Fresh Aloe Soap

Here at MMS, we have an aloe plant that has been here for a long, long time! So many new aloe plants have started popping up in the planter and I decided it was time to recycle some of the big, old leaves by making soap!

The Majestic Mountain Sage Aloe Plant

Little did I know that back in 2010, Andee did a blog on how to make soap using fresh aloe juice. She collected her aloe from the same exact plant that I will be using today!

Since I’ve never made soap like this before, I started by asking the technical support team for advice about using the fresh aloe juice in the soapmaking process. It was recommended that I use 1 ounce of the fresh aloe juice per pound of fats and use the rest of my needed liquids as water. This recommendation is because adding the Sodium Hydroxide to the aloe juice can smell very bad and we don’t want to damage any of the possible beneficial properties of the aloe.

Join me in the blog kitchen, and we’ll make some fun soap! You will see how easy it is to make and maybe even learn something new right along with me. 🙂

Collect Items Needed:

Recipe:

The first step is to harvest a few leaves from the aloe plant. I cut off some nice thick looking leaves. I used the same method that Andee used back in 2010. Just cut one of the edges of the leaves off so that you can peel it open like a book, then using a spoon scrape out the inner pulp of the leaf. I used an immersion blender to blend up the aloe gel and turn it into a watery, gelatin-like mixture. Now we are ready to make soap!

Weighing the Oils

Oils, Lye Solution, and Fresh Aloe Juice

Adding the Lye Solution to the Oils

Mixing with an Immersion Blender

First, let’s get started by weighing out the aloe juice. Find out how much aloe juice, you have on hand so you can calculate how much soap you can make. I collected 2 ounces of aloe juice from the three leaves I had harvested, so I made two batches of soap.

I measured the fixed oils into a microwave-safe container on the scale. Then I set the oils aside and weighed out the water and Sodium Hydroxide. I slowly added the Sodium Hydroxide to the container of water. DO NOT add water to your container of lye. The saying around here is, “Do what you otter and put the chemical in the water.” After gently stirring the lye solution to complete mix everything, I set it aside to cool.

While the lye solution is cooling, I put the fixed oils in the microwave and heated until everything was melted. The oils and lye solution both need to cool to around 120° F and be within 10° F of each other. As I waited for my lye solution and oils to cool, I weighed my fragrance oil into the same container with the aloe juice to make things a little easier.

After Pouring the Soap into the Mold

Finished Aloe Soap

After the oils and lye have cooled enough, they can be combined. I have already learned that it’s much easier to gently pour the lye solution into the oils and start mixing after immersing the bell of my immersion blender to the bottom of my container. Once the soap is mixed and has reached light trace, I added the aloe juice and fragrance mixture. Then I quickly mixed the raw soap to thoroughly mix the aloe juice mixture into the soap because if it isn’t entirely mixed in, it could settle to the bottom of your mold.

Trust me, no one wants a could have this brown jelly on the bottom of their soap! Now you can pour your raw soap into the desired mold and let it sit for 24 hours. After sitting, the soap should be hard enough that you can pop it out of the mold. Allow the soap to cure for several days before using, longer curing will result in a firmer bar. Use the Cure Cards to monitor the curing process and to determine when your soaps are finished curing!