Making Cold Process Aloe Vera Soap - Harvesting the Leaves and Gel - Full Soap Making Recipe
Summary
TLDRIn this video, the host shares an exciting tutorial on making aloe vera soap. They discuss the ease of growing aloe plants, even in cold climates, and demonstrate how to harvest the leaves. The process involves extracting the gel, blending it, and freezing it before combining it with oils and lye to create a high-water-content soap. The soap is colored with indigo, scented with essential oils, and carefully poured into molds. The host emphasizes patience for the soap to gel and cure, resulting in a soft, vibrantly colored bar that's perfect for the skin.
Takeaways
- 🌿 The video is about making aloe vera soap using homegrown aloe plants.
- 🌱 Aloe vera is easy to grow and tolerant to cold, needing well-drained soil and regular watering.
- 🌿 The presenter is unsure of the exact aloe variety but uses them for medicinal and skin purposes.
- 💧 Aloe vera juice is extracted from the leaves and used in soap, despite uncertainty if its benefits survive the soap-making process.
- 📝 The soap recipe has a 2.5 to 1 liquid to lye ratio, which is high for this type of soap.
- 🍃 Fresh aloe leaves are harvested, with care taken to drain the yellow sap into water to prevent browning.
- 🔪 A sharp knife is used to trim the leaf edges, and a spoon is used to scoop out the gel without cutting into the leaf.
- 🧊 The aloe gel is blended with water, frozen into ice cubes, and then used in the soap-making process to keep it cold.
- 🌈 The soap is colored with indigo, which starts green but turns more blue as the soap cures.
- 🌱 The soap includes a blend of olive, coconut, and castor oils, and is scented with tea tree, peppermint, and cedar essential oils.
- ⏱️ Patience is key as the high liquid content makes the soap soft and slow to gel, requiring a long cure time and careful handling.
Q & A
What is the speaker excited about in the garden?
-The speaker is excited about making aloe vera soap.
How does the speaker describe the aloe vera plants?
-The aloe vera plants are described as easy to grow, tolerant to cold, and having big thick fleshy stems with lots of gel inside.
What is the purpose of having water nearby when harvesting aloe vera leaves?
-The water is used to drain the yellow sap that comes out of the leaves during harvesting.
How does the speaker harvest the aloe vera leaves?
-The speaker breaks the side of the leaves at the base using their thumb or fingernail and then peels them off.
What is the benefit of trimming the aloe vera leaves with a spoon instead of a knife?
-Using a spoon prevents cutting into the leaf and allows for the gel to be scooped out without damaging the plant.
Why does the speaker blend the aloe gel with water before freezing?
-Blending the aloe gel with water before freezing helps to ensure a thorough blending process and turns the gel into juice.
What is the liquid to lye ratio in the soap recipe mentioned in the script?
-The liquid to lye ratio in the soap recipe is 2.5 to 1.
Why does the speaker use ice cubes in the soap-making process?
-The ice cubes are used to keep the aloe gel cold during the soap-making process to prevent the gel from turning brown.
What essential oils does the speaker use in the soap recipe?
-The speaker uses tea tree, peppermint, and cedar essential oils in the soap recipe.
How long does the speaker recommend curing the aloe vera soap?
-The speaker recommends curing the aloe vera soap for at least two months.
What is the final color of the aloe vera soap after curing?
-The final color of the aloe vera soap after curing is a more vibrant indigo blue.
Outlines
🌿 Introduction to Making Aloe Vera Soap
The speaker is in their garden and excited to discuss making aloe vera soap. They mention various aloe plants, including those in pots and in the ground, and note that aloe vera is easy to grow and tolerant to cold. They discuss the ideal characteristics of aloe plants for soap making, such as thick stems with lots of gel. The speaker is unsure if the benefits of aloe vera survive the soap-making process but loves the idea of using natural ingredients. They explain the process of harvesting aloe leaves, including using a container of water to drain the yellow sap that comes out of the leaves. The speaker demonstrates how to harvest the leaves by breaking them at the base and shows the sap coming out immediately. They also explain how to trim the leaves and extract the gel using a knife and a spoon, emphasizing the importance of using a spoon to avoid cutting into the leaf.
🧼 Preparing Aloe Vera Gel for Soap
The speaker proceeds to blend the aloe vera gel with a bit of water to create a juice. They use a stick blender to ensure the gel is thoroughly blended until no lumps remain. The gel is then frozen in an ice cube tray and once solid, stored in a labeled container. The speaker discusses the soap-making process, emphasizing the importance of safety gear like goggles and gloves. They mention the soap recipe's liquid-to-lye ratio and how they add sodium hydroxide to the frozen aloe gel, stirring until the ice cubes melt. The speaker also talks about preparing the color for the soap using indigo powder and preparing the oils, which include olive oil, coconut oil, and castor oil. They explain the need to strain the aloe lye solution to remove pulp chunks for a smoother soap and mention their choice of essential oils, including tea tree, peppermint, and cedar. The oils are warmed to a specific temperature before combining with the lye solution.
💧 Creating the Aloe Vera Soap
The speaker describes the process of creating the aloe vera soap, starting with pouring the lye solution into the oils and blending until a creamy emulsion is formed. They note that they did not take the mixture to a thick trace, preferring a runny consistency for a smooth top on the soap. The soap is colored with indigo, which starts off green but turns blue as it cures. Essential oils are added for fragrance, and the soap is poured into molds. The speaker emphasizes the need to let the soap sit for a while before moving it to prevent spillage. They also discuss the need to insulate the soap to help it gel, which is important for the vibrancy of the indigo color. The speaker advises patience as the soap cures slowly due to its high liquid content. They suggest a two-month curing period and remind viewers to test the soap's pH before use. The video concludes with the speaker expressing their love for the soap's fragrance and color, which improves over time.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Aloe Vera
💡Soap Making
💡Harvesting
💡Lye
💡Gel Extraction
💡Freezing
💡Saponification
💡Essential Oils
💡Trace
💡Curing
💡pH Testing
Highlights
Introduction to making aloe vera soap
Aloe vera is easy to grow and tolerant to cold
Harvesting aloe vera leaves for soap making
Using a container of water to drain yellow sap from leaves
Trimming and extracting aloe vera gel without cutting into the leaf
Blending aloe vera gel into juice for soap making
Freezing aloe vera juice to prevent browning during soap making
Preparing the soap recipe with a 2.5 to 1 liquid to lye ratio
Adding sodium hydroxide to the frozen aloe gel
Preparing color with indigo powder for the soap
Mixing oils for the soap base
Straining the aloe lye solution to remove pulp for a clear soap
Choosing essential oils for fragrance
Pouring the lye solution into oils to create the soap emulsion
Adding indigo color to the soap for a unique look
Insulating the soap to help it gel and set properly
Cutting and curing the soap for optimal hardness and color
Testing the soap for correct pH before use
Final thoughts on the soap's fragrance and color development over time
Transcripts
hi everyone i'm out in the garden today and i'm really excited to be out here because today i'm
going to talk about and show you how to make aloe vera soap these are my aloe plants or some of them
these two are in pots this one's in the ground i just planted recently and i've got some other
really nice bigger established ones out in the sun but i'm going to harvest some of the
leaves off this and show you all of my tips and tricks aloe vera is really easy to grow
it grows in lots of different climates it's even very tolerant to cold which i was surprised about
um as long as it's in a well-drained soil and you know it doesn't get completely parched you know
bare out in the sun it needs a little bit of regular water but once you've got them
you'll have them forever i'm not 100 sure of the variety of aloes that i have but i'm fairly sure
they are the ones that i use for medicinal and skin preparation purposes these ones are ideal
in terms of they have got really big thick fleshy stems lots of gel inside which you're going to see
and they come out of the plant in a rosette type fashion i'm not 100 sure if the benefits of aloe
vera actually survive the soap making process this aloe vera juice that i'm going to extract
from these leaves it's going to come in contact with the lye but i just love the idea of using
these ingredients in my soap and i have made aloe vera soap before and it does have a nice skin feel
to it so there might be something in it so i'll show you how i harvest the leaves and i always
have a little container of water nearby to put the leaves in straight away just because there's some
yellow sap that comes out of the leaves and you want to be able to drain that off into some water
that's very easy all i do is i just get my thumb or you could use a knife if you wanted to but i
usually just use my thumb or a fingernail and i just kind of break the side of one of the leaves
like and that won't let me do it there we go i don't know if you can see that but i've just
broken one side right at the base go down as low as you can and then the leaf comes off
i don't know if you'll see that sap can you see that yellow sap coming out straight away
so just pop that in your water i'm going to take this one as well cut it on the
side and then peel it away that way you pretty much get the whole leaf
um i like to just peel my leaves off from the base oh there's another one looking good they
get a fair bit of dirt on them as well well they do in my garden i'm gonna pick another one here
oh oh that one went a bit gooey um maybe one more
there we go that should do it so here they are i've got all the leaves this water will go a bit
yellow from all that sap that's going to come out so just leave them in there for half an hour or so
i've got five big leaves here they're quite big and fleshy and that's going to be well
and truly enough for the soap that i'm going to make but don't worry if you don't have this much
just use whatever you have and the rest of the liquid just use water so just mix it up with
water and that'll be just fine you don't have to use full aloe i'm just using full aloe because
i've got quite a lot available but you just use whatever you have and that's quite okay
so i'll show you how i trim the leaves of the aloe and extract the gel out this is a really
good trick so just get a sharp knife and just trim off the sides of the leaf those spiky bits
just trim that off and then get a spoon with a spoon kind of cup facing upwards and just gently
push it around the edges and get underneath the skin of that leaf and then push it up against
kind of up against your hand a little bit and that way you'll just peel off
that top layer of skin and then turn it around the other way and push it downwards
now because you're using a spoon you're not going to cut anything as you go you're just
literally scooping out the flesh of the leaf i'll show you again just trim those sides off
if you use a knife for the scoopy part you end up cutting the leaf and it just doesn't work
whereas using a spoon it just kind of pulls the leaf back and pulls the gel off without cutting
into anything so you end up with these big aloe fillets it reminds me a lot of filleting fish
actually it's a really weird thing anyway then i put my aloe gel into a container because i'm
going to blend this now i add a little bit of water to it as well just to help it blend
and you want to give it a really thorough blending pretty much we want to turn this to juice
so this is my just stick blender for my soap making i just really blend it till there's
really no lumps left at all and then i put it into my ice cube tray and freeze it make sure
it's really frozen super solid once it's frozen i just put it in a container and label it because
you probably won't use all of what you have well you may do for this recipe
and when i'm ready to make start making the soap make sure
you've got your safety gear on goggles and gloves
this recipe has a 2.5 to 1 liquid to lie ratio so that's quite a high water level or juice level
for this soap it's 182 grams of aloe gel but i found it hard to get the accurate amount with
ice cubes so mine was a bit more then i add the sodium hydroxide so slowly add that to the frozen
aloe gel and mix that through this takes a bit of time i've cut a fair bit of this out
it probably takes at least a good few minutes for the ice cubes to start to melt but make sure
you stir it the whole way through just be patient with it stir it slowly if you don't use ice cubes
the gel will go brown so you really need to keep it really cold and you can see that i've
got another little ice brick under there as well while you're waiting for your ice cubes to melt
a bit more you can do other things because it does take a while it's very cold light solution
with the aloe gel so i'm just getting my color ready i'm coloring this soap with indigo and this
is just blue indigo powder that i mix with some water and i'm going to put a little bit of that
into the soap you know you can use whatever colors you like and then i get my oils ready so this is a
basic olive coconut and castor oil so i've got 432 grams of olive oil going in there and then
to that i add 81 grams of coconut oil which i'd pre-melted just to make it easier to measure out
and then i add castor oil 27 grams you can use other soap recipes if you like you don't have to
use the recipes that i use this is just my you know a favorite kind of oil combination for me
i only make these soaps for personal use so i just do the recipes that i like then
you see there's big chunks of pulp left in that aloe lye solution you want to strain those out
if you don't strain those out you will get chunks of kind of brownie bits in your soap i have made
soap without straining it and it's still fine to use but if you want it to be as aesthetically
pleasing as possible it's really good to strain that pulp out and that way you get like a pure
aloe juice lye solution see that it's really clear and it's just a lovely
nice clear solution so you won't get any chunks in your soap
here's my essential oils i'm getting ready to make the soap now i've did tea tree peppermint
and cedar it's just beautiful all the just all the details for that are in the description box
and i've got my oils here um i did warm my oils up a bit that's 38 degrees
celsius and 100 fahrenheit and i waited for my lyre solution to warm up a little bit too
because it was quite cold to begin with so it's back up to about 22 degrees celsius 72
fahrenheit and when you're ready to make the soap as usual pour the lye solution
this in this case an aloe lyer solution pour that into your oils and start stick blending
you can see that comes to a really nice creamy color straight away that's because of the aloe
i have also made this where you just blend the aloe gel straight into the oils you don't mix them
with the lye at all and when you do that it goes really really creamy obviously you can't get the
pulp chunks out when you do it that way i think it's nicer to use a full water replacement for the
aloe but you know you can just blend in some pulp or some gel into your oils as well if you want to
do it that way you can see i did not take this to a very thick trace actually it wasn't really out
of trace it was just a good emulsion i wanted this soap to be quite runny when i poured it
because i don't didn't want to texture the top i just wanted it to be very very smooth liquid soap
when i poured it so i'm adding some indigo there you see it looks kind of greeny it does start off
a bit green but as the soap cures after a week or so it starts to turn more of a blue color
and then i put my essential oils in such a beautiful combination i really love the
freshness of the peppermint with the cedar and a little bit of tea tree it's just beautiful
so fresh so i've definitely got an emulsion there which is good it is probably just about
a light trace if that um if you're not sure take it to a trace and when you're ready
pour the soap here it is it's very lovely i love simple soaps like this that you just pour in
and you know lots of people love to texture the tops of their soaps and sometimes i do
but you know it's okay to make just really plain soaps too they can be just as beautiful
this is really runny so i do let it sit for 10 minutes or so before i move it just to make it
easy to move so i don't spill it so about 10 minutes it firms up enough to be able to move
you want to insulate this soap so i wrap it in this blanket and then i put it in my cooler
as well which is just an insulated box put it in there for 24 hours this soap has a really high
liquid amount and that's to make sure it's got lots of aloe in it but what that means is it's
quite a soft soap it's very slow to gel it takes a long time to gel and you want this soap to gel
because that makes the indigo color a lot more vibrant if you gel it so i highly recommend being
patient with this this is actually a day and a half later that i'm cutting it and you can see
it's still kind of translucent jelly color inside and it's really soft so you've got to be patient
with this give this soap a really good cure i reckon two months make sure that you um cure it
for a really good amount of time because it's a high liquid amount it's going to be really soft
it's going to take time to get nice and hard and also as always make sure you test your soap for ph
correct ph before you use them that's it i really love this soap this fragrance
is amazing the color is a bit weird to begin with but it does get better in time so this is
kind of a day or two after the soap was made and this is another day after in different light but
this is more of an accurate picture of what this light indigo looks like i hope you enjoyed that
everyone thanks so much for watching i'll see you in the next video and thanks everyone who's made
contributions if you're interested in that check out my buy me a coffee page thanks everyone bye
you
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