Easy Green Gift: DIY Eco-Soap
Need a quick and easy green gift idea that will fit anyone on your gift list? Why not try your hand at making your own eco-soap? It’s a whole lot easier than you might think. The awesome folks at Bramble Berry sent me this simple recipe:
Ingredients
Herbs (such as oatmeal, coffee, spirulina, or clay)
1 pound (16 ounces) Bramble Berry ‘melt and pour’ soap, organic base
1 ounce essential oil (such as lavender or eucalyptus)
Soap mold (or any kind of empty container such as an empty yogurt container, old tofu container, empty soy milk container, etc.)
Rubbing Alcohol
Making Soap
- Prep your herbs and make sure they are the right size for gentle exfoliation. Sharp herbs may be too abrasive on the skin.
- Cut the ‘melt and pour’ soap into 1 x 1″ cubes.
- Using your microwave, heat the soap in 30-second increments until the soap is fully melted.
- Add .25 ounces to .50 ounces of essential oil. Remember, if you use a yellow or orange colored fragrance, your soap base will look less clear and look more yellow/orange.
- Mix in your herbs or additives. Stir until the herbs seem mostly suspended.
- Pour your scented and herb’ed soap into the make-shift mold.
- Do one finishing touch of rubbing alcohol to finish off your soap and give it a nice smooth surface.
- Wait for the soap to harden, pop or unwrap the soap out of the mold, wrap soap with saran wrap, label and enjoy the compliments you get!
Tip: Don’t fill your make-shift soap mold all the way up. It helps for easy release to fill 85% of the way to the top and not the entire way.
Wow, what a great gift idea and how-to wrapped in one. I’m going to have to team up with my girlfriend and make a few bars!
Thanks!