Allotment Recipe - Homemade lavender soap

How to make homemade 

Lavender Soap

Lavender is so versatile, which means it has many uses in the kitchen, for your health and for the home too. This is mainly because it is antiseptic, antiviral, and antibacterial. After first using lavender flowers in a recipe last year (Strawberry and Lavender Cordial), I fell in love with using it for all kinds of things. The most simplest way I used it was by drying a few leaves and hanging them in a cotton bag in my bedroom. Lavender is said to help the mind relax and free the body from anxiety, ready for a good nights sleep. For this reason I was trying to come up with different ways to use it in my evening routine.

Since I had the book Self Sufficiency: Soap Making I have been itching to have a go at making soap, but really wanted to use homegrown produce in the recipe. I have grown a few lavender plants in my garden this year but they weren't quite mature enough to make an essential oil but we did manage to harvest a few flowers and decide, what better way to use them but in a homemade soap.

EQUIPMENT YOU WILL NEED

• A non aluminium mould. I used a silicone loaf mould.
• Protective glasses for handling the caustic soda
• Hand blender(makes light work to get to trace stage but optional)
• Cooking pot
• Glass bowl
• Wooden spoon for stirring

INGREDIENTS 

• 210 ml of oil( I used a mix of olive oil and coconut oil)
• 30 grams caustic soda
• 65 ml distilled water
• Lavender essential oil
• Fresh or dried lavender flowers

METHOD

• Carefully, and while wearing protective glasses, place the glass bowl in the sink and put the caustic soda in it.  Then add the distilled water.  Follow this order to avoid splashing.  This process produces a reaction that causes gasses. Ideally you should ventilate well to avoid fumes. Allow to sit until it cools to approx 40*c.  
• Place the oil in the pan, and warm over low heat.  When the oil has heated to about 40*c, remove from heat and carefully mix in the caustic soda, using the hand blender.  Keep it from splashing.  Beat until the mixture becomes thick and gel-like.
• Then add 20 to 30 drops of lavender essential oil and more dried lavender flowers.  Mix well and stop when moving the blender through the mix it leaves a trace and doesn't go flat again.
• Pour this mixture into the mould and add more lavender flowers on top.
• Cover with a towel or cardboard to help insulate. Let set until it cools, between 12 and 24 hours, making sure not to move or stir it.
• Once it’s cold you can remove it from the mould.  Leave in a fresh and dry place so that it becomes hard and matures, between one and half to two months.

Also, why not try using other flowers like wild rose petals or elder flower for a different twist on this recipe.