Cold Process Soap Recipes for Beginners

It can be overwhelming to formulate cold process soap recipes as a beginner. Fret not! Here are some easy recipes to help you get started!

Basic Cold Process Soap with Palm Oil

Olive Oil – 125g Coconut Oil – 125g Palm Oil – 125g Castor Oil – 25g

Sodium Hydroxide – 57g Distilled Water – 114g

Basic Cold Process Soap with Butters (Palm Free)

Olive Oil – 140g Coconut Oil – 120g Cocoa Butter – 60g Shea Butter – 60g Castor Oil – 20g

Sodium Hydroxide – 56g Distilled Water – 112g

Bastille Soap (Extremely Gentle Soap)

Olive Oil – 300g Coconut Oil – 80g Castor Oil – 20g Sodium Hydroxide – 54g Distilled Water – 81g

This recipe is very high in olive oil and hence, will need a longer cure time to make it hard enough to use comfortably. All the same, it is a great recipe for beginners to understand the behavior of olive oil in soap.

Shea Butter Soap (Palm Free)

Olive Oil – 140g Coconut Oil – 140g Shea Butter – 100g Castor Oil – 20g

Sodium Hydroxide – 56g Distilled Water – 112g

Almond Oil Soap with Palm Oil (Luxury)

Olive Oil – 100g Coconut Oil – 100g Palm Oil – 100g Sweet Amond Oil – 40g Cocoa Butter – 40g Castor Oil – 20g

Sodium Hydroxide – 56g Distilled Water – 112g

Almond Oil Soap (Palm Free)

Olive Oil – 120g Coconut Oil – 120g Sweet Almond Oil – 40g Cocoa Butter – 40g Mango Butter – 40g Kokum Butter – 20g Castor Oil – 20g

Sodium Hydroxide – 56.3g Distilled Water – 112.6g

These are all 400g oil recipes with a built in superfat (5-7%) which yields approximately 4*125g bars. These cold process soap recipes are designed with beginners in mind. They can help kickstart a soapmaking journey directly without having to figure out the nitty-gritty of formulating soap recipes right from the start! But, if you are ready to deep dive into formulating your own unique recipes from scratch, modify a recipe by switching out an oil or adding a new butter, consider taking my basic course on Cold Process Soapmaking - Soapmaking Made Simple. We start with the absolute basics such as ingredients, equipment and the science of soapmaking and move on to advanced topics such as formulating guidelines, how to create your own recipes and how to make it special using add on's. It also includes a recipe book with 12 easy-to-make recipes that you can get started with if you think formulating is not your jam at the moment. You can enroll here and realise your dreams of making your own soap sooner than you think!