Lavender Woods Handmade Tallow Soap (Cold Process Recipe)

Let’s Make Soap!

Soapmaking Hobby

🪻🍃Lavender Woods Tallow Soap

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Grandma’s Soap Journal

📖 Journal - (Entry #3 Tallow)

There’s something about lavender that never grows old.

Not the sharp, perfumey kind you find in little paper sachets tucked into drawers, but the soft, sun-warmed kind. The kind that hums quietly in the field while the bees go about their business and the air smells clean and honest.

Lavender Woods was born on one of those slow afternoons when the windows were cracked open and the light came in golden and sleepy across the workshop table. I had been thinking about balance, how sometimes life feels like a wild pine forest and sometimes like a calm meadow. And wouldn’t it be nice, I thought, if a bar of soap could hold both the pine and the calm?

This one does.

When I melt down the oils, that sturdy tallow base that feels like an old and familiar friend, I always stir slow. No rushing. Soap can tell if you’re distracted. I sprinkle in the kaolin clay and the fine ground oats right into the cooled oils, just like we always do. It gives the batter that silky slip, the kind that makes you smile when you run a spoon through it.

The lye water is mixed first, of course. Always first. Set it aside, let it cool while you tidy your thoughts. There’s wisdom in that step, do the strong work first, then let it settle.

When everything comes together and  before the batter reaches trace, I breathe in deep while adding the scent. Lavender, yes — but not alone. There’s something grounding tucked underneath. A quiet wood note. Cedar maybe. A whisper of fir or tea tree. It’s the scent of clean cotton hanging near the edge of a forest.

Lavender Woods isn’t a fancy bar. She doesn’t swirl wildly or shout for attention. I like to keep her simple with soft purples folded into the creamy batter, sometimes a gentle in-the-pot swirl, sometimes just layered like calm over strength.

After pouring, I tap the mold twice on the counter. Just enough to settle her in. A little texture to the top, and then a sprinkle of lovely lavender buds down one side. Then she rests. Soap needs its rest just like we do.

When I cut this batch the next day, the scent opens up beautifully. Not powdery. Not sharp. Just calm. The kind of soap you reach for at the end of a long day. The kind you give to a friend who’s been carrying too much.

Lavender Woods reminds me that strength doesn’t have to be loud. The woods stand tall and quiet. The lavender grows steady and faithful each year. Together they make something balanced, beautiful,  and comforting.

And that’s what this bar is meant to be.

A little forest.

A little field.

A little peace in the palm of your hand.

Made slow.

Made by hand. 🤍

This one didn’t need fussing.

-Soapmakung Hobby🤍🫧

Let’s Make Soap!

Soapmaking Hobby

🪻🍃Recipe

Lavender Woods – Cold Process Tallow Soap

🤍This post may contain affiliate links. If you buy through them, I may earn a small commission — just enough to keep the soap kettle warm — at no extra cost to you.

Grandma’s Base Formula | 50 oz oils | 5% superfat

Oils (50 oz total

• 20 oz Tallow (40%)

• 12.5 oz Coconut Oil (25%)

• 12.5 oz Olive Oil (25%)

• 5 oz Castor Oil (10%)

Lye Solution

• 14 oz distilled water

• 7 oz Sodium hydroxide (NaOH) — calculated for 5% superfat

• 2 tsp sodium lactate (optional, for harder bars)

Additives (in oils)

• 1 tbsp kaolin clay

• 1 tbsp colloidal oats or (finely ground)

Color (optional

• Natural purple mica or infused alkanet root for soft lavender tone

• A pinch of purple Brazilian clay

Scent Suggestions (choose EO or FO

• Lavender + Cedarwood

• Lavender + Tea Tree

• Lavender + Patchouli (very light)

• Or a “Lavender Blended” fragrance oil blend

(Use scent rates per supplier/IFRA guidelines.)

🤍🫧Method (Grandma’s Way)

1. Mix lye with water first. Set aside somewhere safe to cool.

2. Melt tallow and oils together.

3. Stir clay and oats directly into cooled oils.

4. When oils and lye are near the same temp, blend to lightly.

5. Add scent and color, blend to trace.

6. Pour into mold and tap gently to settle. Texture and top with buds

7. Cover and rest 18–24 hours.

8. Cut and cure 4–6 weeks

🌿 Tips from Grandma

• Lavender behaves beautifully — great for beginners

• Wood notes anchor the scent and help it last longer

• Keep colors soft for a calm, spa-like look

• A simple in-the-pot swirl fits the “woods” theme or leave it natural.

• Cure time deepens both scent and lather

• This bar makes a lovely bedtime or gift soap

Grandma always said:

“If a soap makes you slow down when you smell it, you made it right."

-Soapmaking Hobby 🤍🫧

🤍(Disclosure )This post may contain affiliate links. If you buy through them, I may earn a small commission — just enough to keep the soap kettle warm — at no extra cost to you.

🔗 Tools & Supplies I Use

These are the basics I reach for every time:

• Stick blender

• Lye safe pitcher

• Stainless or enamel soap pot/bowl

• Wooden mold with silicone liner-Large Tall and Skinny  or

• Small tall and skinny

• Heat safe spatulas 

• Digital scale

• Infrared Thermometer 

• Safety goggles

• Nitrile gloves 

• Quilted mason jars for FO/EO 

• Work Apron with pockets 

• Electric Kettle -to melt hard oils in a hot water bath

• Parchment paper (if using wooden mold)

  Optional but lovely:

  • Oat grinder or coffee grinder

  • Soap cutter & molds

  -perfect for beginners

  • Soap stamp

— Soapmaking Hobby 🤍🫧