The Best Calendula Soap Recipe (2024)

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Calendula flowers are the star of this gorgeous handmade soap! Calendula has many wonderful skin benefits and adds a nice yellow tint to any homemade soap recipe.

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Benefits of Calendula Soap
How to Make Calendula Soap
Ingredients:
Equipment:
How to Make Calendula Oil Infusion
Instructions:
Calendula Soap Recipe

Calendula is one of a few plants that can be applied directly to open wounds to promote healing. It has been used for centuries as a culinary and medicinal herb, but also in dyes and for ceremonial purposes. The calendula plant is a species of annuals and perennials in the daisy family native to parts of Asia and Europe. The most common variety is calendula officinalis aka pot marigold (named after the Virgin Mary "Mary's Gold").

I've never grown calendula myself, but I'd really like to give it a try some day. If you have calendula in your garden this soap project is a great way to use it.

Benefits of Calendula Soap

As a skincare ingredient Calendula has anti-viral, anti-fungal and anti-inflammatory properties that might benefit wound healing, eczema and diaper rashes. Calendula infused oil can be applied to damaged skin, rashes, psoriasis, acne, insect bites and poison ivy. Calendula infused soap is a great way to gently cleanse and nourish dry, irritated and sensitive skin.

For this cold process soap recipe we’ll be infusing dried calendula petals into olive oil. The goal is to extract and infuse as many of calendula’s beneficial skin properties into the soap as possible.

How to Make Calendula Soap

If you’ve never made cold process soap before, please make sure to read the instruction carefully since this soap making process involves the use of lye. I highly recommend you read up on lye safety and study the steps in my beginner's soap recipe before taking on this project.

If you’d rather make calendula soap without having to handle lye, try these instructions using melt and pour soap bases.

Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links, meaning at no additional cost to you will I earn a commission if you decide to click through and make a purchase.

Ingredients:

for 6 bars of soap (26 Oz):

Equipment:

safety glasses
latex gloves
two heat resistant containers (non-aluminum, non-glass) - a smaller one to mix lye solution and a bigger one (40 Oz capacity) to melt your oils and mix your soap in
immersion blender (stick blender)
digital kitchen scale
infrared thermometer (optional)
mason jar or empty glass container with lid for the oil infusion or two stainless steel pot that fit inside one another for a makeshift double boiler
small container for straining the oil infusion
cheese cloth, coffee filter or fine sifter
silicone soap mold
silicone spatula
cutting board
wooden skewer

How to Make Calendula Oil Infusion

Infusing plant material in oil is a great way to enhance homemade skincare products with the healing power of plants. I use oil infusion for my lavender soap recipe and beeswax lip balm.

There are two main ways to infuse dry herbs or flowers into oil: Cold or heat infusion. Which method you choose depends on how much time and patience you have. Below you can find detailed instructions on each one:

a) Cold/ Solar Infusion

This is asimple and easy methodthat doesn’t require much effort, but it requires time and planning ahead. Your homemade oil infusionmay take up to a monthuntil it’s ready to use.

Use a clean glass jar with tight lid and fill it with 1 cup of dried calendula petals.
Pour the olive oil over the petals making sure they're completely submerged.
Place on awarm sunny windowsill.It’s important to place in a sunny area as the infusion needs the heat of the sun to bring out the great properties of your calendula.
Periodically shake and swirl your cold infusion jar.It should be ready in about 3-4 weeks.
When you're ready to use the infusion strain it into a clean jar using either a cheese cloth, fine sieve or coffee filter.
Use infused olive oil as described in the soap recipe below.

Note:I only recommend infusing DRY plant material into oil. The water content of fresh herbs and flowers is too high and will overtime lead to mold and a very bad smell. Don't even ask how I found that out 😉 If you grow your own pot marigold at home, make sure to dry the flowers properly before infusing.

b) Heat Infusion (Using Slow co*cker)

Using a slow co*cker is a quick and easy way to infuse herbs into oil. The advantage of this method is that you can set it and forget it.

Fill your jar with calendula and olive oil.
Screw jar lid snugly and place into a slow cooker.
Fill the slow cooker with about 2 inches of water.
Place the lid on the slow cooker.
Set heat to “low” or “warm.”
Depending on your preference, you may choose to let it cook for 4 hours.
When cook time is over, let infusion cool down overnight while still in slow cooker.
Once your infusion is ready, strain and use as directed in soap recipe.

c) Heat Infusion (Using Double Boiler Method)

This method is perfect if you want a quick infusion without a slow co*cker. You will, however, have to keep an eye on the temperature and water level throughout the process.

Begin by placing a stainless steel saucepan on the stove, filling it ¼ full of water, and bringing the water to a boil.
Place calendula and olive oil into a second dry, stainless steel saucepan that is slightly smaller than the first. Use a dry spoon to mix thoroughly so all surfaces of the calendula are coated.
Place the smaller, oil-filled saucepan inside the larger, water-filled saucepan and simmer for at least 1 hour (longer is better) until the oil takes on the color and scent of the herb. Keep a careful eye on the amount of water in the larger pan and be very careful not to let water splash into the oil/herb mixture. Monitor the temperature of your oil and keep it between 120-140 degrees Fahrenheit. If the water level runs low in the lower saucepan, carefully add more hot water to bring the water level in the saucepan back up to ¼ full.
Turn stove off and let everything cool down to room temperature.
Strain olive oil and use as directed for making soap.

Instructions:

1. Prepare Calendula Oil Infusion: choose one of the infusion methods described above and keep in mind that the oil will take time to infuse.

2. When oil infusion is complete strain calendula petals through a cheese cloth (coffee filter or fine sifter)

4. Weigh Olive Oil: some oil will remain in the calendula, so it's super important that you make sure you end up with 9 oz of infused olive oil. If needed add more olive oil.

5. The first step is to gather all of your equipment and ingredients

6. Safety Precautions: Put on googles and gloves, wear long sleeves and make sure you're not soaping around children and/or pets. Keep your space ventilated or soap outdoors. Never leave lye water solution unattended!

Calendula Soap Recipe

Yield: 6 Bars of Soap

Prep Time: 2 hours

Active Time: 30 minutes

Additional Time: 28 days

Total Time: 28 days 2 hours 30 minutes

Difficulty: intermediate

A nourishing blend of calendula infused olive oil, shea butter, coconut and essential oils create a gentle bar of soap.

Materials

Dried calendula flower petals (1 cup + extra for top of the soap)
Olive oil (virgin or pomace grade, 50%): 9 oz. / 255 g
Coconut oil (31%): 5.6 oz. / 158 g
Shea butter (19%): 3.4 oz. / 97 g
Lye (Sodium Hydroxide): 2.5 oz. / 71 g
Distilled water: 4.2 oz. / 120 g
Lemongrass essential oil: 8g
Lavender essential oil: 8g
Cornflower petals for the top (optional)

Tools

safety glasses
latex gloves
two heat resistant containers (non-aluminum, non-glass) - a smaller one to mix lye solution and a bigger one (40 Oz capacity) to melt your oils and mix your soap in
immersion blender (stick blender)
digital kitchen scale
mason jar or empty glass container with lid for the oil infusion or two stainless steal pot that fit inside one another for a makeshift double boiler
small container for straining the oil infusion
cheese cloth, coffee filter or fine sifter
silicone soap mold
silicone spatula
cutting board
wooden skewer

Instructions

Prepare Calendula Oil Infusion: choose one of the infusion methods described above and keep in mind that the oil will take time to infuse.
When oil infusion is complete strain calendula petals through a cheese cloth (coffee filter or fine sifter)
Weigh Olive Oil: some oil will remain in the calendula, so it's super important that you make sure you end up with 9 oz of infused olive oil. If needed add more olive oil.
Soap Making:
The first step is to gather all of your equipment and ingredients
Safety Precautions: Put on googles and gloves, wear long sleeves and make sure you're not soaping around children and/or pets. Keep your space ventilated or soap outdoors. Never leave lye water solution unattended!
Weigh distilled water
Slowly and carefully add the lye, gently stirring until fully dissolved, set aside to cool
Melt coconut oil and shea butter over in a water bath over low heat or microwave in 30 seconds bursts
Add infused olive oil to melted oils
Add essential oil blend (lavender and lemongrass essential oil)
Let lye solution and oil mixture cool to about room temperature, when containers don't feel to warm to the touch anymore
Make Soap Batter: Combine the two and stick blend until medium trace (thin pudding consistency) is achieved
Place silicone mold on a cutting board
Pour soap batter into the mold cavity about ⅞ to the top
Tap down cutting board with the soap on kitchen counter a couple of times to release any air bubbles
If you wish to decorate the top with calendula and/ or cornflowers, make sure that the soap is at VERY thick consistency at that point. For me that was 10 minutes after I poured the soap. This will prevent flowers from browning over time
Gently press the dried flowers onto the soap using a wooden skewer
Move soap to a safe spot and let it harden for 48 hours
Unmold: pull on sides of silicone mold and then gently push from the bottom
Cure soap for 3-4 weeks in a dry and dark spot.
Enjoy!