‘Tis the season for everything pumpkin! Pumpkin latte, pumpkin spice bread, pumpkin cinnamon rolls, pumpkin lip balm and pumpkin…soap! I personally LOVE pumpkin time and love making pumpkin soap using real pumpkin (either canned or fresh).
Here are few other pumpkin soap tutorials that I have on the blog.
- Lavender Pumpkin Soap
- Pumpkin Goat Milk Soap
- Pumpkin Coconut Milk Salt Bars
- Hot Process Pumpkin Soap
Real Pumpkin Soap Recipe
- Coconut Oil – 14 oz.
- Shea Butter – 2 oz.
- Olive Oil – 12 oz.
- Avocado Oil – 4 oz.
- Rice Bran Oil – 4 oz.
- Distilled Water – 7 oz.
- Sodium Hydroxide – 5.2 oz.
- Pumpkin Puree – 3.5 oz.
- Pumpkin Fragrance Oil – 1.5 oz.
Pumpkin puree – You pumpkin puree can be from a can; just make sure it is 100% pumpkin and not pumpkin pie filling. You can also cook and puree your own pumpkin. You can use up to 100% of your liquid in pumpkin puree. For this soap, I used 1/3 of my liquid in pumpkin puree and added it to the oils before adding the lye solution.
The soap color that you see in the photo above is all natural from the recipe. I didn’t add any colorants.
Pumpkin fragrance – Many pumpkin fragrances move fast! Be prepared to mix your soap using a whisk and go easy on the stick-blender. I actually like to make my pumpkin soap with a blend of orange eo and cinnamon eo. Cinnamon is super accelerating, so I know to stir it by hand and get it into the mold quickly.
If you are worried about your spicy fragrance or essential oil, then bump up the water amount to 10 oz.
The mold I’m using is the cake slice mold from Wholesale Supplies Plus.
Safety Warning: This recipe is for soapmakers who have a basic knowledge of the soapmaking process and know the correct safety procedures to use when handling lye. If you are new to soapmaking, visit our free soap making guide. Be sure to wear safety goggles and gloves while soaping.
Because pumpkin fragrances and spice eo’s can move quickly, we will soap super cool! Shoot for 80-90 degrees F.
Step 1 – Create your lye solution. Set aside to cool down.
Step 2 – Weigh your hard oils and butters and melt.
Step 3 – Add your liquid oils to the melted oils. This will help to bring the temp down.
Step 4 – Add the pumpkin puree (by weight) to the oil mixture.
Step 5 – Add your fragrance to the oil mixture.
Step 6 – Check the temperatures of both your lye mixture and oils. Wait for them to drop to between 80-90 degrees F.
Step 7 – Pour the lye solution into the oils and bring to trace.
Step 8 – Pour the soap into your mold.
Mine got a bit thick so I used a thick piece of cardboard to “squeegee” the soap off of the top.
Step 9 – Let your soap saponify overnight.
Step 10 – After 24 hours, unmold, cut and set your soap to cure for 4 weeks.
Enjoy your pumpkin soap! I know your customers will!
Happy Soaping!
-Amanda gail
I made my first Pumpkin Puree off of your recipe to the T. I was new to soaping. It was a hit. I use the Pumpkin Patch fragrance oil from New Direction Aromatics. I will be making my 5th batch next weekend. I remember reading somewhere to deduct the weight of the puree from your water base.
In one batch, I reduced the water by 2 oz and topped it with 2 oz of Aloe vera juice. It made a super creamy bar.
I made this pumpkin soap today, it seized up almost immediately. I was able to scoop it into the mold. I just checked it, looked awful all kind of holes in the soap and very grainy looking. Is there anything I can do I hate to toss it away ? I’ve never tried to rebatch soap before not sure how to do it or I could try with this soap.
Hello, what percentage of superfat is this recipe? Thanks!
HI Amanda, Thanks for the recipe. I’m not sure what you mean when you say that you can use up to 100% of your liquid in the pumpkin puree and in this case you used 1/3 of your liquid in the puree. Can you explain or am I just missing something important here.
Thanks for your help 🙂
Hi Amanda, looks like a great recipe. Just wondering if you let this soap gel or not?
Just curious to see if using real pumpkin will
Make this soap go off quicker?
Hi Amanda. Yesterday I made a pumpkin puree cp soap using my own formula. Although I knew I have to split the liquid content between the pumpkin and the water, I didnt because I just forgot. :(. I realized this after I mixed the lye and water but I didnt want to discard the solution and went ahead with my soap. Also, I didnt weigh the puree, argh I am so mad. I unmolded my soap this morning and noticed craters in a few bars. Also it was dripping liquid. I did the zap test and it was fine. I put it in a cardboard to drained and its a little dryer right know. Can I still use it ot sell it? Thanks.
Wow never thought it would look this great. Perhaps we can try this next year.
I totally want to make this – it looks great! And with a little white soap frosting piped on the top as whipped cream… YUM!