What You’ll Need:
Two Sunflower Molds
1.6 oz. Cocoa Butter (7.3%)
5.8 oz. Coconut Oil (26.4%)
4.4 oz. Olive Oil (20%)
5.8 oz. Palm Oil (26.4%)
4.4 oz. Sunflower Seed Oil (20%)
3.1 oz. Sodium Hydroxide Lye
7.2 oz. Distilled Water
1.7 oz. Sunflower Fragrance Oil
Fizzy Lemonade Colorant
Yellow Oxide
Brown Oxide Pigment
If you’ve never made Cold Process soap before, stop here! I highly recommend checking out our FREE four part SoapQueen.tv series on Cold Process Soapmaking, especially the episode on lye safety. And if you’d rather do some reading, Bramble Berry carries a wide range of books on the topic, including my newest book, Pure Soapmaking. You can also checkout the digital downloads for that instant gratification factor.
SAFETY FIRST: Suit up for safe handling practices! That means goggles, gloves and long sleeves. Make sure kids, pets, and other distractions and tripping hazards are out of the house or don’t have access to your soaping space. Always soap in a well-ventilated area.
COLOR PREP: Disperse 1 teaspoon of the yellow oxide, Fizzy Lemonade Colorant and brown oxide into 1 tablespoon of lightweight liquid oil such as sunflower or sweet almond oil. Use a mini mixer to help get rid of any clumps. You will have leftover brown oxide and yellow oxide, so you may want to mix the colorants in a sealable container. If you like, you can also mix 1/2 tsp. of brown oxide and yellow oxide into 1.5 teaspoons of the lightweight oil so there is less color leftover.
FRAGRANCE PREP: Measure 1.7 ounces of Sunflower Fragrance Oil into a glass, fragrance oil safe container.
ONE: Slowly and carefully add the lye to the water and gently stir until the lye has fully dissolved and the liquid is clear. Set aside to cool.
TWO: Melt and combine the coconut oil, cocoa butter, palm oil, olive oil and sunflower seed oil (remember to fully melt then mix your entire container of palm oil before portioning). Once the lye water and the oils have cooled to 130 degrees or below (and are ideally within 10 degrees of each other), add the lye water to the oils and stick blend until thin trace. If you’d like a harder bar of soap that releases faster from the mold, you can add sodium lactate to the cooled lye water. Use 1 teaspoon of sodium lactate per pound of oils in the recipe. For this recipe, you’d add about 1 teaspoon sodium lactate.
THREE: Once you’ve reached a thin trace, split about 3 oz. of the soap into a small container. Add 1/2 teaspoon of the dispersed brown oxide into the small container. Stick blend the colorant in to mix and to thicken the brown soap.
FOUR: Once the soap has reached the consistency of pudding, use a spoon to fill the centers of each sunflower cavity with brown soap. Firmly tap the molds on the counter to help eliminate bubbles. You will have some brown soap leftover. To save it, have a small mold nearby to pour the leftover soap into.
FIVE: Add all the dispersed Fizzy Lemonade Colorant. Then, add about 1/8 teaspoon of the dispersed yellow oxide. Whisk in the colorants thoroughly.
SIX: Whisk in the Sunflower Fragrance Oil. This fragrance does cause your soap to accelerate, so do not use the stick blender to mix in the fragrance or it may become too thick.
SEVEN: Carefully pour the yellow soap into each sunflower cavity. Try to not disturb the brown soap as much as possible. If the soap becomes too thick to pour, use a spoon to gently place the soap into each cavity.
EIGHT: Continue to pour the yellow soap into each cavity until full. If you’d like, use a spoon to even out the top of the soap. Tap the mold firmly on the counter to help eliminate the air bubbles. Spritz the soap with 99% isopropyl alcohol to help eliminate soda ash.
Allow the soaps to harden in the mold for at least one week before attempting to unmold. Cold process soap made in a plastic mold requires more time to prevent it from sticking to the mold. With this project, we found that placing the week old soap into the freezer for several hours before molding helped each bar umold perfectly, without any tearing. Once unmolded, allow the bars to cure and harden for 4-6 weeks. Enjoy!
