How to Make Shea Butter Soap

Last Updated: April 8, 2021

Shea butter is organic, non-toxic, unprocessed, and can be used in cooking. As a moisturizer it is known to rejuvenate adult skin, making it look and feel more resilient. It may also help with conditions like cracks, ulcers, small wounds, eczema, dermatitis, and soothes aching muscles. Because of the way shea butter restructures the skin, you can use it in the bath as your daily soap, to help with stretch marks, and in anti-aging formulas. While costly to purchase, shea butter can me made at home for a fraction of the price.

Ingredients

Shea Butter Coconut Milk Soap

4.8 oz (135 g) Shea butter
6.35 oz (180 g) Coconut oil
12.7 oz (360 g) Olive oil
3.175 oz (90 g) Castor oil
4.8 oz (135 g) Palm oil
7.05 oz (200 g) Distilled water
3.42 oz (97 g) Coconut milk
4.34 oz (123.2 g) Lye

Shea Butter Facial Soap

3.88 oz (110 g) Distilled water
2.16 oz (61 g) Lye
5.28 ox (155 g) Olive oil
4.48 oz (127 g) Coconut oil
3.2 oz (91 g) Sunflower oil
1.76 oz (50 g) Castor oil
1.28 oz (36 g) Shea butter
½ tsp (2.5 ml) Jojoba oil
½ tsp (2.5 ml) Vitamin E oil
1 tsp (5 ml) Zinc oxide
½ tsp (2.5 ml) Rose geranium essential oil

Method 1

Method 1 of 2:

Making Shea Butter Coconut Milk Soap

1
Use equipment and mixing bowls specifically meant for making soap. It could be hazardous to your health if you use soap making equipment for handling or preparing food. Copper and aluminum products will have a negative chemical reaction with lye. Choose products made of tempered glass, enamel, or stainless steel. Lye can also melt some plastics so be sure to check what works best.^{[1]
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- Styrene plastic or silicone soap-only spoons are best for this project.^{[2]
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2
Have fun with creative soap molds. Choose from a variety of soap molds at your local craft store or have fun with silicone baking pans that can be purchased at your local baking goods chain. Choose silicone products to easily peel off the soap from its mold.

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3
Prepare additional tools aside from ingredients. In addition to mixing bowls and spoons, you will need a pint and a quart canning jar, a stainless steel thermometer that can read between 90 - 200 degrees Fahrenheit, newspaper, and an old towel on hand.^{[3]
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4
Mix the lye using the proper safety precautions. Protect yourself with goggles, gloves, and with newspaper to cover your work area from the lye. Wear a mask to protect yourself from the fumes produced by the chemical reaction created as you mix the lye with water. Pour water into your quart canning jar. Scoop ¼ cup of lye and slowly pour it in with the water making sure to stir it until the mixture is clear. Allow the mixture to sit.^{[4]
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- Use cold distilled water. Purchase distilled water at your local grocery store or pharmacy.
- Purchase lye online or at your local drug or craft store.
5
Mix your oils together and heat. Mix your oils together as you pour them into the pint jar. Heat the pint jar once you have mixed your oils for about a minute if you are using a microwave. You may also heat in a pan of water on your stove until the oils reach 120 °F (48.9 °C).^{[5]
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- Use olive or coconut oil if you want to make a mild or hard bar of soap that produces a good lather. Grape-seed oil, safflower oil, almond oil and sunflower oil also produce similar effects.
6
Stir the oil and lye together at the right temperature. The lye and oils should cool around 95° and 105° degrees Fahrenheit. Do not allow them to cool below this temperature or they will be coarse and may crumble easily. Stir in the lye with your hand slowly once they have reached the right temperature. Stir the oils and lye for about 5 minutes in a mixing bowl.^{[6]
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- If available, use an immersion blender so that as much soap touches the lye as possible. Trace is when the soap looks and feels like vanilla pudding. It should be thick with a light colour. Once you have trace you are ready to add your essential oils and herbs.^{[7]
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- Wait until the lye reaches a thin trace before mixing the coconut milk with the water. Add coconut milk that is slightly warm.^{[8]
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7
Continue to stir the soap batter until it reaches a medium trace. Stir thoroughly and pour ¾ of the mixture into your soap molds or silicone baking molds.
8
Add finely ground calendula flower petals to the ¼ mixture that you have left. Mix the petals into the remaining mixture. Create a zig zag pattern by pouring the new flower petal mixture over top the mold.^{[9]
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- To ensure the coloured soap reaches throughout the mold, change the height from which you pour the remaining flower petal mixture. Raising the soup bucket and lowering it will allow the petal mixture to penetrate the white soap base at different depths.^{[10]
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9
Use a spatula or other utensils to create patterns. Swirl the soap into a marble pattern or create other details before storing the shea butter soap.^{[11]
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10
Cover the molds with plastic wrap and cover with an old towel. Allow residual heat to warm the mixture by covering with a towel. The saponification process will be started with this residual heat.^{[12]
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- The process that turns your base ingredients into soap is called Saponification.
11
Allow your soap to cure. Check your soap after a day or 24 hours. If it still feels soft or slightly warm, wait another day or until it is firm and cool. Remove it from the wrap and allow it to cure for about a month. Be sure to turn it over once a week or place it on a baking rack to expose the entire surface to air.^{[13]
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Method 2

Method 2 of 2:

Making Moisturizing Shea Butter Facial Soap

1
Put on protective gear when handling lye. Ensure that you have the proper safety gear, including gloves and goggles, before you handle lye. Put Mix your lye (NaOH or Sodium Hydroxide) into the water. Use a heat-proof pyrex or pp jug as you sprinkle lye on top of the water and mix well. Avoid the fumes that are produced when mixing the lye with the water and be aware that heat will also be produced.^{[14]
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- Do not mix water in with lye because there is a strong chemical reaction that occurs producing heat and fumes. Controlling the lye allows you to control the chemical reaction.
2
Cool the lye and water mixture. To speed the cooling process, place the container in a basin of water or simply place it in your sink. Make sure to mix and keep at a well ventilated area. To be safe, create the shea butter outdoors.^{[15]
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3
Heat the coconut oil. Measure and pour the coconut oil into a soap-making pan. Do not use equipment that will be used for cooking. Use bowls and equipment made from stainless steel, tempered glass, and enamel. Avoid using copper and aluminum as they have a negative reaction with lye. Moreover, some plastics melt when mixed with lye.^{[16]
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- Use soap-only spoons made of styrene plastic or silicone.^{[17]
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4
Mix the oils thoroughly. Mix the zinc oxide with a tablespoon of the liquid oils. Once the coconut oil is melted, stop heating it and mix castor oil, sunflower oil, and olive oil. Use a digital thermometer to ensure the mixture is around 85-90°F. Take the temperature of the lye water and mix until it also reaches close to 85-90°F. Keep mixing the 2 separate mixtures until they are at within 5 degrees of one another.^{[18]
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Melt the shea butter. Use the double boiler method by placing the shea butter into a heat-proof container and floating that container inside a pan filled with boiling water.^{[19]
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6
Mix the lye water with your oils. Pour the lye water through a sieve and into the oils ensuring that both mixtures are about 5 degrees within 85-90°F. The sieve ensures no pieces of lye are in your final bar of soap. Use a whisk to gently stir the new mixture together.^{[20]
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7
Use a stick blender to remove air bubbles. Tap the stick blender against the side of the container holding the lye-water-oils mixture using short pulses. While the stick blender is off, stir the mixture in between each pulse to bring the soap to a trace. Trace is when your lye has successfully mixed with the oils of your soap and produces a thick consistency similar to vanilla pudding.^{[21]
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- It may take time to bring the soap to the consistency of pudding because you are using a low temperature. Keep pulsing and stirring.
8
Mix the trace with the remainder of your ingredients. Pour the zinc oxide oil, jojoba, melted shea butter, and vitamin E oil into the soap and use a whisk to mix. Vigorously and thoroughly work the mixture as soap will quickly become stiff and difficult to work.^{[22]
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9
Pour the soap into proper containers. Stir thoroughly and pour the mixture into your soap molds or silicone baking molds.
10
Use a spatula or other utensils to create patterns. Swirl the soap into a marble pattern or create other details before storing the shea butter soap.^{[23]
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11
Cover the molds with plastic wrap and cover with an old towel. The towel allows residual heat to keep the mixture warm and start the saponification process.^{[24]
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- Saponification is the process at which all your base ingredients becomes soap.
- You may keep the mold in your fridge and leave it overnight to speed up the process and protect your essential ingredients. The temperature also makes your bars a more solid white colour.
12
Remove the soap from their molds. Once removed from their molds, keep your soap away from direct sunlight for 4-6 weeks and try to store them in an airy area of your home. This allows the saponification process to complete.^{[25]
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Community Q&A

Question

Is the addition of the zinc oxide necessary?

Community Answer

No, but it helps the reaction needed to set the soap.

Warnings

Water and lye will heat up and create fumes for 30 seconds. If you breathe in the fumes you make choke or have a choking sensation in your throat. This sensation is not permanent but should be avoided by wearing a mask and working in a well ventilated area.

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Wear gloves for hand protection.

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Lye is caustic eating holes in fabric and burning your skin. Gloves, eye protection, and a mask can provide protection when using any amount of lye.

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Always add and stir lye into water and never water to lye. If you don’t stir and allow the lye to clump on the bottom, it could heat up all at once and explode.^{[27]
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