Wanting To Make A Gardener’s Soap

[Jersey Girl]

I’m an avid gardener and I rarely wear gloves as I enjoy getting down in the dirt. Lol. I’m wanting to make a gardener soap to get all the grime off after a day in the garden. What do you use when making such a soap? Thanks for any input!

 

[atiz]

I have only made gardener soap twice. One had pumice and orange peel; the other pumice and poppy seeds. Have to say, I wasn't a big fan of the poppy seed one, since it was black and stuck to the sink and it was kind of a pain to rinse it every time. I did like the orange peel one quite a bit (and so did my dad who still uses it). It was the kind of orange peel you get as a spice -- not too bulky but not extremely finely ground either.
The pumice I have is very fine so you could hardly feel it.
I would also like to try ground coffee, which people also seem to use. But no gardening for me for a while now....

 

[Jersey Girl]

I have only made gardener soap twice. One had pumice and orange peel; the other pumice and poppy seeds. Have to say, I wasn't a big fan of the poppy seed one, since it was black and stuck to the sink and it was kind of a pain to rinse it every time. I did like the orange peel one quite a bit (and so did my dad who still uses it). It was the kind of orange peel you get as a spice -- not too bulky but not extremely finely ground either.
The pumice I have is very fine so you could hardly feel it.
I would also like to try ground coffee, which people also seem to use. But no gardening for me for a while now....

I should try the coffee grounds from my husband’s espresso machine. They are quite fine. I’m assuming I’d need to dry them first? I have ground orange peel that I dried and ground myself so maybe I can try a combo of those. What oils are good to use?

 

[Obsidian]

I like very finely ground coffee for a scrubby hand soap, you can use them wet or dry. I buy coffee just for soap so its always dry.

I bump the coconut up to 25% in my regular recipe.

 

[JuliaNegusuk]

I make a "working hands soap" for sale for a charity which is quite popular. I wanted to cover all bases, cooks, gardeners, mechanics soap so I threw the kitchen sink at it in terms of ingredients so it is very high in coconut oil for cleansing and has pumice, coffee grounds and seasalt. It is certainly very cleansing. The idea was that the seasalt would add a sort of medicinal element in that salt water would be good for little cuts and scratches. Though I do not mention this in the description (apart the ingredients list) or make any medicinal claims but that was the theory behind including it. There probably actually isn't enough in it though. But it certainly makes a scrubby soap.

 

[shunt2011]

I make one with pumice and coffee grounds and 15x orange EO. I also male one with foaming bath whip, pumice and orange with orange peel.

 

[Jersey Girl]

I make one with pumice and coffee grounds and 15x orange EO. I also male one with foaming bath whip, pumice and orange with orange peel.

Thank you. Other than upping the coconut a bit, are there any oils that work better or any to avoid, or just a basic recipe works well enough?

 

[shunt2011]

Thank you. Other than upping the coconut a bit, are there any oils that work better or any to avoid, or just a basic recipe works well enough?

I use my regular lard recipe and 25% CO. Nothing special here. I like to keep it simple for the most part.

 

[AliOop]

I make 100% salt bars with 30%SF and 1 Tbsp PPO coffee grounds. I've used both wet and dry grounds and don't notice any difference. I'd love to try some ground pumice but am committed to working with supplies on hand for awhile since I have been known to have a list of "wanna try" stuff that could keep me busy for a year or more.

This scrubbing combo does a great job of removing garden/chicken pen dirt and cooking odors, all without making my hands a peeling dry mess. However, like most salt bars, esp. with all that coconut oil, they are much nicer after a long cure.

Since I still have a bunch of tallow from the cow share we bought, I may try making a batch with perhaps 50% tallow and 50% CO, and drop it down to 8% SF.

 

[Jersey Girl]

I make 100% salt bars with 30%SF and 1 Tbsp PPO coffee grounds. I've used both wet and dry grounds and don't notice any difference. I'd love to try some ground pumice but am committed to working with supplies on hand for awhile since I have been known to have a list of "wanna try" stuff that could keep me busy for a year or more.

This scrubbing combo does a great job of removing garden/chicken pen dirt and cooking odors, all without making my hands a peeling dry mess. However, like most salt bars, esp. with all that coconut oil, they are much nicer after a long cure.

Since I still have a bunch of tallow from the cow share we bought, I may try making a batch with perhaps 50% tallow and 50% CO, and drop it down to 8% SF.

Salt bars are another thing on my list! i think I’ll start with the coffee grounds. I don’t have pumice either. I think it’s awesome that you are going to render the tallow. I wish I could get my hands on some. Have never tried it.

 

[atiz]

I also just used my regular recipe, upped the coconut to 25%, and added some salt to the water (soleseife style). I like the idea of the coffee grounds neutralizing smell, I should try that .

 

[Zing]

I too am an avid gardener and my hands get real dirty (and hoo boy, we just bought a house from an elderly owner who hadn't touched his yard in probably a decade so I'm facing a down and dirty summer ahead) . Since I just made gardener's soap and am waiting for the Week 3 mark to test it, I cannot give you any advice yet. As I said in the Gardener's soap thread,

My first gardener's soap experimenting with borax with thanks to @earlene and others from the How much borax in cold process soap? thread. Exfoliants are poppy seeds and coffee grounds with half the loaf with 2 tsp and half the loaf with 2 tablespoons. Scented with rosemary/litsea cubeba/bergamot/basil essential oils. I like the color which came from brewed coffee (for lye mixture) and 5% red palm oil.

With the stay at home order, I used what exfoliants were in the house.

 

[Becky1024]

My gardeners soap is co, oo, Shea butter. I use strong brewed coffee as the water and use the coffee grounds too. I don’t dry the grounds, just add them wet. Tea tree oil is part of the essential oil blend to help heal little cuts. It does a good job getting off the garden grime, paint, grease, etc without tearing up your hands. But what I like best is it takes odors out - it’s the coffee that does it. I keep a bar by the kitchen sink and use it when I’ve been cooking.

 

[Nona'sFarm]

I love hearing about all of these variations.

My gardener's hand soap has ground walnut shells for the exfoliate. I also add ground yarrow for a natural color and also because it is believed to have some antiseptic capabilities. I probably don't add enough to make any difference as an antiseptic, but I figure it can't hurt. It ends up a beige color. My customers seem to love it, some even like it as a bath soap.
I also use my regular soap recipe with 25% coconut oil and a 5% superfat.

Have fun!

 

[Jersey Girl]

I love hearing about all of these variations.

My gardener's hand soap has ground walnut shells for the exfoliate. I also add ground yarrow for a natural color and also because it is believed to have some antiseptic capabilities. I probably don't add enough to make any difference as an antiseptic, but I figure it can't hurt. It ends up a beige color. My customers seem to love it, some even like it as a bath soap.
I also use my regular soap recipe with 25% coconut oil and a 5% superfat.

Have fun!

Thank you! i Need to get some ground walnut shells. Sounds like a lot of people like using them. i saw some on amazon and they were in varying grit. I imagine fine is better?