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Red Apple Cold Process Soap

Filed Under: Cold Process Soap

Difficulty: Intermediate
Time: 1 hour
Yields: 9 Bars

Here’s  a great way to dress up an otherwise unassuming bar of soap. It reminds me of the painted heart soap technique that we learned at Soap Weekend Intensive 2011 (fun memories!) but with a twist. Adorable little apples dot the surface of this soap made with our newest Quick Mix oil recipe. Red Apple fragrance oil pairs perfectly with the cute and kitschy apple design! Yum to the eleventh power.

Red Apple CP

Recipe:

33 oz Basic Quick Mix Oil

4.7 oz Sodium Hydroxide (Lye)

10.9 oz Distilled Water

2 oz Red Apple Fragrance Oil

Green Chrome Oxide

Burgundy Oxide

9 Bar Birchwood Mold

2 Condiment Bottles

Click here to add everything you need for this project to your Bramble Berry shopping cart!

PS – This technique, of course, works for all cold process soap recipes – not just ones with the Quick Mix Oils =)

If you’ve never made cold process soap before, stop right now and watch Cold Process Episodes 1-4 on Soap Queen TV (for free!), especially the episode on lye safety. I highly recommend you get a couple of basic recipes under your belt before attempting this technique. Bramble Berry also offers a number of books on soapmaking, including this downloadable e-book. Knowledge is power!

SAFETY: Get on your safety gear, that means gloves and goggles for sure! Make sure kids, pets, and other tripping/distraction hazards are out of the house or securely occupied for at least a solid hour. Always soap in a well ventilated area.

COLOR PREP: Disperse 1/4 teaspoon Green Chrome Oxide and 1/4 teaspoon Burgundy Oxide in 1 teaspoon Sunflower Oil (or any lightweight liquid oil) each. Mix with a mini-mixer until well combined. Push the dry powder into the oil to fully saturate it before turning on the mini-mixer or you’ll get a messy pouf of pigment! We do this to work out any of the colorant clumps.

ONE: Slowly and carefully add the lye to the water and stir until clear. Set aside to cool.

TWO: Melt the entire bag of Basic Quick Mix Oil and shake well to ensure an even distribution of the individual oils in the mix. Measure 33 ounces of Quick Mix into a large container.

THREE: Once the lye water and oils have cooled to 130 degrees or below, slowly and carefully pour the lye water into the oils. I like to pour the lye water down the shaft of my stick blender in order to prevent air bubbles. Blend until you achieve medium trace.

Blending lye and oils

FOUR: Fill each of the condiment bottles about 1/4 of the way full with the soap batter. Pour all of the dispersed Green Chrome Oxide into one condiment bottle, and all of the dispersed Burgundy Oxide into the other. Replace the caps and with a finger placed over the tip, shake the bottles until the colorant is fully mixed in. Point the tip away from your face when you remove your finger.

Filling Condiment Bottles

FIVE: Add the fragrance oil and whisk or hand stir in. Pour the rest of the soap batter into the 9 Bar Birchwood Mold. Insert the dividers.

Pouring Soap into Mold

SIX: Using the condiment bottle filled with red soap, drop 2 (or more, if you wish!) nickel-sized dots in each space created by the divider. Follow that with a much tinier drop of green soap, placed on the edge of each red dot. These are the beginnings of the apples and stems!

Dotting Green next to Red

SEVEN: Using the tip of a skewer, drag a line from the top of the green dot to just inside the edge of the red dot. Repeat for all of the dots.

Dragging with a skewer

EIGHT: Next, add some texture and shape to the apples using the back of a spoon (I’m using a plastic spoon with the handle broken off).

NINE: Spray the entire surface of the soap with 91% Isopropyl Alcohol and replace the Birchwood Mold’s lid for insulation. Allow to sit, insulated, for 24 hours and unmold in 2-3 days.

Red Apple CP

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39 Comments

  1. which is the best and easiest method, hot press or cold method of making soap ?

  2. Could this recipe be made with apple juice instead of water to make it extra apple-y? You really want the apple spirit 😛

    • Hi Danielle!

      While that’s a great idea, I would not recommend using apple juice. Apple juice contains a lot of extra sugar, and the sugar could make your soap very hot, or even lead to a soap volcano!

      Coconut Milk Soap Volcano:
      http://www.soapqueen.com/bath-and-body-tutorials/cold-process-soap/coconut-milk-soap-volcano-2/

      If you still want to give it a try, I would recommend making the lye water hours in advance, and placing it into the fridge to chill completely. Also, be very careful when mixing the lye in the water 🙂 If you have any more questions, let me know!

      -Amanda with Bramble Berry

  4. Ty very much for your response i really need a basic to go by recipe and I think i will use this one for a while, i am really new at this so im still kinda scared to explore just yet. Thanks alot. I love this website and bramble berry is the best.

  5. I HAVE MADE TWO OF YOUR RECIPES AND THEY HAVE TURNED OUT GREAT. I WOULD LIKE TO MAKE THIS SOAP BUT I DON’T HAVE ANY CASTOR OIL TO MAKE THE LOTS OF LATHER RECIPE, I WAS JUST WONDERING IF THERE WAS SOMETHING ELSE I COULD USE IN ITS PLACE

    • You could always use a basic recipe like 30% Palm Oil, 30% Coconut Oil, 30% Olive Oil, and 10% Sweet Almond Oil. No Castor needed! Here’s your recipe to fit this mold:

      3.3 oz Sweet Almond Oil
      9.9 oz Coconut Oil
      9.9 oz Olive Oil
      9.9 oz Palm Oil
      4.7 oz Sodium Hydroxide (lye)
      10.9 oz Distilled Water

      Hope this helps! =)

      -Kristen with Bramble Berry

  6. I was just wondering if there’s a less expensive mold I can use for this soap. I don’t want to invest in the wooden molds until after our move. Thanks 🙂

    • Hi Dawn!

      You can actually use any mold that you would like for this project and I would suggest one of our versatile silicone molds like the 12 Bar Square or Rectangle original Bramble Berry molds!

      12 Bar Square Silicone Mold: https://www.brambleberry.com/12-Bar-Square-Silicone-Mold-P4908.aspx

      12 Cavity Rectangle Silicone Mold: https://www.brambleberry.com/12-Cavity-Rectangle-Silicone-Mold-P5536.aspx

      With both of these molds you are going to have about .6 oz of soap left over (they hold 48 oz and the recipe equals to 48.6), so be sure to have an extra mold so you don’t waste any soap! =)

      Let me know if you have any other questions! 🙂
      -Becky with Bramble Berry

      • Thank you, I will most definitely try one of those and I have the small mold I got with the guild kit I purchased 🙂 I love being able to make small batches with that one 🙂 Can’t wait to make this soap, red apple is a favorite scent in our home 🙂 Thank you again 🙂

        • Hi Dawn!

          Yay! We are super excited to see how your batch turns out, and if you get any pictures, we’d love for you to share them with us on Bramble Berry’s Facebook page. 🙂

          Happy Soaping!
          -Becky with Bramble Berry

  7. I’m wondering how you get all your cp soaps to come out so white. I’m using a very oo heavy recipe as I have majorly dry skin. I tried an in the pot swirl, and colored 30% of the soap using one oxide and one mica. The end result was so blah. My uncolored soap was yellowish, and my blue and green were so dull. 🙁

    • Good morning, Megan!

      It sounds like your recipe came out a little yellow because it was heavy on OO (Olive Oil). Instead of the OO, try using a bit of Canola in its place. What is interesting is that not all Olive Oils produce the same color. Some turn white, others are tan and some even turn green! As a last resort, you can use Titanium Dioxide in your soap to make it brighten up a bit. I hope this helps. =)

      -Becky with Bramble Berry

  8. OMG!!! I MUST.have. that. APRON!! Totally cute and unexpected cupcake sighting!! 😉

    The soaps are equally as cute! I just ordered some of this FO to play with.. thanks for sharing!!

    ~*Renee*~

  10. I have an apple festival show in october. I am definitley doing this one. Thank you for showing the colorants too, I have been looking for a true red for cp and always forget about the oxides.

  15. I always love the cold process tutorials, since that is what I usually make. I am creatively challenged most days, so it’s fun to see some ideas! I have my recipes that I normally use, but occasionally try out one of your recipes, so my only complaint is with your quick mix oils. I buy my oils in MUCH bigger quantities, so I can’t try out your recipe, as you don’t list the percentages of each oil. Love the apples though!

      • So, I meant that I do normally use my own recipes that I like, but occasionally I like to try the ones in your tutorials, ie I liked how white the soap came out in this one. The link you listed does not have a recipe with the same oils that are in the basic quick mix. Anyway, maybe it didn’t come out right, but I just meant that it would be nice to list the % of each oil used also, for those of us who already have our oils. I hope that makes more sense! 🙂 BTW, I would have never thought that burgundy oxide would make such a true red, that is great to know!!

        • It’s basically the Lots of Lather recipe at that link =)

          It really varies based on the Olive Oil you use. We’ve found HUGE variation in the final bar based on the olive oil that was used.

  18. This one’s really neat 🙂 I see me doing something similar with a cherry scented soap VERY soon…I like this idea tons. Thanks for the ever present inspiration in my day! (Can you tell I’m crafty but not that creative lol?)