# CBD Soap?



## Johnjitsu (May 6, 2021)

Is it possible to make CBD cold process soap? Not hemp, I'm talking actual CBD. I'm not looking to sell the stuff rather just use it post training and maybe it can help with  bumps and bruises from wrestling and MMA. If anyone has done this would you mind sharing a recipe?  Did find one online but, think this is just hemp oil.

10 ounces coconut oil
5 ounces CBD or hemp oil
5 ounces cocoa butter
5 ounces shea butter
5 ounces castor oil
5 ounces avocado oil
12. 25 ounces filtered water
4. 6 ounces lye
1 ounce lavender essential oil


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## TheGecko (May 6, 2021)

You’re better off just rubbing the oil on your aching parts or soaking with a bit of the oil in your bath water than wasting it in soap.  Remember, soap is a wash on/rinse off product that isn’t on your skin but for a few minutes so not very beneficial.


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## AliOop (May 6, 2021)

Also, the lye alters the qualities of the oils. If the CBD oil is saponified, it is no longer an oil, but a salt. So, do what Gecko says.


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## ImpKit (May 7, 2021)

My experience is CBD oil isn't cheap and including in excess of 14% of your oil weight in CBD oil will be very expensive. Even for just hemp oil, depending on the supplier, it might not be cost effective.

Additionally that recipe uses in excess of 14% castor oil which is high (most people recommend between 2 and 10%). It's also superfatted at about 10.5%, where most people seem to try to keep it at around 5%. Though that may be to offset the drying nature that some would find nearly 30% coconut oil to have.

But, yeah, I echo the recommendations to keep the CBD oil for a leave on thing since soap is a rinse off and the muscle relief properties won't really express through even if it survives the saponifcation reaction.

Have you considered making your own lotion or balm? You could make a solid body bar (sometimes called a lotion bar). You really only need a few basic ingredients for a simple one: a wax (beeswax and candelilla wax seem popular), a hard oil (coconut, cocoa butter, and other butters can work), and one or more soft oils (CBD and hemp could work). Melt it all together and pour it in to a mold then leave to set up for a few hours. You'll want to research ratios and tailor it to your weather; may even need different formulations for summer and winter.

Speaking from experience, if you choose to add fragrance to a body bar then be light with it. It can get overwhelming fast...


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## jcandleattic (May 7, 2021)

I will just reiterate what others have said, since soap is a wash off product and the lye will alter the effects of the CBD, it really would not be work making a soap with it. You will not reap any of the benefits once it is in the soap.


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## The_Phoenix (May 7, 2021)

You would be better off using CBD in a salve or lotion. Also, when you say "hemp oil," do you mean CBD or hemp seed oil? They are far from being one and the same. Don't waste it in soap. I've seen a handful of CBD cold process soaps and, as someone who once made CBD salves and face cream, it's all marketing gimmick. If those soapers are truly experienced with CBD, they know that any benefits that the CBD has on its own is useless in soap. Frankly, I'm skeptical that there's even CBD in the soap, given its expense and whatnot. The CBD manufacturers I know would _never _think to waste good CBD in a wash-off product.

That's my opinion on the matter...


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## Janewoc17 (May 8, 2021)

I'm curious if the concept that saponification pretty much nullifies the value of CBD oil, would that apply to other herb infused oils? I'm thinking of calendula, chamomile or lavender infused olive oil. I make soap for family and friends and don't want to waste time and effort better spent in other pursuits. I don't need false marketing ploys. Thank you ahead for shared knowledge from soapy experts.


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## Aromasuzie (May 8, 2021)

Janewoc17 said:


> I'm curious if the concept that saponification pretty much nullifies the value of CBD oil, would that apply to other herb infused oils? I'm thinking of calendula, chamomile or lavender infused olive oil. I make soap for family and friends and don't want to waste time and effort better spent in other pursuits. I don't need false marketing ploys. Thank you ahead for shared knowledge from soapy experts.



I use calendula for the colour, I know it’s therapeutic value but couldn’t guarantee that any of those active ingredients would survive saponification. As others have commented, better to use those ingredients in a balm, etc.  I personally would use CO2 calendula or CO2 chamomile, a concentrated product that has greater active constituents than the infused or essential oil, especially chamomile for its anti-inflammatory action.


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## Janewoc17 (May 8, 2021)

Thank you so much for answering my question! I was pretty sure that is the case, but wanted confirmation. I had looked through some other threads, but kept getting distracted with other fascinating information. I will give the CO2 extract a try.


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## Aromasuzie (May 8, 2021)

Janewoc17 said:


> Thank you so much for answering my question! I was pretty sure that is the case, but wanted confirmation. I had looked through some other threads, but kept getting distracted with other fascinating information. I will give the CO2 extract a try.


It’s a bit of a buggar to work with as it’s quite waxy and you have to heat the bottle up in a warm water bath to pour, so I usually make up the German chamomile at a 25% dilution in jojoba.  The chamomile aroma is so much nicer as a CO2 than the essential oil.  The calendula is a very bright orange too so I use a low dilution to prevent staining.


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## lenarenee (May 8, 2021)

Aromasuzie said:


> I use calendula for the colour, I know it’s therapeutic value but couldn’t guarantee that any of those active ingredients would survive saponification. As others have commented, better to use those ingredients in a balm, etc.  I personally would use CO2 calendula or CO2 chamomile, a concentrated product that has greater active constituents than the infused or essential oil, especially chamomile for its anti-inflammatory action.



According to Robert Tisserand, lye ruins a huge percentage of the active constituents in essential oils. Lavender was one of the LEAST affected, and it lost 40 to 60%.  Since the benefits of herbs comes from those same chemicals, this makes me think that herbs in soap won’t have any affect at all, especially considering that 1) you can’t put a large amount in soap in the first place, and a bar of soap lasts through dozens of uses so you don’t get a decent dose of the herb 2) it’s a wash off product. Soap cleans by lifting and removing, not applying.  So yeah, those nice ingredients are better in a balm.


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## Janewoc17 (May 8, 2021)

lenarenee said:


> According to Robert Tisserand, lye ruins a huge percentage of the active constituents in essential oils. Lavender was one of the LEAST affected, and it lost 40 to 60%.  Since the benefits of herbs comes from those same chemicals, this makes me think that herbs in soap won’t have any affect at all, especially considering that 1) you can’t put a large amount in soap in the first place, and a bar of soap lasts through dozens of uses so you don’t get a decent dose of the herb 2) it’s a wash off product. Soap cleans by lifting and removing, not applying.  So yeah, those nice ingredients are better in a balm.


I am not familiar with Robert Tisserand's work, so thank you for another resource--just found his web site. I was thinking that the herbs were better off in a balm, but always good to learn from those with more experience! Thank you!


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## Zany_in_CO (May 10, 2021)

I love, love, love my herbal soaps! I love how they look and I don't think it's just my imagination that they make a difference in soap. But that's just me. Here's an article that talks about the *10 Best Herbs for Soap* and what they bring to the batch.


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## Aromasuzie (May 10, 2021)

@Zany_in_CO   My problem with articles like that is that they are quoting therapeutic effects of the dried herb  E.g. “Rose petals contain a lot of Vitamin C, which is also beneficial to the skin”. Vitamin C is destroyed by heat.  This article is talking about adding the dried herb to the soap batter, the amount within the soap would be negligible for therapeutic effects.  It would be far better to infuse the oils and I’d be doubling or tripling the infusion.


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## Janewoc17 (May 10, 2021)

I'm inclined to agree with my new friend (if I may be so bold?) from New Zealand, Aromasuzie about the therapeutic effects of herbs in soap. I do think that goat milk is very soothing and a careful selection of oils and butters can be therapeutic, but I'm struggling with the concept of herbal properties surviving saponification. My research holds that even infusing herbs over 110'F for very long destroys the benefits. Of course healthful teas are made by pouring boiling water over dried herbs, but the temperature drops rapidly and only dried roots are simmered for any length of time.  But I sure do love my homemade soaps, even without the herbs. I absolutely understand why Zany in CO would love the herbal soaps--they seem so much better and our perceptions often become reality. So I may go ahead and make some herbal infused soaps because I can--I have two full harvests of lavender pining away for soapy attention.


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## Aromasuzie (May 11, 2021)

@Janewoc17 I was thinking more of the total % of dried herb within the soap, which I imagine would be very low.  Do you infuse the flowers in your oil or add them to the soap mix?  I can feel the difference in the soap with butters and I imagine milks would be the same with their high fat contents.  I also love the feel of clays in soap too.  Mallow is an interesting one as it's a mucilige herb.  I have jars of calendula that I will be infusing before adding to soap.  Obviously some therapeutic action in herbs must still be available if the essential oil aromas still exist after saponification, even if it is just the volatile components.  I would just imagine you would need a large % of lavender flowers within the soap to have a therapeutic action.  Smell alone has a huge impact on the psyche.  But like you said, our perceptions often become reality and I'm all for that.


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## Janewoc17 (May 11, 2021)

Aromasuzie said:


> @Janewoc17 I was thinking more of the total % of dried herb within the soap, which I imagine would be very low.  Do you infuse the flowers in your oil or add them to the soap mix?  I can feel the difference in the soap with butters and I imagine milks would be the same with their high fat contents.  I also love the feel of clays in soap too.  Mallow is an interesting one as it's a mucilige herb.  I have jars of calendula that I will be infusing before adding to soap.  Obviously some therapeutic action in herbs must still be available if the essential oil aromas still exist after saponification, even if it is just the volatile components.  I would just imagine you would need a large % of lavender flowers within the soap to have a therapeutic action.  Smell alone has a huge impact on the psyche.  But like you said, our perceptions often become reality and I'm all for that.


I infuse the flowers/herbs in the olive oil, then also make a tea for the water portion. I love mallow! I make a mallow/calendula/chamomile/rose infused olive oil for making skin cream.  Clay in soap? I don't have that recipe!! What an interesting idea. So much I don't know about soap making--since I love learning stuff, that makes me really happy!


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## Aromasuzie (May 11, 2021)

@Janewoc17 yep, there’s a real thrill in learning new things and soap making is such a huge subject. Clay gives a lovely slip to soap and great as a natural colorant too.  Have you tried rose hydrosol to replace your “water phase” when making your cream? To me rose hydrosol is the closest I’ve smelt to the living rose flower, the smell of rose infused oil or rose tea is a pale imitation.


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## cmzaha (May 12, 2021)

I have made soap with the real deal with strong THC levels and believe me in soap and it does nothing in soap other than creating a really bad high when making the butter to use in the soap. It did make me good money though... No, I no longer make the real stuff.

I will note I never smoked any of it growing up because I hated the smell of it and making salves and soap for a clinic was my only experience with it, but people swore by the salves and the money was great.  The soap sold well but I found it to be useless and I never used the salve so I had no opinions about it.


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## Aromasuzie (May 12, 2021)

@cmzaha how fascinating! New Zealand recently said no to recreational cannabis but has allowed its medical use.  Unfortunately it’s made the medicinal side super expensive.  I have a prescription for CBD, but I sourced the isolate from the USA, way cheaper, but illegal to do so. The things we do for our health  I would love to play around with THC in balms.  It doesn’t surprise me your THC soap sold well, the power of suggestion aye


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## Janewoc17 (May 12, 2021)

Aromasuzie said:


> @Janewoc17 yep, there’s a real thrill in learning new things and soap making is such a huge subject. Clay gives a lovely slip to soap and great as a natural colorant too.  Have you tried rose hydrosol to replace your “water phase” when making your cream? To me rose hydrosol is the closest I’ve smelt to the living rose flower, the smell of rose infused oil or rose tea is a pale imitation.


Oooohhh! I can never get enough rose aroma. Does the aroma from the hydrosol survive the process? I never tried it, since I thought it would be a waste. I have learned how to make hydrosols at home. How much clay does one add to a recipe?


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## KiwiMoose (May 12, 2021)

Aromasuzie said:


> @cmzaha how fascinating! New Zealand recently said no to recreational cannabis but has allowed its medical use.  Unfortunately it’s made the medicinal side super expensive.  I have a prescription for CBD, but I sourced the isolate from the USA, way cheaper, but illegal to do so. The things we do for our health  I would love to play around with THC in balms.  It doesn’t surprise me your THC soap sold well, the power of suggestion aye


I'm telling on you!! 
N.B I voted yes in the referendum and I hate the stuff personally (for recreational use that is).


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## Aromasuzie (May 12, 2021)

Janewoc17 said:


> Oooohhh! I can never get enough rose aroma. Does the aroma from the hydrosol survive the process? I never tried it, since I thought it would be a waste. I have learned how to make hydrosols at home. How much clay does one add to a recipe?


Unfortunately the smell doesn't survive the moisturiser making process.  I even infused my own rose petals into the oil I used and that didn't work either.


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## Aromasuzie (May 12, 2021)

KiwiMoose said:


> I'm telling on you!!
> N.B I voted yes in the referendum and I hate the stuff personally (for recreational use that is).


HaHa, yeah, the whole bloody referendum was a balls up.  Medical cannabis is so expensive, I am using the CBD, which is non-psychoactive, the Doctor quoted $450 a month!  At least if the referendum passed I could have tried growing my own.  I was kind of expecting customs to turn up on my doorstep as it was US$600 worth, either to ask for GST or prosecute me.  I probably could have gone to the Green Fairy, but I know the isolate I'm buying is 98% pure, I don't think the green fairy could tell me the constituents in their oil.  I'm sure I'm not the only one bringing it into the country(it's illegal to import it yourself), even though I have a prescription, it still makes us criminals in the eyes of the law.


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