Easy Single Use Creamy Soaps
Lise
These little pink squares are single use soaps. Each one weight only a few grams and because of they way they are made, an entire soap is used up with each application. No waste!
They are quick and easy to make if you can source the star ingredient in paste form (which I have used here), but I imagine they are just as easy to make if you can get the surfactant in powdered form and add a bit of liquid to create your own paste.
The soaps can be decorated quite easily by 'dusting' them with some of the leftover herb and clay mixture, but are just as functional and make an equally creamy lather without any added decoration.
You only need about 20 minutes to make these if you have all the ingredients at hand.
Shall we get started?
Moldable Fun
The main surfactant in these soaps has the INCI name Disodium lauryl sulfosuccinate and is sometimes referred to as Plantapon SUS or just 'Foam Paste'.
This is an anionic, sulphate-free, EcoCert surfactant that is available in liquid, powder or paste form and is suitable for every kind of lathery cleansing product you might want to make: from shaving creams, shampoos, and bath soaps to single-use soaps.
When making these soaps, you’ll discover how pleasantly malleable the dough is - it’s both fun and easy to work with and you can either press the dough into moulds or simply shape your soaps by hand. The pictured soaps were shaped by hand and then sliced in much the same way you might make some cookies.
This portion is enough for a 'try-me' sized portion of 100 grams / 3.53 oz
LisaLise's Single Use Creamy Soaps
Ingredient | Grams | Ounces |
---|---|---|
Foam Paste | 19.5 | 0.69 |
Rose Glycerite | 20.0 | 0.71 |
Pink Clay | 2.0 | 0.071 |
Hibiscus Powder | 2.0 | 0.071 |
Distilled Water | 3.5 | 0.12 |
Cornstarch | 53.0 | 1.87 |
Method
Sift the herb powder and clay together (make extra if you want to use some for decorating)
Mix the first 5 ingredients together in a bowl
Add cornstarch and work together to form a dough
Shape into single use sized bars ( a few grams per soap)
Optional: roll soaps in leftover herb and clay mixture
Allow to set and air dry
You can use these right away if you like. The texture of the dough is a little 'rubbery' and reminds me a bit of a soft eraser.
Above is a pic of how I shaped these. The dough was molded into a long ‘sausage’ and gently patted to make it into a squarish shape. The pieces were sliced off and allowed to dry.
A Bit About the Ingredients
Glycerite
If you make your own glycerites, these soaps are a perfect place to put them to use. I added a rose glycerite here but you could use any glycerite or replace with glycerine if you prefer.
Herbs and Clay
I chose a pink illite clay and combined it with a powdered hibiscus extract. You can use any clay and herb you like. My main reason for using these ingredients was to accentuate the pink of the rose glycerite. Pictured below: a few soaps with added herb-and-clay dust.
Demineralised Water
This is the same as distilled water. You might easily find this at a supermarket or the likes. It is often sold as water to be used in steam irons.
Cornstarch
This is exactly the same as the cornstarch you might use for cookingand may already have in your kitchen.
Sudsy Demo
Here's how this soap lathers up. There is actually more lather to be had but this is as good as I could get doing one-handed lathering with one-handed photograpy. The soap dissolves readily into a creaminess that is quite pleasant.
Have fun!
Links to Suppliers of the Surfactant
Want more bath-related fun and formulas? You might just enjoy the book below.