How To Make Herbal Soap

herbal_soapWith the popularity of herbal soap now a days, at least you know that you will have a chance to succeed in this business because first of all it is consumable, second, many people are now becoming beauty conscious as well as health conscious. There are dozens or if not hundreds of types of herbal soap in the market like for example the papaya soap, kalamansi soap, mangosteen soap, lemon grass and other herbal soap that I already forgot to mention.Since the procedure I got for making the herbal soap is very flexible, I mean you can make virtually any kind of herbal soap you can imagine, with a little creativity and ingenuity, you can make a unique or specialized herbal soap.

You need to research the your local library or the internet and find medicinal plants and it’s curative properties and incorporate it into the herbal soap by making herbal extracts which you will use on making the herbal soap. For example, you can create something like a mosquito repellent herbal soap which can last for many hours. So again, without much ado, let me introduce to you the procedure on making the herbal soap.

Materials/Ingredients you will need:

Refined coconut oil 4.5 kg
Caustic soda 3.25 kg
EDTA 70 g
Citric acid 70 g
CDEA 50 g
Light mineral oil 70 g
Sodium chloride 5 g
Scent
Herbal extract
Color [optional]

Equipment/Tools

Plastic pail
Hydrometer – 0 – 70oBaume
Weighing scale
Cutter
Wooden stirrer/manual or electric mixer
Moulder
Stamper

Preparation of Materials

1. Caustic soda, 32oBe
Dissolve 1 kg of caustic soda in 2.8 kg water. Cool to room temperature. Check the concentration with a hydrometer. Adjust (if necessary) and filter if needed before using.

2. Additives
Dissolve EDTA, citric acid and NaCl in 100 mL water. For color, make a 1% solution of color in oil.

3. Preparation of herbal extract
Osterize or blend 200 grams of material in 200 mL water. Strain thru cheesecloth.

4. Preparation o the soap

  • Weigh carefully the required quantity of coco oil. To make a colored soap, add about 10 mL of the 1% color in oil solution or the amount to suit the desired intensity of color.
  • Add the required amount of caustic soda with stirring until the condensed milk-like consistency is attained. This usually takes 45 minutes to 1 hour.
  • Add the dissolved additives and continue stirring for 5 minutes more.
  • Add the light mineral oil, CDEA, herbal extract and scent. Stir for another 5 minutes.
  • Pour the soap mixture into the moulder. Let it stand at room temperature for 12 hours or until soap solidifies.
  • Remove soap from the moulder and cut into desired size.
  • Stamp and pack. Allow to age for about 7 days to complete the saponification.

Source: mis.dost.gov.ph