Nourishing Hand Soap for Gardeners

This nourishing hand soap for gardeners is great for cleaning those dirty hands and nails, leaving your hands feeling clean and fresh.

Print Save Pin Add to Collection

Keyword: Homemade, Soap

Prep Time: 5

Cook Time: 5

Total Time: 10

Servings: bars

Author: S Jones

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups shea butter melt-n-pour soap base
1 tsp sweet almond oil
1-2 TBSP dried calendula petals
10 drops Frankincense Essential Oil
12 drops Rosemary Essential Oil
15 drops Lavender Essential Oil
7 drops Geranium Essential Oil

Instructions

Lay the silicone moulds on a flat surface that is lined with baking paper or a towel (to help with cleaning up any spills) somewhere out of the way, where they won't be disturbed for a few hours. Make sure they are sitting nice and level. Check that the bottoms and sides are free of any debris or dust.
Take the shea butter soap base and chop it up into squares, that around an inch in size. Some of this type of soap comes with the squares already laid out so you can just follow the lines, and if not, just guestimate. You will need around 12-15 squares.
Place the shea butter melt and pour base into a large, microwavable measuring cup or bowl , preferably with handle, and heat in the microwave for about 90 seconds.
Measure out the sweet almond oil and have it ready to go.
Separate the calendula petals off of the stems and bases, if needed. Sprinkle the bottoms of the moulds with the petals, until they are mostly covered. Depending on the moulds you chose you may need more or less. I used just over 1 tablespoon for my 4 bars.
Take a rubber spatula and stir the soap base, mixing it so that the larger lumps in the bottom get broken up and don’t stick. Scrape the sides as well. Heat in the microwave for another 15 - 20 seconds, if needed, to help melt the soap base.
Add in the sweet almond oil and stir well and then heat for 30 seconds and stir again. Do not heat the soap any longer than 30 seconds at a time from here on out, or you may end up with it boiling over in the microwave, which isn't pretty.
Stir the soap base and once you have a nice smooth texture, with no lumps of soap left, carefully in each essential oil, stirring as you go. All of these oils are pretty thin, so use caution.
Try to work carefully as you don't want your soap to start thickening while adding the oils. Be sure to scrape the sides too to get it all in there and melted.
Pour the soap into your moulds, over top of the petals. The petals will move through the soap. Fill the moulds to just below the top. Let sit until cooled. Do not move the moulds as they are cooling, as it can ruin the mould shape.
Let cool for about about 2 - 3 hours, and then check the middle and bottom to see if it has fully cooled. I prefer to let mine sit overnight to make sure. Once they are ready, peel the soaps from the moulds.
Turn them over and allow them to sit out for around 6 hours or so to cure.

Tried this recipe?Check out Share a pic on Instagram!