Go Back

step-by-step guide to making melt and pour homemade soap

Making melt and pour homemade soap is the perfect way to get started to your homemade soap journey. It’s a great way to customize your own soap bars while using good quality, natural ingredients. The best part is that you will only need a few ingredients, a few fun optional ingredients, soap molds and a little bit of time.
Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Equipment

  • soap molds
  • double boiler or large saucepan
  • glass measuring cup or large glass bowl
  • wooden spoon

Ingredients
  

  • 1 pound melt and pour soap base
  • 80-100 drops essential oils
  • 5 tsp natural skin enhancers (see notes)
  • 5 tsp natural exfoliators (see notes)

Instructions
 

  • Chop up 1 pound of your melt and pour soap base into similar size pieces, about 1-2 inches in size. This will make it easier to melt and stir.
  • Place the pieces of melt and pour soap into a double boiler on your stovetop. For mine, I used a large saucepan with water halfway and a 4 cup glass measuring cup to make pouring into the molds easier. Heat water to a gentle boil, stirring the soap pieces after they start to melt.
  • Continue stirring the soap until smooth and no pieces are left. Once that happens, remove the measuring cup from the stovetop and dry off the bottom. The measuring cup will be hot, so make sure to have towels and pot holders nearby. Turn off the stove.
  • If you are making all of the same soap, then you can add you essential oils, optional skin enhancers and optional skin exfoliators directly to the melted soap based in your measuring cup. For 1 pound of soap base, plan to use 80-100 drops of essential oils. Then you can a total of 5-10 teaspoons of select skin enhancer or exfoliator. I always start with the smaller amounts, and then add more if needed.
    Mix the soap, essential oils, skin enhancers and/or exfoliators well. Then pour into your soap molds of choice. I find that this makes around 5 bars of soap, depending on the molds you use.
  • If you are making different types of soap, then you can pour the soap into the molds first. Then add 15-20 drops of essential oils into each soap mold. If using a skin enhancer or skin exfoliator in your recipe, then add 1-2 teaspoons to each soap mold and stir gently.
    You will either need to have all your supplies ready to go at once or work on one bar of soap at a time, so your melted soap doesn't start to harder. If this happens, then you can put it back in the double boiler for a few minutes to melt the soap again.
  • Leave the soap in the molds for several hours to overnight. I find the soap is usually ready after a few hours, but I like to leave it overnight to be sure it has hardened. Peel the molds back slowly and gently, so the soap comes out clean and beautiful.
  • If you aren't going to use your melt and pour homemade soap right away, then you will need to wrap your soap so it stays in good condition for your future use.

Notes

Natural skin enhancers : raw honey, dried flowers, dried milk, aloe, bentonite clay
Natural exfoliators : coffee grounds, poppy seeds, pink himalayan salts, raw sugar, oatmeal
1 pound of melt and pour soap base makes about 5 bars of soap, but it will vary depending on the soap molds you use.