How to Make Glycerin Soaps With Aloe Vera

Soap making is not only a fun activity, it's a great way to customize your toiletries while keeping track of the ingredients that go into them. This recipe combines the cleansing and moisturizing power of glycerin with the soothing and healing properties of natural aloe vera and can be adjusted to fit your needs and mixed with other favorite ingredients. Use this soap on sensitive skin or as an addition to a sunburn treatment regimen during sunny months.

Things You'll Need

• Rubbing alcohol
• Spray bottle
• Thick microwavable container for melting soap blocks
• Unscented glycerin soap blocks
• Aloe vera
• Add-ins, such as essential oil, moisturizing oil, food or soap colors, oatmeal, or herbs (optional)
• Soap mold(s)

Instructions

1. Pour some rubbing alcohol into a spray bottle and set aside.

2. Break or chop glycerin soap into small pieces. This will help it to melt quickly and evenly.

3. Place glycerin in microwavable container. Heat in the microwave on high heat, cooking for 30 seconds at a time. Continue until all the chunks of glycerin are melted into a liquid.

4. Measure aloe vera gel. Use 1 part aloe vera to 8 parts glycerin soap.

5. Mix the aloe gel into the melted glycerin soap. Pour and mix slowly to avoid the formation of air bubbles in the mixture. Air bubbles won't harm the soap, but they will remain as the bar hardens, so try to avoid them if you want your soap to be clear and solid. If you can't avoid bubbles, disperse them by spraying the mixture with rubbing alcohol.

6. Add any mix-ins and stir slowly. If using color, dyes made specifically for soap making are better than food coloring, which can transfer color to skin when the soap is used. If using herbs, flowers or oatmeal, use about as much of these ingredients as you did aloe, but use only half this measure when adding moisturizing oil. If adding essential oils, the desired amount will depend on how strong the smell of your oil is, but it will probably only be a couple drops unless you are making a very large batch of soap.

7. Prepare your soap mold by spraying it with a coat of rubbing alcohol. Like grease on a cookie sheet, the alcohol will keep the soap from sticking to the mold. You can use any container you like as a soap mold, as long as it is fairly resistant to heat and is larger at the top opening than at the bottom. You can also pour your soap into a baking dish and cut smaller square bars with a knife.