Peppermint Candy Cane Soap Recipe

Ingredients

• 374g Distilled Water (at room temperature)
• 154g Caustic Soda (you can find this at most hardwares)
• 600g Coconut Oil
• 400g Sunflower Oil
• 10ml Peppermint essential oil
• 1 Tablespoon Bentonite clay (optional – to help soap retain the peppermint fragrance)

• 1 teaspoon Zinc Oxide powder (for the white)
• 1 teaspoon Red Iron Oxide powder (for the red)

Equipment & Tools

• A kitchen scale
• Safety gloves and goggles
• A heat-proof glass bowl for the water (minimum capacity: 500ml). Check that the bowl is microwave and dishwasher safe.
• Glass or ceramic bowl for the caustic soda (min. capacity: 250ml)
• Large stainless steel pot for the soap mixture (min. capacity: 2 litres)
• 2x containers to divide the soap mixture into its two separate colours (min. capacity: 750ml)
• 2x small containers to dissolve oxide powders with oil – tot glasses work well (min. capacity: 25ml).
• Immersion blender, or electric two-prong whisk
• Stainless steel spoon for mixing
• Non-serrated chopping knife to cut soap
• Soap moulds for 1.5 litres of soap (ice-cream/ margarine containers work really well too)
• White vinegar for cleaning any spills
• A cloth soaked in white vinegar for cleaning

Instructions

1. Make your soap mixture.
2. Blend until you reach a thin trace: Once the lye and oils are combined, start blending with an electric mixer or immersion blender. Immersion stick blenders achieve trace quicker (~ 5-10 minutes) than two-prong mixers (~ 10-20 minutes). Stop blending as soon as you see the first signs of trace, don’t continue blending until the mixture gets to a thick trace. You need a thin trace in order to have the time to play around with colour and patterns.
3. Add fragrance oil: Gently stir in 10ml of peppermint essential oil, or mint fragrance oil.
4. Divide soap mixture into two seperate containers: Pour half the mixture into one container, and the other half into another container.
5. Add colour: In the first container, stir in the zinc oxide. In the second container, stir in the red iron oxide. Your soap mixture will just keep getting thicker with time, so you need to work quite quickly before the soap becomes too solid to work with.
6. Layer the soap into your mould: Layer the soap by pouring a bit of the white soap mixture into your mould, and then a bit of the red soap mixture, then more of the white soap mixture. Repeat until your mould is full. You can pour thin, neat layers; or blobs and globs (like me). Note: If the mixture gets too thick to pour, stir it vigorously with a spoon. This should help a bit.