Nettle Soap Recipe

It doesn't get much more natural than making your own soap and using plants to colour them! Nettle powder is a traditional way to colour soap and creates a dark, natural green coloured soap.

We're using a blend of lavender, peppermint and rosemary essential oils. This creates a herbal scented soap to match the green colour. 

Nettle powder has its own distinctive scent, however when we added essential oils to the soap we couldn't smell the nettles.

Equipment:

• Gloves
• Goggles
• Weighing scales
• Digital thermometer
• Heatproof bowl
• Plastic measuring jugs, ideally 2x 1L and 1x 2L
• Silicone spatula
• Soap mould or DIY alternative ( Explore our range of silicone soap moulds!)
• Stick blender

Ingredients:

• Olive oil pomace 400g | 435ml
• Cocoa butter 120g
• Coconut oil 280g
• Water 240ml
• Sodium hydroxide 115g
• Lavender essential oil 12g | 14ml
• Peppermint essential oil 4g | 4ml
• Rosemary essential oil 9g | 10ml
• Nettle powder 15g

Method:

1. Mix the sodium hydroxide solution

• Put your gloves and goggles on, and open the window
• Weigh the water
• Weigh the sodium hydroxide in a separate jug
• Add the sodium hydroxide to the water
• Stir until dissolved
• Leave it somewhere safe to cool, it will be hot!

2. Weigh and heat the oils

• Weigh the cocoa butter, coconut oil and olive oil into a heatproof bowl
• Melt over a pan of boiling water, or using short bursts in the microwave.
• Stir regularly
• Once melted, leave to cool

3. Weigh the essential oils and nettle powder

• Weigh your essential oils
• Weigh your nettle powder
• Mix well until combined

4. Test the temperatures

• Test the temperature of the sodium hydroxide solution. It should be between 25C and 40C
• Leave it to cool if necessary, but don't reheat it if it's too cool.
• Test the temperature of the oil mixture. It should be between 35C and 40C
• Leave it to cool or reheat if necessary

5. Blend until trace

• Add the sodium hydroxide solution to your oil mixture
• Using a stick blender, stir and blend in short pulses
• Keep checking how the soap batter thickens
• Test for trace by dripping soap batter across the jug of mixture, if it sits on top for a moment the soap has reached trace.
• Stop blending once the soap has reached trace
• Add your essential oils and nettle powder mixture
• Blend in short bursts until combined

6. Pour into moulds

• Pour the soap mixture into a mould
• Tap the mould on the surface to free any air bubbles
• Cover with greaseproof paper
• Insulate with a towel
• Leave on a flat surface for 48 hours

7. Cut and cure

• Unmould the soap and cut into bars
• Spread out with an air gap between the bars
• Leave to cure for 4-6 weeks

Continue reading

Now that you've learned how to make nettle soap, why not continue your soap making journey?

• Interested in hot process soap making? Try our hot process olive oil soap recipe 
• Want more cold process soap recipes? Try our aloe vera juice cold process soap recipe
• Want to learn more about essential oils? Read about essential oils for soap making

Did you try making your own nettle soap? Comment below and let us know.