Glycerin Soap Recipes

You can buy glycerin soap base in any craft store and at the links listed on this site. The glycerin comes in clear and opaque. It makes soap making less intimidating-especially for your first attempts. So, in response to your requests, here are some recipes that don't require all that fuss with lye and oils/fats. Have fun!

Jewelweed Soap

Ingredients

Instructions

Melt glycerin in double boiler or slowly in microwave. Add jewelweed maceration, stir until slightly cooled. Add fragrance and color. Pour into molds. Cool.

You can find jewelweed growing next to poison ivy...it has a little orange jewel like flower. It is used to heal the rash caused by poison ivy.

Lavender Beeswax Soap

Ingredients

Instructions

Melt glycerin over low heat in a double boiler or microwave. Add beeswax and remove from heat. Stir until wax is melted. Add essential oil and color. Stir and pour into mold.

The trick to great glycerin, melt and pour soaps is to keep the heat as low as possible. Too much heat will cause a mushy or beaded appearance after a very short storage time. Keep glycerin soaps sealed in plastic to keep the glycerin from attracting moisture from the air.

Natural Green Chamomile Soap

Ingredients

Instructions

Melt glycerin base in double boiler on low heat. Blend powdered chamomile with glycerin or aloe. Stir this mixture into melted glycerin then stir in contents of chlorophyll capsule. Pour into small tupperware style containers and leave uncovered until cool.

The chlorophyll capsule gives the soap a natural color. Putting soap into this style of container allows for travel use. Wet face and face brush. Run face brush over front of soap and then face. Rinse warm. Allow glycerin soap to dry before putting cover back on.

Glycerin with Shea Butter

Ingredients

Instructions

Mix ingredients thoroughly, pour into molds.

This soap is a good moisturizer. Shea butter has some sun protection qualities, but be sure to still put on the sunscreen!

Marmalade Soap

Ingredients

Instructions

Melt glycerin soap over low heat in double boiler. Add color as melting nears completion and turn off heat. Stir in essential oil. Pour into molds. Mix in flowers and zest with a toothpick as soap cools in the mold.

This soap has a nice fragrance and interesting look. As with all glycerin soaps, wrap tightly as the glycerin will attract moisture from the air.
 

Calamine Soap

Ingredients

Instructions

MIx the calamine, clay, and liquid glycerin until smooth, adding a small amount of water, if needed. Whisk the mixture into the soap base, pour into molds, and cool.

Calamine soap is mild and good for skin irritations, such as poison ivy.

Lavender and Rosemary Soap

Ingredients

Instructions

Melt soap base and add other ingredients. Stir until blended, then pour into molds.

Infusion basically means to make tea. Pour hot water over fresh or dried plant parts. Three tablespoons of herb per cup of water for ten minutes should do fine. Use distilled water, if possible. Non-chlorinated water is best.

Honey Bee Soap

Ingredients

Instructions

Melt beeswax in double boiler and mix with melted soap base. Add honey and stir until melted. Pour into mold. Release from mold when hardened. Let cure on a drying rack.

Try using a bee skip (hive) mold. This is a smooth, light fragrance soap.

Transparent Soap

This is a basic recipe for "glycerin" soap. Actually, all homemade soaps are glycerin soaps because the natural glycerin in them has not been removed. This recipe is for what we think of when we say glycerin soap.

Ingredients

Instructions

Measure and mix the lye and water. Allow to cool until between 135 and 145 degrees F. (57-62 Celsius)

Heat the oils and bring to the same temperature as the lye solution.

Once the lye and oils are the same temperature, mix and stir for five minutes.

Add the alcohol and stir another five minutes. This should form a clear solution.

Prepare a plastic cover for the soap pot. A large piece of 4 ml plastic should be secured with a bungee cord. Make sure there is some extra plastic draping over as this will need to expand a little and must stay secured. Secure a second piece of plastic in the same manner to reduce the evaporation of alcohol during boiling.

Set the soap pot in a larger pot filled with three inches of softly boiling water.

Within five minutes the soap mixture should begin to boil and the plastic will puff up. Adjust the temperature on the stove to keep this gently boil going inside the soap pot. This solution need two hours to saponify/neutralize. Check the plastic to make sure it doesn't escape from the bungee cord.

After two hours, stir in the glycerin and the sugar solution. Stir for about three minutes. To test put a spoonful of soap onto an inverted glass. Once cool, is it clear? If not try adding two ounces more of alcohol, which may have escaped during boiling.

Cover and let sit for 15 minutes before adding dye or fragrance.

Use caution when adding alcohol to simmering soap. Be certain the soap is not too hot. Do not boil.

Translucent Soap

This is another basic recipe for "glycerin" soap.

Ingredients

Instructions

Take the oil, fat, lye and water and Follow Basic Soap instructions.

Allow soap to set up for two days.

Slice/grate the soap into small pieces. Use gloves during this process because the lye may be still active.

Melt over low heat until gently simmering.

As the soap is melted, add the sugar and the vodka. Mix in gently to avoid sudsing which can make final bars murky instead of clear.

Continue to simmer for 10 minutes to boil off the alcohol. A layer will form on the top but underneath should be clear.

Remove from heat and skim off top coating. This can be used to make soap balls.

Pour the soap into individual molds.

Use caution when adding alcohol to simmering soap. Be certain the soap is not too hot. Do not boil.

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