I had this little bottle of precious Vetiver essential oil sitting on my desk for a very long time. My plan was to use it in a cold process soap recipe. Every now and then I would open it and take a sniff. I was intrigued by the thick, viscous amber colored fluid. The smell was like no essential oil I had tried up to that point: woody, earthy with a hint of smokiness.
But I didn’t know what to do with it. I had read up on different ways to blend it with other essential oils, and everyone seemed to say that it was good for anchoring scents, but too much would overpower the blend. What I wanted was to figure out a way to have the Vetiver front and center with supporting notes that would enhance it’s deep masculine earthiness.
After lots of experimenting I came up with a blend that I really love. It certainly is a manly scent, but can be enjoyed by gals who love masculine scents as well. I hope you love this vetiver soap recipe as much as I do 🙂
For this tutorial I will be using my trusted Pringles can to make a round soap. You can find many pictures of how to prepare and line it for soapmaking here.
You ready to give this vetiver soap recipe a try? Great, let’s get started:
If you’ve never made cold process soap, make sure to read up on lye safety, equipment needed and my beginner tutorial, before you dive in.
Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links. Meaning at no additional cost to you will I earn a commission, if you choose to click through and make a purchase.
What you’ll need:
- three heat resistant containers: one to make the lye solution, one to blend up your soap and a smaller one to separate out the part of the soap that will be colored black
- stick blender
- accurate digital scale
- empty Pringles can
- freezer paper
- tape
- spatula
- whisk
- pipette (optional) to measure out essential oils
Cold Process Soap Recipe: for 30 oz / 840 g of soap:
this recipe uses a superfat of 5% and a lye concentration of 38%
- lye: 3 oz / 84 g
- distilled water: 4.8 oz / 137 g
- coconut oil (30%): 6.3 oz / 180 g
- canola oil (25%): 5.3 oz / 150 g
- shea butter (20%): 4.2 oz / 120 g
- kokum butter (14%): 3 oz / 84 g
- castor oil (6%): 1.3 oz / 36 g
- sesame oil (5%): 1 oz / 30 g
- lime essential oil: 7 g
- cedarwood (virginia) essential oil: 8 g
- vetiver essential oil: 8 g
- kaolin clay: 1 Tbsp
- activated charcoal: 1/2 tsp
Instructions:
Preparing the Mold:
- Cut out a piece of freezer paper about 7 x 9 Inches
- Cut the bottom of the Pringles can off, so that the remainder measures about 7 Inches tall
- Firmly tape the cap on (you don’t want any soap batter seeping out at the bottom)
- Line the can with freezer paper – the coated side facing inward
Making the Soap:
- Prepare the lye solution
- Measure and melt the coconut oil, shea butter and kokum butter over low heat
- Add canola, castor and sesame oil
- Wait until lye solution and oils have cooled down to room temperature
- Prepare kaolin clay by dissolving it in 1 Tbsp of oils from your base
- Measure and add essential oils
- Combine lye solution and melted oils and butters by stick blending until emulsified (this recipe traced quick for me, you want to allow yourself time to incorporate colors and swirls)
- Separate out a third (or 280 g) of the batter and add 1/2 tsp of activated charcoal
- Add kaolin clay to the remaining batter
- Thoroughly whisk in the colorants making sure there are no more clumps
- Create an “in the pot swirl” by pouring the black batter into the white. Pouring the batter in three different spots making a circle, take your spatula and go through each black spots only once moving in a circle
- Pour the batter into the mold and tap it down to release any air bubbles
- Insulate the mold with a heavy towel
- After 18 – 24 hours cut into bars
- Cure for 3-4 weeks
Want more awesome natural soap recipes? Why not try:
Until next time. Happy Tinkering!
You always have all kinds of great ideas to try! Thanks for sharing!
Aww, thank you Mary!
I’m glad you enjoy it <3
Thanks for the recipe. Have to get some Kokum butter, which I am having a little trouble finding here in Aussie, so May have to end up using cocoa butter instead. So looking forward to making this and the two other ones you have on this page
I have really enjoyed the tutorials but I’m yet to try it.
I’ve not come across kakum butter and sesame oil here in Ghana before, so please what can I use instead?
Hi Shadrach,
you could try to use more shea butter instead of the kokum and maybe sweet almond oil instead of sesame oil. Whenever you make changes to a recipe, you HAVE to run the entire recipe through a lye calculator since the amount of lye needed will be different. I use Soapcalc. Happy Tinkering!
If I want to add EDTA in my soap for its use with hard water.at what stage should I add
Hi, I’m not sure. I’ve never used EDTA in my soaps.
Hi Celine! I cannot wait to try it. Did you superfat though and at what percentage?
Sorry I just found the infos. I definitely need some glasses now😄
Thanks again for sharing.
😃
Hi Celine! Great Recipe! Thank you!
Just one query
Don’t the lye & water have to be the same weight?
This recipe uses a lye solution that consists of 38% lye and 62% water. You can make a 50/50 lye solution, but you have to be very precise in your measurements and have to be ready to work fast since the soap will become solid quickly.
Hey do you know if you can break the recipe down for me if I were to use a melt and pour soap base?. I have all the other ingredients needed.
Hi Henry, for the same amount of melt and pour soap base (30 oz/ 840g) you would use 5 g cedarwood essential oil, 5 g vetiver and 4g lime. Let me know if you have more questions!
Hi, Celine I am so happy to find you . I have learnt a lot , I’m eager to make my rose clay and coconut milk soap. Can I use it on my whole body?
Hi, yes you can 🙂
Hi, I love your recipes! Just wondering what I can substitute for the sesame oil, it is a strong smelling oil, or is it not too noticable in the finished product?
It’s a very small amount, the smell isn’t noticeable. You could substitute with sweet almond oil.
Let me know if you have any questions:)