Calendula Soap Recipe
There are a few ways that you could make calendula soap. First off, you can choose to use either fresh or dried flower petals. When using fresh petals, it helps to chop them finely using a knife or immersion blender. Larger pieces of petal might not preserve well and could cause mold or rancidity.
Dried calendula petals can be used freely when making soap. You can stir them in without chopping them up or scatter them on the tops of large loaves as decoration. Because they’re dried, they won’t introduce pockets of moisture inside your bars which might create issues. For more on growing calendula to use in soap and skincare products, head over to this piece.
Calendula flowers have been used by herbalists for generations to treat skin conditions
Use Fresh or Dried Calendula Flowers to make soap
Calendula petals are one of the only flowers that you can blend into cold-process soap and still retain a nice color. Others such as lavender will turn greenish-brown and rose petals will change from vibrant red and pink to an unattractive rusty brown. Calendula stays bright and colorful.
Another reason you’d make calendula soap is that it’s genuinely good for you. Natural components found in the flower are used by herbalists to gently treat skin conditions such as eczema and the healing of wounds and burns.
Calendula soap made with an infusion of the petals
Calendula Soap Recipe
800g batch — 1.76lbs (refers to oil content)
Makes approx. 8 bars & fits in this silicone loaf mold
Technical info: 6% superfat and using water as 25% of the oil content
Lye Water
109g/ 3.8oz Sodium hydroxide (also called Lye or Caustic Soda)
196g / 7 oz Water
2 tsp Dried Calendula petals or 4 tsp fresh
Solid Oils
200g / 7oz Coconut Oil
150g / 5oz Shea Butter
Liquid Oils
400g / 14oz Olive oil (or Olive oil Pomace)
50g / 1.76oz Castor oil
Add at Trace
8 drops Grapefruit Seed Extract (optional)
4 tsp Litsea cubeba Essential oil
Special Equipment needed
Digital Thermometer
Digital Kitchen Scale
Stick (Immersion) Blender
Silicone loaf mold
Natural Soap making for Beginners Series
1. Ingredients
2. Equipment & Safety
3. Basic Recipes and Formulating Your Own
4. The Soap Making Process: Make, Mould, and Cure
Making a calendula infusion — basically flower petal tea
Prepare your Work Area
Measure the solid oils into a stainless steel pan dedicated to soap making, the liquid oils into a bowl, the water and sodium hydroxide into heat-proof plastic jugs. The other ingredients and equipment can be set out at the ready. Now you’re ready to make calendula soap.
Make your Lye-Water
In a well ventilated area and wearing safety goggles (or onion glasses) and rubber gloves, pour the sodium hydroxide into the water. Hold it away from your face so that you don’t breathe in the steam and stir until it’s all dissolved. There’s a lot of heat and steam let off in this process (yay Chemistry!) so be prepared.
Cool the Lye Water
Once dissolved, set the jug in cool water so help speed up the cooling of the contents — I usually place mine in the sink. Put the flower petals into the hot lye water now and give it a stir.
Melt the Solid oils
Put your pan of solid oils on the stove at the lowest setting possible. Stir it gently to help the larger chunks of oil to melt.
Mix the Oils
When the solid oil has completely melted, pour the liquid oils into the pan and stir together. Take the oil’s temperature with your digital thermometer. Also take the temperature of the lye water — ideally, they should be within 10 degrees of one another.
On Temperature
You can create good soap with oils that are between 90-120°F. The warmer the temperature, the darker your final soap is likely to be, especially if you insulate it with a towel.
When your oil is in this range and you lye water is within 10 degrees of it, it’s time to blend.
Make Soap
Pour the calendula infused lye water into the pan of oils, flower petals and all. Now dip your stick (immersion) blender into the pan and while off use it like a spoon to stir the oils and lye water together. Bring the blender to the middle of your pan and at a stand still, turn it on for a few seconds. Stop and then use it (turned off) like a spoon to stir the soap together. Keep doing this until the soap thickens to ‘Trace’.
Looking for ‘Trace’
Trace is when your calendula soap batter thickens to the consistency of warm custard. It will leave trails on the surface of your soap if you lift the blender out and let the batter drip down. When your soap is at Trace, it’s time to add the essential oil and grapefruit seed extract. Stir them in well with a spoon or rubber spatula.
Pour into the Mold
Pour your soap batter into your mold while it’s still runny. Move quickly or the soap will begin to set inside your pan. To create a more intense color, wrap a towel around the mold, making sure that it doesn’t touch the wet soap. Sustained warmth will make your soap ‘Gel’ — it will give you the color of the soap at the top of the photo below. For a lighter soap, don’t insulate with a towel or even pop the entire mold into the fridge (recommended for lightening soap in loaf molds)
The soap on the top was insulated after being poured into the mold. The one of the bottom was not.
Un-mold & Cut
Leave your calendula soap to harden for 24 hours before popping it out of the mold. Afterwards, cut it into bars using a kitchen knife and then set them on baking paper to dry out. The soap will be completely saponified (fully soap) 48 hours after you make it but your bars need four to six weeks to ‘cure’ before you use them. This is the time it takes for the water to completely evaporate out of the bars. If you use the soap before this time it may disintegrate so please be aware.
The best place to cure your soap is in an airy, cool, yet dim area. A bookshelf out of direct sunlight would work a treat. Space your bars out and enjoy the lemony fragrance of the essential oil for the next month. After the cure time is up, store the soap in the open air until you’re ready to use or gift them. For full instructions on how to cure handmade soap head over here
Karen says
Soap turned out beautiful but no bits of calendula showed through like yours. But still a nice soap
lovelygreens says
I’m guessing that you’ve probably used the yellowy-colored petals that are sold by cosmetic suppliers. For orange, you need to grow your own orange colored calendula petals, dry them, and use them in soap: https://lovelygreens.com/how-to-grow-calendula-flowers/
Joan says
Just wondering why my soap is dark in the centre when I unmold and cut it? Will it lighten as it cures? Joan
lovelygreens says
Your soap has gelled in the center. Though it may lighten over time it will likely remain dark. The next time you make soap, consider soaping at a lower temperature — closer to 100F — to reduce the chance of this happening.
Wendy says
Is there a substitute for Litsea cubea EO? It is not available in my local shops. Ordering to make the Calendula soap will delay making many days. Tia
lovelygreens says
You can use your choice of essential oil for this recipe. Litsea is a gorgeous citrus one that’s perfect for the sunny color of this recipe though. More on using essential oils in soap making: https://lovelygreens.com/make-soap-with-essential-oils/
Devonna Renee' says
Hi Tanya,
I enjoyed your video very much!! I have Calendulas is my garden and I love them!! I am hoping to make some Calendula soap for my first grandbaby’s baby shower. I am concerned thought because my patch of Calendulas are planted my a rose bush and the Japanese beetles were so bad this year that I broke down and sprayed my rosebush with Sevin, now I am worried about using the Calendulas for fear that they may be contaminated with chemicals. They did not get directly sprayed with Sevin however, they are vey close to the roses. I look forward to checking out your blog and learning new things, thank you for your time.
tamara says
Dear Tanya, how much water is needed for calendula soap (454g) , 120g in the recipe, but the soapcalc shows 172.9g? Thanks & Regards!!!!
lovelygreens says
Use my recipe — less water means less chance of Soda Ash.
Susan says
I love your website! I am just gathering things to make my first soap. I had calendula petals but needed to preserve, so I put them into olive oil. Can I use that? Also your harvesting of flowers on you tube was very helpful!
Thank you,
Susan
lovelygreens says
You’re so welcome Susan 🙂 Yes, crack on with using the calendula infused olive oil. You could also use it to make skin lotions and balms which might even be a better use of it.
jasmine says
can this be made into melt and pour? I want to start making soap and Im gonna experiment with melt and pour first just to get the feel of it and start experimenting with different herbs and scents. Im also very impatient and would hate to wait 4-6 weeks until my soap cures to be able to try it out lol.
lovelygreens says
You could add calendula petals and essential oil to melt and pour soap, no problem 🙂
Tanya @ Lovely Greens says
Hahaha! 😉 I suppose soaping can be a fun activity for the winter when there's less to do with preserving and around the garden. But stock up on your dried herbs and botanicals before autumn rolls around – I'm going out today to pick plantain, goldenrod and horsetail! 🙂
Mo and Steve says
Stop it, you're giving me too many ideas that I want to try ;)I have promised myself not to play with soap until all the jams, chutneys& etc. have been done and you're tempting me to break my promise. It all sounds too enticing… we may end up with Jam Soap 😉 Mo