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How to Make Refreshing Lemongrass Soap

Filed Under: Bath & Body Tutorials, Cold Process Soap

Difficulty: Beginner
Time: 1-2 hours
Yields: About 3 pounds of soap

RefreshingLemongrassSoap_edited-1
This Refreshing Lemongrass Soap was created from the Natural Soap Kit for Beginners. It’s a project that’s specifically designed for beginners, but is perfect for the advanced soaper as well. It’s made with natural lemongrass essential oil, and gets its vibrant color from Green Chrome Oxide Pigment. Poppy seeds are added on top for texture and interest. If you’d like to create a scrubby bar, you could add the poppy seeds at trace!

The Natural Soap Kit for Beginners includes everything you need to create this soap. All you need to provide is distilled water, a mixing bowl, stick blender and thermometer. In addition to the ingredients, the kit  includes cute labels and a printed booklet with instructions and cold process soap information. Another bonus? The kit ships free to the lower 48 United States!

In the video above, you can see just how easy it is to make this project. If working with lye makes you a little nervous, knowledge is power! This Lye Safety Guide will teach you everything you need to know about handling lye safely. If you’re a visual learner, watch this video to learn how to handle it safely.

Soap Recipe:
Most of the items below are supplied in the Natural Beginner Soap Kit. See all contents of the kit here.
10″ Silicone Loaf Mold
33 oz. Lots of Lather Quick Mix
10 oz. Distilled Water
4.7 oz. Sodium Hydroxide Lye
2 tsp. Sodium Lactate
2 oz. Lemongrass Essential Oil
1/2 tsp. Green Chrome Oxide Pigment
Poppy Seeds
99% Isopropyl Alcohol in Spray Bottle


Click here to add everything you need for this project to your Bramble Berry shopping cart and get *free shipping* on this kit!

LemongrassSoap

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How to Make Refreshing Lemongrass Soap
 
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This simple cold process recipe is great for beginners, and creates beautiful lemongrass soap!
Author:

Ingredients
  • 10” Silicone Loaf Mold
  • 33 oz. Lots of Lather Quick Mix
  • 10 oz. Distilled Water
  • 4.7 oz. Sodium Hydroxide Lye
  • 2 tsp. Sodium Lactate
  • 2 oz. Lemongrass Essential Oil
  • ½ tsp. Green Chrome Oxide Pigment
  • Poppy Seeds
  • 99% Isopropyl Alcohol in Spray Bottle

Instructions
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, Pure Soapmaking. 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.
  1. In a durable, heat-safe, non-metal container, measure out 4.7 ounces of sodium hydroxide lye flakes. In a separate durable, heat-safe, non-metal container, measure out 10 ounces of room temperature distilled water. Slowly and carefully add the lye to the water and gently stir until the lye has fully dissolved. Do not add the water to the lye. As you stir, the mixture will emit fumes; do not breathe them in. The lye mixture will heat to about 180-190 ° F. Label the container “DANGER: LYE” and place in a safe space to cool until about 120-130 ° F. This takes about an hour.
  2. While the lye solution cools, prep the oils. Fully melt the entire bag of Lots of Lather Quick Mix in the microwave or in a double boiler until there are no chunks or cloudiness. If melting the oils in a double boiler, do not let the bag touch the sides or bottom of the pot, or the plastic bag can melt. Once the oils are completely melted, give the bag a good shake. Measure 33 oz. of oils into a large, non-aluminum bowl capable of holding at least 50 ounces. Set aside.
  3. Measure 2 ounces of Lemongrass Essential Oil into a glass, fragrance oil safe container. Set aside.
  4. The ingredients are now prepped! Check the temperature of your lye solution and oils. To soap, the oils and lye should be 110-130 ° F. If you took off your safety goggles and gloves, place them back on. Once your oils and lye are in that temperature range, carefully add 2 teaspoons of sodium lactate to the lye solution and use a spoon to gently stir in. Wash off spoon immediately. Now, let’s soap!
  5. Add ½ teaspoon Green Chrome Oxide Pigment directly into the measured bowl of oils. Place the stick blender into the oils, and “burp” it by tapping the head of the blender on the bottom of the bowl. This will release bubbles trapped inside the blender. Pulse the stick blender for about 30 seconds to disperse the colorant and get rid of large chunks.
  6. Slowly and carefully add the lye solution to the oils. Pulse the stick blender on and off to begin emulsifying the oils and lye together. Continue to pulse the stick blender for 15-20 seconds and then use it to stir the mixture.
  7. Once you start blending, the mixture will begin to look creamy. After about 1 minute of blending and stirring, the oils and lye will be combined and the soap will be the texture of thin pudding. This is thin trace!
  8. Add the Lemongrass Essential Oil into the soap. Use the stick blender to completely blend in the essential oil.
  9. At this point, the soap batter will have thickened slightly. As you continue to stick blend, it will become thicker. Continue to stick blend the soap batter until it is the texture of thick pudding and is able to form peaks.
  10. Once the soap has thickened, pour the batter into the 10” Silicone Loaf Mold. Tap the mold firmly on the counter to release bubbles. Use a spoon to mound the soap in the center of the mold, forming a peak in the center. If the soap is not holding its shape, allow the soap to sit in the mold for 2-3 minutes, then continue mounding in the center. There is no right or wrong way to create texture on the top of soap, have fun with it!
  11. Once you’re happy with the top of the soap, sprinkle poppy seeds on the top of the soap. Spritz the top of the soap with 99% isopropyl alcohol.
  12. The soap needs to sit and harden in the mold for 2-3 days. It can be hard to wait, but it’s worth it! After two days, pull the sides of the mold away from the soap. If it releases easily, pull the other two sides away from the soap and gently press from the bottom to release the airlock. Gently and carefully, remove the soap and place on a cutting board. If the sides of the mold do not easily release, give the soap another day to harden in the mold.
  13. Using a sharp, non-serrated knife, cut the soap into bars. To prevent the poppy seeds from creating drag marks, lay the soap on its side and cut the bars. Once the loaf is cut into bars, they need to cure for 4-6 weeks. During this time water evaporates from the bar, which creates a firmer and longer lasting bar of soap. Enjoy!

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28 Comments

  1. I have made this soap twice and it has cracked both times. I did not insulate either time and my house is not hot. What could be causing this?

    • Do you see a darker color in the middle of the soap? It may be gelling even at room temperature. Did you adjust the recipe at all, specifically the lye or sodium lactate?

  2. Hi there
    I used this recipe but I made up my own “lots of lather” batch using the calculator and quantities advised. The resulting soap smells quite strong and palm-oily, is there anything I’m doing wrong?

    • I’m not sure why that is. Oils do have a fairly strong scent, but the lemongrass should mask that. How old are your oils?

  3. Is there a water discount? I noticed on the Lots of Lather page, it says 11 oz distilled water for the 33 oz bag, but the recipe here says 10 oz.

  4. I purchase all the ingredients for this batch here and i’m wondering if i could use eucalyptus essential oil for the next batch?
    Will the scent last longer too?
    Lastly do you cover the mold with plastic wrap and towels for 2-3 days?

    • You can definitely use eucalyptus essential oil for your next batch. The scent would go along well with the color palette. As with any fragrance or essential oil, I would recommend making sure the oil is pure and does not contain any other substances that could react poorly with cold process soap. All of the oils from Bramble Berry are tested to ensure they will work well.

      The amount of time your soap needs to be insulated will vary slightly on your climate. But in general, I would recommend leaving it wrapped in towels for at least 3-4 hours, up to overnight.

      -Amanda with Bramble Berry

  5. I live outside of the great United States of America.
    Worse still, what is offered at your end is not readily available on my side.
    How do I lay hands on one of the soap making books such as “The Everything Soapmaking Book”.

  7. Could you please give the recipe if not using the lots of lather quick mix? Thank you very much!

  8. How long will the scent last in this recipe? I’ve had issues with scent fading when using essential oils in my projects.

  9. Hello i want to know about Invigorating Shampoo Bars post i have oily hairs what else i can add to the shampoo bar to reduce the oil in my hairs for example can i add clays? or other suggestions for the ingredients please

  10. I followed these directions and it doesn’t say if you should wrap the soap to keep it warm or if you should refrigerate it to cool it down. It just says let it sit for 2 days. My soap went through a partial gel and since I’m new at this, I need some advice! Help!

  11. Could you provide a recipe for those who don’t use lather quick or the other pre-mixed soaping mixes? I want to make these from scratch!

  12. Sometimes it’s nice to get back to simple basics. I’m always looking for the next awesome complicated pattern, but a simple bar is nice on occasion. I just gave out one last Saturday that was a failed taiwan swirl whose trace was too thin. I saved it with the hot process hero (thanks for that tutorial!) and had a simple olive green bar of soap and the Brambleberry free sample of apple sage scent survived even the cooking!