by Rustic Escentuals

There are so many ways to use the versatile little loofah in soaps. Here is a simple, yet creative tutorial showing you one of the many ways you can customize soaps using Loofah slices. Check out Loofah soap tutorial #1 and #2 for more ways to be creative with these!

simple, yet creative loofah soap tutorial

Supplies and equipment needed:
Microwave
Microwave safe glass containers
Sharp knife to cut soap into cubes
Butter knives for stirring soap
Rubber gloves
Spray bottle with rubbing alcohol
Basic Square Soap Mold (3 cavities – 4 ounces each)
Disposable pipettes
Thermometer to monitor soap temperature
Loofah Slices (.75″ x 2.25″ – 3.25″)
Ultra Clear Melt & Pour soap base (12 ounces)
Mittens and Mistletoe Fragrance Oil
Gel Soap Colors of your choice

gather your basic supplies

including your mold, colorants, and fragrance oil

Depending on how many loofah soaps you will be making, you’ll be using 3.5 ounces of melt and pour soap base for each finished product.

Note: While this is a 4-ounce soap mold cavity, the loofah will displace some of the soap, therefore I find that 3.5 ounces of soap base is sufficient. I like to melt maybe 3.7 ounces as some of the soap base always remains in the container.

Step 1: Cut up approximately 12 ounces of Ultra Clear Melt & Pour soap base into small cubes using a sharp knife.

Step 2: Using a microwave safe container, melt 3.5 to 3.7 ounces of cubed soap base in a microwave using 15 – second bursts until melted. Do not burn or boil, this will result in a poor quality rubbery soap. If there are any small chunks of soap left, stir slowly; the heat of the soap will melt these small chunks.

Step 3: Add 3 – 4 drops of Gel Soap Colorants of your choice to the soap base and slowly stir. In this tutorial I will be using 3 different ones: Orange, Canary Yellow and Dark Purple.

Tip: Use a thermometer to monitor the soap base temperature. I like to keep my soap base around 145 degrees or cooler before adding and any fragrance oils or additives.

add 3-4 drops of desired gel soap colorant and stir slowly

Step 4: Using a disposable pipette, add 2 ml of Mittens & Mistletoe Fragrance Oil into the container and stir in slowly.

add your fragrance oil and stir slowly to combine

Step 5: Making sure the soap is around 135 degrees; pour a thin layer of soap into one of the cavities.

pour thin layer of soap into one of the soap mold cavities

Step 6: Spritz this layer with alcohol to remove any bubbles.

spritz first layer with rubbing alcohol to remove any bubbles

Step 7: Spritz one of the Loofah slices with alcohol to help it adhere into the soap and gently press it into this first layer. To prevent it from floating up when you pour the remainder of the melted soap into the cavity, wait approximately 45 seconds for the soap to harden around the loofah.

spritz the loofah with rubbing alcohol

add to first layer of soap

let set 45 seconds for soap to harden before pouring next layer

Step 8: Spritz the cavity one more time and pour the remainder of the melted soap into the mold. Pour slowly until it reaches the top. Follow up with one last spritz of alcohol to remove any bubbles.

pour remainder of soap into the mold

spritz one final time to remove those darn bubbles

Step 9: Repeat steps 2 to 8 using a different gel colorant. Continue repeating these steps for each color you choose.

Note: If you decide to use one color for all 3 cavities, melt all 12 ounces of soap at one time; use 6 – 7 drops of gel colorant, and 5 ml of fragrance oil.