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Baby Princess Farm

My Favorite Tallow Soap Base: Rose and Lavender Variations

My favorite soap! This is a versatile tallow base that you can adjust to just about any scent or color. In the ingredients section of this recipe, I give suggestions for rose | lavender varieties.
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Prep Time 1 hour
Cooling Time 1 hour
Servings: 12 (4oz) Bars
Ingredients Equipment Method

Ingredients
  

Oils
  • 284 g Beef Tallow
  • 284 g Olive Oil
  • 255 g Coconut Oil
  • 85 g Avocado Oil
Lye Solution
  • 246 g Distilled Water
  • 123 g Lye
Enhancements
  • 28 g Essential Oil (rose | lavender)
  • 1 tsp Kaolin Clay
  • 1-2 tsp Natural Pigment (2 tsp pink French clay for the rose soaps | 1 tsp alkanet root powder with an additional teaspoon of kaolin since alkanet can turn your soap very dark for the lavender soaps)

Equipment

  • Scale
  • Stainless Steel Pot or Non-Reactive Mixing Bowl
  • Safety Goggles, Safety Gloves, Optional Mask
  • Immersion Blender, Spoon or Rubber Spatula
  • Thermometer
  • Soap Mold

Method
 

  1. Gather up your ingredients and equipment!
  2. Put on your Safety Gear for working with lye: lye is caustic before it reacts with oils and requires some safety precautions, please read those from above! Put on your PPE (goggles, long gloves, mask) and remove anyone who could be injured by the lye (kids, pets, etc).
  3. Make your Lye Solution: First, weigh your water in a large enough bowl to stir your lye. Weigh your lye into the water. Slow down towards the end (gram-by-gram measurement) to make sure you don't exceed the weight of lye needed!
    Stir in a well-ventilated place, or outside. The fuming should finish within a minute or two, and the lye will dissolve.
  4. Weigh your solid oils (tallow, coconut oil) into a pot. Melt them together, heating just enough to melt. Your melted oils will be significantly hotter than your lye solution, measure your liquid oils (olive oil, avocado oil) in a separate bowl and then combine with your melted solid oils.
  5. Simultaneously cool down your lye and oils to 110℉-120℉.
    While these are cooling, measure your choice of essential oil (and clay/root pigment, if using) in a small bowl.
  6. Once the lye and oils have cooled to about 110℉-120℉, pour the lye solution into your melted oils and stir together.
    I like to stir the mixture with my immersion blender stick and burp out the air from the cavity before turning on the blender. Blend for one minute, going in a big circle, and then take a minute break. Continue until the batter has a pudding-like consistency and leaves a trail behind the blender.
    Ladle a cup or so of soap batter into a small bowl and thoroughly mix with your essential oil mixture, trying to beat out any clumps before transferring this back to the larger batter. Stir until homogenous.
  7. Pour your soap mixture into molds or a loaf mold. Place your decorations on top as desired.
  8. Finally, thoroughly clean up your workspace before allowing your kids and animals to return!
    I like to wash everything by hand and then put it all in the dishwasher and run that too. I also like to wash the counter after making soap to make sure I clean up any hiding lye crystals.
  9. Cure: After 24 hours (or 48 if they seem a little soft), pop your soaps out of their molds. If you made a loaf, this is the time to slice it up! Line up your soaps on a baking tray that you won't need for awhile, or some other surface that works for you. These need to have airflow for 4-6 weeks so that they can fully cure. During this time, the oils and lye are fully saponifying.