Megan's Pumpkin Soap

Finished Soap

Yesterday I gave a small preview for today’s soap. I talked about how I had a hard time getting my soap out of the mold. I still can’t get it out of the mold and it is annoying me to no end! So much for greasing it with mineral oil. This soap was inspired by Megan, who was such a help in the blog kitchen. Megan, here is to you.

Mixing the soap

It isn’t very often when I am blessed by a helper in the kitchen. Megan came to the blog kitchen last Friday to help me organize the kitchen and my thoughts. She was a fantastic help. Once we had finished my unfinished projects and cleaning the kitchen, we sat down and talked about all the different things we did. Megan asked if we could make a pumpkin soap in the round PVC mold that had been discovered on a neglected shelf earlier that day. Well, after all of that cleaning, I couldn’t resist having some fun! Come join us for a fabulous soap just in time for Halloween!

Adding Fragrance Oil and Annatto Seed Powder

We chose to use Annatto Seed Powder, Gingerbread & Spice Fragrance Oil and a simple homemade round PVC mold. If you want to learn more on how to make a mold like this for yourself, check out this post. They are simple to make and a lot of fun! (Hint: my mold can hold a 4 lbs batch of soap. For removal sake, it really should hold no more than 3 lbs of soap.)

Recipe:

This is how the soap should look.

Weigh all of the oils into a microwave safe container. Heat gently until they are completely melted. While your oils are melting, weigh out your lye and add it to your water. Never add water to your lye. You are more likely to have splashing or even a volcano to occur. Safety first! When your lye solution and oils are around 120ºF, add the lye solution to your oils. Mix until you reach a light trace. Your soap should be very fluid. Add the Anatto Seed Powder and Gingerbread and Spice Fragrance Oil.

Guess what I still can’t get out of the mold?

Mix so they are well distributed. (I prefer to hand stir at this point.) Pour your soap into your mold. If you are using a PVC pipe, I recommend coating the inside with a non-saponifiable oil. Things like Vaseline or mineral oil work well here. Allow the soap to sit for 24 hours. Remove the soap from the mold and cut. Allow the soap to cure. Once cured, package, label and enjoy!