How to Make Hemp Soap – Easy Step by Step DIY Recipe [VIDEO]

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If you are someone who is naturally drawn to DIY projects and you like to treat your body with natural homemade beauty products then you may like the idea of making your own 100% natural hemp soap.

Why Make Your Own Hemp Soap?

Hemp soap is one of the best soaps that you can use to clean and nurture your body while taking full advantage of the benefits that hemp seeds have to offer through your largest organ, your skin.

Hempseed oil contains vitamin E and essential fatty acids (omega 3 and 6) and it does not just soothe and moisturizes your skin but also has anti-inflammatory properties and slows the ageing of the skin cells.

hemp seed

This hemp soap is also perfectly suitable for people with sensitive skin.

I won’t go into a whole lot of details, if you want to learn more about the benefits of using hemp soap, we have an article just on that here.

Soap making is a very easy and fun project and only requires a small initial investment as most ingredients and tools that you’ll need are usually available in most households.

Soap Making Equipment

Before I made my first batch of soap, I spent countless hours on the internet reading blogs and watching videos to learn everything that I could and to find the best method and recipe.

Based on my research and experience, it is actually very common that after you made your first batch of soap you fall in love with the process. You just can’t help yourself but make another batch.

No wonder, because the possibilities to experiment with the recipes and ingredients, shapes, colours and fragrances are basically endless, you can let your creativity shine through your beautiful handmade soaps.

They also make fantastic gifts for friends and family. These days people tend to value handmade presents, especially if they are made by someone they know and contain only natural ingredients.

gifts

On top of that, you certainly don’t want to miss out on that wonderful feeling when you are using your own homemade soap for the first time.

The enjoyment of the labour of your own hands, all the love and care that you’ve put into making it and of course not to mention the peace of mind of knowing that it is all 100% natural and clean without any nasty chemicals.

Even if you only make soap once, it is likely that you will get a good return on your money and time investment. You will surely have a few beautiful bars of soap to enjoy or give away and no-one can take the learnings and experience away that you gain from your own DIY soap making project.

What is Saponification?

Before we get to the ‘how to’ bit, let’s just quickly look into the science behind it.

Soap making is based on a process called saponification which involves the transformation of the oily components into soap with the aid of lye, also known as sodium hydroxide.

lye (sodium hydroxide)

Lye is a caustic substance that can cause serious damages, such as skin burn or even blindness if it gets into your eye. It is very important to keep in mind to use safety equipment (goggles, gloves and mask), long sleeves and pants and closed footwear at all times when working with lye.

safety goggles, gloves and mask

The main chemical reactions happen during the first 24 – 48 hours, however, you will need to cure your soaps for 4-6 weeks for the saponification process to fully complete. By then you can be assured that there won’t be any lye left in your final products.

When mixing the lye with water, it starts a chemical reaction that produces a lot of heat and even fume.

mixing the lye with water

Therefore, always make sure to add lye to water, not the other way around to avoid any danger or even potential harm to yourself. If you allow the lye to clump at the bottom it may even explode on you. This is the part you MUST pay attention to!

Equipment You Need for soap making.jpg

Equipment You Need

  • Safety goggles
  • Gloves
  • Mask
  • Measuring jug
  • 2 Mixing bowl/saucepans
  • Wooden or silicone spoon
  • Thermometer
  • Stick blender
  • Soap mould
  • Newspaper to cover your workbench
  • Clinging wrap and an old towel to cover the soap in the mould
  • Knife/soap cutter

The measuring jug, mixing bowls, blender and anything else that comes in contact with the lye or soap mixture is best not to be used for food making again.

In the end, you will be able to clean everything nicely however, the best practice is to have these equipment dedicated to soap making only and other similar projects.

Glass, stainless steel and enamel are safe choices when working with lye as some other materials (such as aluminium and some plastics) may react with lye.

When it comes to deciding on the mould, silicone soap moulds can be purchased very inexpensively online or in your local craft and dollar stores. If you are just starting out, and prefer not to spend on the mould at all, you can get creative and make your own wooden mould or just use an old loaf pan.

soap mould

When mixing the lye and water solution into the oils it is essential that they are both in the same temperature range (35 – 40°C or 95 – 105°F). That is when you will need to use a thermometer to compare the temperature of the two liquids until they are the same.

Measuring lye temperature.jpg

Ingredients

Makes 12 x 100g/3.5 ounce bars

  • 1 ⅓ cup cold pressed coconut oil
  • 1 ⅓ cup extra virgin olive oil
  • 1 ⅓ cup hemp seed oil
  • ½ cup lye
  • 1 ½ cup cool/icy filtered water
  • essential oils, colouring, dry herbs and decorative items of your choice

I prefer to use organic ingredients only and try to source them in bulk online.

Soap Making tools and ingredients

Here is a short video to follow along the entire process: 

Instructions

Step 1. Prepare your work area and put your safety gear on.

Step 2. Add ice water to mixing bowl.

Step 3. Measure the right amount of lye and slowly mix it into the cold water.

Measure lye for hemp soap.jpg

Stir it continuously until it starts to clear, then let it sit while it cools down. Remember to apply extra care when working with the lye. Always wear protection, stir gently and try to stand back as much as possible while stirring to avoid the fumes.

Mixing lye with water.jpg

Step 4. Add all 3 oils into a saucepan or mixing bowl. Gently heat the oil mixture to 35 – 40°C (95 – 105°F) on the stove or using a microwave.

Measuring oils for hemp soap

Step 5. When the lye and oils are at the same temperature (between 35 – 40°C/ 95 – 105°F), slowly pour the lye into the oil mix and stir it well.

Measuring the temperature of the oils.jpg

Step 6. Use a stick mixer/immersion blender to mix it until it becomes lighter and thicker in consistency. Lift the blender out of the soap mixture and if it leaves a trace, then it is ready. If you don’t see a trace yet then you will need to keep mixing it a little longer.

Step 7. At this point, you can add colouring, essential oils, dry herbs or decorative items of your choice.

With this batch, we added 40 drops of lavender essential oils and about ⅓ cup of dry lavender flowers.

If you prefer you can also leave your soap unscented and don’t put anything into it.

To alter the original light yellowish/greenish colour of the soap that it gets from the oils, there are a lot of natural colouring options available, such as using cocoa powder, turmeric, beetroot powder etc…

You can also add dry herbs to the mixture for their additional benefits and for exfoliation purposes.

adding dry herbs to soap mixture

And of course, this is also the time to add your favourite essential oil blend to make your soaps smell lovely.

Mix in essential oils.jpg

Whatever you decide to add to your soap, make sure you mix it in evenly.

Step 8. Once you are happy with the final product, pour the mixture into the mould.

Pouring soap mixture into mould

Soap is in the mould

Cover the top with plastic wrap and wrap the mould into an old towel to keep the heat in allowing the saponification process to happen. Let it sit for 24 hours.

Cover mould with plastic wrap.jpg

Step 9. By the next day, your soap should cool down and become nice and firm. If you find it still warm and soft, allow it to sit for another 12 hours to a day. When it is fully set, remove the soap from the mould.

Soap is out of the mould.jpg

If you are using a loaf pan-like mould, cut your soap into bars at this point. To do that, you can use an old knife, pizza cutter or a soap cutter if you have one.

cutting soaps

Then place your soap bars to a baking rack or to a tray laid with parchment paper and let them cure for 4-6 weeks turning them regularly to expose all surfaces to air.

Step 10. Once your soap bars are completely cured they are ready to be used and enjoyed.

To best way to store them is to wrap them into waxed paper or cling film because over time they can sweat and leave a mark on regular wrapping paper.

This is just a simple hemp soap recipe that you can simply half if you only want to experiment with smaller quantities to start with. You can also replace hemp oil or some part of it with other oils such as almond oil and add other ingredients like vitamin E, clays or oatmeal, to make your soaps even more nurturing.

hemp soap bars

Once you start and experiment with making your owns soap, you may find that it is actually quite simple and quick to make perfectly natural and healthy soap for yourself and your family.

Have you tried making your own hemp soap? Share your experience with us in the comments below!

5 thoughts on “How to Make Hemp Soap – Easy Step by Step DIY Recipe [VIDEO]”

  1. I tried this recipe and made HP soap, however, I always weigh my ingredients first and don’t use the cup measurement method listed here. Weighing the ingredients is more accurate. Afterall, I wasn’t baking a cake.

    Reply

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