculations of ingredients in % as well so it’s easier to change sizes of amounts desired to make. I have been using titanium dioxide, oxides and ultramarines for coloring soaps but looking into more natural ways like using herbs, clays and colored oils/butters for coloring my soaps. Is there anyway you could offer some recipes with such ingredients. I also prefer using essential oils over fragrance oils, unless it is like a Rose Essential Oil which is quite expensive to be used up in soap. Thank you
Absolutely, we have started including oil percentages in our new recipes to make it easier. You can also enter the amounts in our Lye Calculator and it will give you the percentage of each oil: https://www.brambleberry.com/Pages/Lye-Calculator.aspx
We have some great recipes made with natural clays and essential oils. You can find a roundup of those recipes here: https://www.soapqueen.com/bath-and-body-tutorials/natural-project-inspiration/
-Kelsey with Bramble Berry
Hi, my sister and me did the pumpkin-in-the-pot swirl (the one in your book) and the soap is turning dark….. Is there a reason why? We are starting to freak out a little bit. On a good note, the house smells amazing 😜
Hi Luz!
Doesn’t that Pumpkin Spice Fragrance Oil smell awesome? 🙂 That recipe does contain pumpkin puree. When you add extra ingredients that contain natural sugars, those sugars can scorch during the saponification process which can cause the soap to darken in color. What temperatures were you soaping at? When did you notice the soap begin to darken? And how dark did it get? I’d be happy to help you troubleshoot further!
-Amanda with Bramble Berry
Well, the lye water was 120 degrees like the book said but the oils were a little colder than the lue water. The color is brown but it didnt get very dark. Still looks good and for being our first try at making soap, we are happy with it 🙌🏻.
Oh that’s awesome, glad to hear that! How did you store the soap? Thanks for answering our questions. 🙂
-Kelsey with Bramble Berry
I also made the pumpkin swirl-in-the-pot and LOVE it! What is the shelf life of the soap since it has the pumpkin purée in it?
This soap should last about a year! Once a fresh ingredient like pumpkin is incorporated, it turns into soap like the rest of the ingredients. That means the soap has a normal shelf life. That is determined by the oils used. If they have longer shelf lives, so will the soap. 🙂
Read more about shelf life here: https://www.soapqueen.com/bath-and-body-tutorials/tips-and-tricks/shelf-life-bath-products-ingredients-rancidity-vs-mold/
And more about using purees in soap here: https://www.soapqueen.com/bath-and-body-tutorials/tips-and-tricks/how-to-add-purees-to-cold-process-soap/
-Kelsey with Bramble Berry
I ran out of my BB palm oil. Can I use the palm oil I purchased at the health food store instead? It’s deep yellow so I figure it will change the color but can I use it in place of the white BB palm oil? Will using it change anything else other than the color? BTW, I reordered from BB. Thx.
Correction… Actually, it’s called “organic red palm oil”, I just checked.
Hi Nitza!
I believe that will be just fine! I believe red palm oil is similar to what we carry, it just isn’t refined. That’s the reason for the reddish color. If the palm oil you have has a SAP value, you can enter an oil similar to it on the calculator. If not, the palm oil section on our calculator should be pretty close. 🙂
Lye Calculator: https://www.brambleberry.com/Pages/Lye-Calculator.aspx
Find a list of oil SAP values here: http://www.soapqueen.com/bath-and-body-tutorials/tips-and-tricks/free-beginners-guide-to-soapmaking-common-soapmaking-oils/
-Kelsey with Bramble Berry
Does the background (colored with TD) lighten as it cures? It is a beautiful bar, but I struggle to see any white-it just looks creamy yellow.
Can I use the BB Tall and Narrow mold for this? Will the recipe need resizing?
Thanks for all you do!!!!
Because of the pumpkin puree, it will stay a creamy yellow color. The titanium dioxide lightens it a bit but doesn’t turn it completely white. If you’d like a more crisp white color, you can skip the pumpkin puree!
This recipe weighs about 48 ounces, and we recommend 45 ounces for the Tall 12″ Silicone Loaf Mold. It will need to be a resized a bit! Learn how to do that here: https://www.soapqueen.com/bath-and-body-tutorials/tips-and-tricks/how-to-resize-cold-process-soap-recipes/
We have updated the Lye Calculator since that post so it looks a bit different. However, it still works the same. 🙂
-Kelsey with Bramble Berry
Tall 12″ Silicone Loaf Mold: https://www.brambleberry.com/Tall-12-Silicone-Loaf-Mold-P6073.aspx
Hello! This soap sounds UH-MAZING and cannot wait to try! If I wanted to resize this batch for the 10″ silicone mold, how much puree would I want to add?
And what is the superfat level of the soap?
This recipe is about 55 ounces, and the 10″ Silicone Loaf Mold holds 50 ounces, so you can use the same amount of puree! The 5 ounce difference is very small so the pumpkin puree amount can stay the same.
10″ Silicone Loaf Mold: https://www.brambleberry.com/10-Silicone-Loaf-Mold–P5199.aspx
This post has more tips on how to resize recipes: https://www.soapqueen.com/bath-and-body-tutorials/tips-and-tricks/how-to-resize-cold-process-soap-recipes/
Also, this recipe is superfatted at 5%. Have fun trying it out Chelsea! It feels so amazing on the skin. 🙂
-Kelsey with Bramble Berry
This soap is gorgeous! I totally am in love with the colors! Saw and pinned this on Pinterest today!
Thank you so much Stephanie, glad you’re loving this soap! It smells really yummy too. 🙂
-Kelsey with Bramble Berry
Good morning – I was wondering if I need to check the Ph on this recipe. I’ve seen other soap makers, advising to do so. Thanks
Hi Marianella!
You can if you like! Many soapers like to check the pH level of their soap just to be on the safe side. It should be around 9-10. If it’s above that, it can mean it’s lye heavy and irritating on the skin. To ensure the soap is just right, you can check it after about 5 days. 🙂
Learn more about how to pH test your soap here: http://www.soapqueen.com/bath-and-body-tutorials/tips-and-tricks/test-ph-red-cabbage/
pH Strips are really helpful as well: https://www.brambleberry.com/pH-Strips-1-pack-of-50-P4434.aspx
If the soap is lye heavy, don’t throw it out! Lye heavy soap makes great laundry soap. 🙂
Three DIY Laundry Soap Recipes: http://www.soapqueen.com/bath-and-body-tutorials/home-crafts/three-diy-laundry-soap-recipes/
-Kelsey with Bramble Berry
I loved the slow-moving nature of this recipe, giving me plenty of time to work the technique. I substituted almond milk for the water and stuck it in the freezer. House smells good. Can’t wait to unmold and cut it. Thank you for this!
You are very welcome Angela! I just love the smell of Pumpkin Spice Fragrance Oil. This soap feels really great on the skin too. Thanks for your sweet comment. 🙂
-Kelsey with Bramble Berry
When you give a recipe and you have the recipe all written out but in parentheses you have a discount of either lye or water is it already discounted out of your recipe or do I have to discount it out of your recipe that you wrote
Hi CJ!
That water amount (11 ounces) has already been calculated to have a 15% water discount. So, that recipe is already water discounted and ready to make. 🙂
If you like, you can use a full water amount, or discount the soap more. You can find out the full amount of liquid with our Lye Calculator: https://www.brambleberry.com/Pages/Lye-Calculator.aspx
And learn more about water discounting in this post: http://www.soapqueen.com/bath-and-body-tutorials/tips-and-tricks/water-discounting-cold-process-soap-how-why/
-Kelsey with Bramble Berry
Hi there. your soaps look beautiful by the way. I have a query about adding food or botanicals to soaps. I saw a pic on a science website with mould growing on a soap bar. Have you ever had any issues with mould growing on soaps? I was worrying about my own soaps where I have added things like egg yolk etc. I saw this pumpkin recipe and wondered about whether food ever caused any probs? Strange question I know but I have been worrying about it since I read the article.
Hi Sarah!
Thank you so much!
Also, that’s a great question. If you add fresh ingredients to your cold process soap, they go through the saponification process. That means they are changed into soap, which has a pH level that doesn’t allow mold to grow. So, they will have a similar shelf life to soap made without things like milk or eggs. This recipe uses oils with longer shelf lives, so it should last about 9 months to a year. Find out more about oil shelf lives here: http://www.soapqueen.com/bath-and-body-tutorials/tips-and-tricks/free-beginners-guide-to-soapmaking-common-soapmaking-oils/
That being said, if you have a lot of additives, it can decrease the shelf life slightly. For instance, we made Strawberries and Cream Bars that had several additives, including fresh strawberries, cream and strawberry seeds. Because of this, the shelf life was only about 6 months.
Strawberries and Cream Soap: http://www.soapqueen.com/bath-and-body-tutorials/cold-process-soap/strawberries-cream-soap-a-cold-process-tutorial/
Fresh ingredients on top of the soap, like orange peels, lavender buds, etc., can grow mold and will turn brown though. So, when topping your soap with fresh ingredients, that’s something to keep in mind. 🙂
Read more about fresh toppings in the Juicy Orange and Sweet Rose Cold Process Soap: http://www.soapqueen.com/bath-and-body-tutorials/cold-process-soap/juicy-orange-sweet-rose-cold-process/
-Kelsey with Bramble Berry
Woops! Did not put in the fridge as advised, and mine is now totally separated and oil is overflowing over the top of my mold! It looks like raw oils mixed in with a trace of white swirl. Needless to say I’ll have to attempt this again, what a disaster!
Oh no, I’m sorry about that! The pumpkin inside can really heat that soap up quite a bit. You can help emulsify that soap with Hot Process Hero method though! It will blend the colors together and the pumpkin may discolor the soap, but the soap will still feel great. 🙂
Learn how to do the Hot Process Hero method here: http://www.soapqueen.com/bath-and-body-tutorials/tips-and-tricks/hot-process-hero-2/
-Kelsey with Bramble Berry
I love this idea! What if I were to use only two colors (I planned on black and orange)? Would I add all the fragrance oil to the black portion or would I still split the black into separate portions and add half to the first?
Also I will be using natural colorants, activated charcoal and an orange clay mix. Would this interfere with the fragrance oil in any way?
Hi Victoria!
Because the Pumpkin Spice Fragrance Oil discolors, I would recommend adding it only to the black section. If you add it to the orange section, it will discolor a dark brown color. To prevent that, just add the fragrance to the black soap. 🙂
Read more about fragrance discoloration here: http://www.soapqueen.com/bath-and-body-tutorials/tips-and-tricks/why-did-my-soap-turn-brown/
Also, those natural colorants should work just fine with the Pumpkin Spice Fragrance Oil!
-Kelsey with Bramble Berry
Hello! Beautiful soap. I don’t love strong fragrance, sometime causes migraines! Would it be fine to omit or lower the fragrance?
Thanks!
Thank you, glad you like the soap! You can definitely leave the fragrance out of this recipe if you like. Fragrance is considered an additive and is totally optional. 🙂
If you like, you can also use the “Light” scent recommendation on our Fragrance Calculator: https://www.brambleberry.com/Pages/Fragrance-Calculator.aspx
-Kelsey with Bramble Berry
Do you have any tips on lining the mold? I followed the steps on the lining the mold, but soap still shot out of the bottom of the mold. :-/ Maybe it all needs to be at a thicker trace? The brown on the bottom was not leaking, but the layer on top (white, brown and orange) leaked out the bottom. I was able to get it into my silicon tall and narrow mold, so all was not lost.
Hi Heather!
Oh no, I’m sorry about that! Glad to hear you got your soap in the mold. It is normal for a little bit of soap to leak out of a lined mold. I often have problems with that!
Overlapping can really help keep all the soap inside the lining. For this mold, we used two large sheets of freezer paper. The horizontal piece covered the entire bottom of the mold and came out on the edges, and the vertical piece covered the other piece of paper and the bottom entirely. Having that overlapping gives you a couple of layers, which should help your soap stay in the lining. Learn more about lining your mold here: http://www.soapqueen.com/bath-and-body-tutorials/cold-process-soap/how-to-line-any-mold/
Thicker trace can help as well! Because the soap is not as fluid, it’s less prone to leaking. 🙂
-Kelsey with Bramble Berry
Lovely soap! You mentioned you did a water discount and that it will cut down on cure time but still said to cure 4-6 weeks. How much cure time does discounting water take off?
Thanks so much Kelly! The cure time will depend on how hot the soap gets, temperature in your area, etc. Also, while this soap is discounted, there is extra water from the pumpkin. I would imagine the discount will shorten the cure time about a week or so. 🙂
-Kelsey with Bramble Berry
The fragrance called for here is very light. Is there a reason for this please?
Hi Pam!
Pumpkin Spice Fragrance Oil discolors to a light brown in soap, so we only added the fragrance oil to the brown color. That way there is no discoloration in the white and orange soap!
Read more about fragrance discoloration in this blog post: http://www.soapqueen.com/bath-and-body-tutorials/tips-and-tricks/why-did-my-soap-turn-brown/
I can tell you the bars do have a nice strong scent, even though the usage rate is on the lower side! If you like, you can add fragrance oil to the whole batch. Just keep in mind the colors will all turn brown.
Learn how much scent to add with our Fragrance Calculator: https://www.brambleberry.com/Pages/Fragrance-Calculator.aspx
You can also add a non-discoloring fragrance to the white and orange soap! Pure Honey Fragrance Oil would smell really amazing with Pumpkin Spice, and it doesn’t discolor. 🙂
Pure Honey Fragrance Oil: https://www.brambleberry.com/Pure-Honey-Fragrance-Oil-P6218.aspx
-Kelsey with Bramble Berry
Ooh so your only calculating the fragrance amount for the dark brown color. I figure that’s about 16 oz. of the total recipe. Now I’m thinking I added to much to the brown portion, 1.40 oz eek! The soap still seems to be fine. I have been soaping for over a year and still learning! Thank you! ♥
Hi Dana!
That is correct! We just calculated that fragrance for the brown soap. However, you can add all the fragrance that your recipe calls for into the brown soap if you like! We did that with this Goat Milk and Oatmeal Cold Process Soap for a nice strong scent: http://www.soapqueen.com/bath-and-body-tutorials/cold-process-soap/goat-milk-oatmeal-cold-process-soap-tutorial/
-Kelsey with Bramble Berry
I once made a batch with watermelon juice as the liquid. I froze the juice to add to my lye, but I insulated as usual – wrong choice. It really heated up and caramelized the soap. It really didn’t turn out bad, its sort of a caramel watermelon now 🙂 But next time I’m using a sugar additive I need to remember to put it in the fridge.
I was wondering how watermelon would work because of all the sugar! Freezing that soap can definitely help. Caramel watermelon sounds like a fun though. 🙂
-Kelsey with Bramble Berry
Love the colors and the little pumpkin in the middle. I’ve used tomato purée and have also used carrot purée in soaps.
Thanks so much Marleny! Glad you love the colors and little pumpkins. 🙂
I’ve used carrot puree, but not tomato puree! How did it work in soap? Did it give it a nice red color?
-Kelsey with Bramble Berry
The tomato puree gave it a nice orange color.
That’s awesome, I’ll have to give that a try. 🙂
-Kelsey with Bramble Berry
Wow! You got perfect pumpkin shapes in the middle! I have used food in soap, and I like adding it to the oils before I add the lye water. I can then really blend it it until I feel satisfied with how well incorporated it is without worrying about the soap getting to a thick trace. I have done this with a little bit of pumpkin puree leftover from making pies! With cream also added in it makes a nice facial soap
Thank you so much Margaret! It was a total happy accident. We were so excited to see the little pumpkin inside!
Also, that is such an awesome tip, thanks so much for sharing! That way the puree is super smooth in the soap. I’ll definitely have to try that out. 🙂
-Kelsey with Bramble Berry
This is different that a pumpkin spice CP you did. Is there a reason for the remake? Just wondering if the old recipe is still good to use.
Hi Candy!
You can absolutely use the other Pumpkin Spice recipes if you like! We thought it would be fun to play around with the design for this recipe. You can make whichever one you like best. 🙂
-Kelsey with Bramble Berry
Would baby food work?
Hi Suzanne!
I believe that should work just fine! Just make sure the baby food doesn’t have any extra additives, you want it to be just pumpkin and milk. We used baby food in the Buttermilk Baby Bastille Bar tutorial: http://www.soapqueen.com/bath-and-body-tutorials/cold-process-soap/buttermilk-bastille-baby-bar-on-soap-queen-tv/
We didn’t test this recipe with baby food, so a small test batch may be helpful as well. 🙂
-Kelsey with Bramble Berry
Hi! I love this! I make goat milk soap and am wondering if u can just replace the water with milk in this recipe as I normally would?
Hi TJ!
So glad you love the soap!
You can absolutely replace the water in this recipe with milk! Milk adds a creamy, silky feeling to the soap. 🙂
I would recommend freezing the milk into cubes before adding your lye. Also, with the sugar from the pumpkin and natural fats in the milk, I would recommend popping the mold in the freezer for 5-24 hours (probably closer to 24). Then, remove the soap to room temperature and let sit for another 3-5 days before cutting.
Read more about working with milk here: http://www.soapqueen.com/bath-and-body-tutorials/tips-and-tricks/how-to-add-lye-to-milk-for-cold-process-soap/
-Kelsey with Bramble Berry
Thank you!!!
You’re welcome! 🙂
Love that little pumpkin in the center! Beautiful batch.
Thank you so much! We didn’t actually plan that, it just happened! We had some good soapy luck. 🙂
-Kelsey with Bramble Berry
Such a beautiful soap! I love the colors. And the swirl is really nice. I also really love the top! And it is cool to use pumpkinin puree in this soap 🙂
So glad you love the soap Emmeline! Thanks for your sweet comment. We thought the pumpkin puree was a fun fall touch. 🙂
-Kelsey with Bramble Berry
Amazing and beautiful!
Thank you Patrice, that’s so nice of you to say! 🙂
-Kelsey with Bramble Berry