How to Make 3 Spring Handmade Vegan Soap Recipes

Spring is a wonderful time to start a new hobby. If you’ve never made soap before, make sure to stop by my tutorial pages and check out my book: Natural Soap Making Book for Beginners. Handmade soap is fun, frugal, and healthy. Below, I’ll teach you how to make 3 Spring handmade vegan soap recipes that use herbs and oils that are beneficial for those with Spring allergies or utilize spring herbs and other plants.

Essential Oils for Allergies

There are a number of essential oils that tend to help people with Spring allergies. I talk about these in more detail in 2 Allergy Relief Soap Recipes.

I have Spring allergies that tend to get worse or better, depending on age, current health, and how everything blooms. I’ve found that certain essential oils help more than others. They can calm itchy eyes and throat, and relax irritated skin from brushing up against plants while weeding.

Here’s a list of my favorites:

• peppermint
• lavender
• lemon
• basil
• eucalyptus
• tea tree
• bergamot
• lemongrass

These can be used in a diffuser, on a leather bracelet, or (what I like best) in soap so that it is applied directly to the skin. The aromatherapy benefits are still great in a soap bar.

I’ve used a combination of some of these oils in the soap recipe below. It’s vegan and nut free for those who need it.

Don’t forget that you can change the essential oils used below to others in the list below, keeping the amount the same. You can also add these same oils to another recipe. For example, if you prefer a tallow soap, just use your favorite tallow soap recipe and add the essential oils below or those in the list above.

Allergy Relief Soap Recipe – Nut Free Vegan Soap Recipe

Makes: 12 four ounce bars

Superfat: 10%

Ingredients:

• 10 ounces olive oil
• 8 ounces babassu oil
• 4 ounces shea butter
• 4 ounces apricot kernel oil
• 4 ounces cocoa butter
• 3 ounces castor oil
• 4.3 ounces lye
• 12 ounces water
• 0.25 ounces basil essential oil
• 0.5 ounces eucalyptus essential oil
• 0.5 ounces bergamot essential oil

Directions:

1. Weigh olive oil, babassu oil, shea butter, apricot kernel oil, cocoa butter, and castor oil and add to a large stainless steel pot and heat on low until everything is melted. Allow to cool to 90-100 degrees Fahrenheit.
2. Put on protective eye gear and gloves and weigh lye into a zip close bag and set aside. Weigh water and take both the water and lye outside. Put on a charcoal mask and carefully add lye into the water and stir until dissolved.  Allow to cool to 90-100 degrees Fahrenheit.
3. Prepare the mold by lining if necessary.
4. When lye water and oil are both around 90-100 degrees, pour lye water into large pot of oils and blend with a hand mixer until light to medium trace.
5. Add essential oils and blend until incorporated.
6. Pour into mold. Cover and insulate for 24 hours.
7. Remove soap from mold. If it seems too soft to remove, wait another 6 hours and recheck. Cut the soap into 12 four ounce bars and allow to cure in a well ventilated location for 3-6 weeks.

I’ve put this recipe into a printable form below to make it easier to print and have in front of you while you’re creating.

Spring Herbs for Soap Making

There are a few plants that pop up in your yard and garden that are actually amazingly good for your skin and body. The top on my list in dandelions!

Dandelions are a plant that most people have growing in their front yards and can identify easily. When infused into oil, dandelions have anti-inflammation properties and can help with sore joints. It also helps with the detox process.

You can learn all about the great properties it provides by reading how to make dandelion oil here.

It’s a wonderful herb to add to soap!

How to Make Dandelion Oil

To make this recipe, you’ll need to gather some dandelions from the yard. Pull up the root and all. The best dandelion oil is made with root, leaves, and flowers, but use what you can get your hands on.

Wash the dandelion parts. You’ll need 1 cup of dandelion parts.

Dandelion Oil Recipe

• 1 cup fresh dandelion leaves, roots, and/or flowers
• 1-1/2 cups olive oil

Directions:

1. Gather dandelion leaves, root, and or/flowers and make sure they are clean and dry.
2. Place dandelions and oil in a saucepan over low heat. Do not let boil. Stir and gently mash dandelion to the sides and bottom of the pan on and off for 15 minutes.
3. Remove from heat and allow to cool.
4. Strain and use the olive oil in your soap recipe.

Dandelion Vegan Soap Recipe

I’ve added eucalyptus and lemon essential oils to this recipe for an herbal and bright scent, but feel free to switch up the essential oils, using about 1 ounce total.

Makes: 12 four ounce bars

Superfat: 5%

Ingredients:

• 12 ounces dandelion infused olive oil (see instructions)
• 9 ounces coconut oil
• 7 ounces cocoa butter
• 3 ounces sweet almond oil
• 2 ounces avocado oil
• 4.7 ounces lye
• 10.6 ounces water
• 0.5 ounces eucalyptus essential oil
• 0.5 ounces lemon essential oil

Directions:

1. Make dandelion oil by gathering dandelion leaves, root, and or/flowers and make sure they are clean and dry. Place dandelions and oil in a saucepan over low heat. Do not let boil. Stir and gently mash dandelion to the sides and bottom of the pan on and off for 15 minutes. Strain and use the olive oil in this soap recipe.
2. Weigh dandelion infused olive oil, coconut oil, cocoa butter, sweet almond oil, and avocado oil and add to a large stainless steel pot and heat on low until everything is melted. Allow to cool to 90-100 degrees Fahrenheit.
3. Put on protective eye gear and gloves and weigh lye into a zip close bag and set aside. Weigh water and take both the water and lye outside. Put on a charcoal mask and carefully add lye into the water and stir until dissolved.  Allow to cool to 90-100 degrees Fahrenheit.
4. Prepare the mold by lining if necessary.
5. When lye water and oil are both around 90-100 degrees, pour lye water into large pot of oils and blend with a hand mixer until light to medium trace.
6. Add essential oils and blend until incorporated.
7. Pour into mold. Cover and insulate for 24 hours.
8. Remove soap from mold. If it seems too soft to remove, wait another 6 hours and recheck. Cut the soap into 12 four ounce bars and allow to cure in a well ventilated location for 3-6 weeks.

Below is the recipe in printable format. Enjoy!

Another herb that’s available in the spring is chickweed. It’s one of the first “weeds” that start growing in the spring and are seen by many farmers as a good sign to move plants outdoors.

Chickweed is filled with flavonoids, phenolic acid, saponins, coumarins, and terpenoids. Today, besides being a great addition to your salad, chickweed is used for topical treatments because of its soothing abilities. It’s a great combination with June’s jewelweed for those who suffer summer itchiness and irritated skin due to poison ivy or other irritations.

I’ve added a few other allergy relief essential oils to the vegan soap recipe below so that you can get the aromatherapy and herbal benefits from chickweed and the essential oils.

Chickweed Soothing Soap-Vegan Soap Recipe

Ingredients:

• 12 ounces chickweed infused olive oil (see instructions)
• 9 ounces coconut oil
• 7 ounces cocoa butter
• 3 ounces sweet almond oil
• 2 ounces avocado oil
• 4.7 ounces lye
• 10.6 ounces water
• 0.5 ounces lavender essential oil
• 0.5 ounces bergamot essential oil

Directions:

1. Make chickweed oil by gathering chickweed leaves and make sure they are clean and dry. Place chickweed and oil in a saucepan over low heat. Do not let boil. Stir and gently mash to the sides and bottom of the pan on and off for 15 minutes. Strain and use the olive oil in this soap recipe.
2. Weigh chickweed infused olive oil, coconut oil, cocoa butter, sweet almond oil, and avocado oil and add to a large stainless steel pot and heat on low until everything is melted. Allow to cool to 90-100 degrees Fahrenheit.
3. Put on protective eye gear and gloves and weigh lye into a zip close bag and set aside. Weigh water and take both the water and lye outside. Put on a charcoal mask and carefully add lye into the water and stir until dissolved.  Allow to cool to 90-100 degrees Fahrenheit.
4. Prepare the mold by lining if necessary.
5. When lye water and oil are both around 90-100 degrees, pour lye water into large pot of oils and blend with a hand mixer until light to medium trace.
6. Add essential oils and blend until incorporated.
7. Pour into mold. Cover and insulate for 24 hours.
8. Remove soap from mold. If it seems too soft to remove, wait another 6 hours and recheck. Cut the soap into 12 four ounce bars and allow to cure in a well ventilated location for 3-6 weeks.

Here’s the recipe in printable format: