Doesn’t it seem like activated charcoal is everywhere?! There are apparently a ton of uses for activated charcoal, including whitening teeth, cleansing and detoxing skin, treating drug overdose and poisoning, and filtrating water. You can read about its other uses here and here. Many people swear by activated charcoal skincare products, saying that it can fight breakouts, cleanse and exfoliate skin, minimize pores, and slow signs of aging.
There’s definitely no shortage of activated charcoal products on the market, including activated charcoal soap, that tout activated charcoal as a miracle ingredient. All this information has inspired me to create an activated charcoal soap that is loaded with detox and cleansing ingredients, and rich in vitamins and minerals that nourish our skin. In addition to activated charcoal, this soap is made with coconut milk, Mediterranean sea salt and calcium bentonite clay.
This activated charcoal soap is also a salt bar, because it includes a generous amount of Mediterranean sea salt. Mediterranean sea salt comes from the water of the Mediterranean sea, and it is full of minerals that are beneficial to our skin. Sea salt also creates an amazingly hard and long lasting palm-free all natural soap (I stopped using palm-oil and its derivatives due to environmental and social concerns). In addition to Mediterranean sea salt, I also use coconut milk, which is rich in skin nourishing vitamins and nutrients, and calcium bentonite clay, a healing clay that detoxes and heals our skin.
Cold Process Activated Charcoal Soap with Coconut Milk, Sea Salt and Calcium Bentonite Clay
Prep Time: 1 hour
Yields: about 35 oz of activated charcoal soap
Dry (Cure) Time: at least 4 weeks
Ingredients for Activated Charcoal Soap
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- Coconut Oil – 16.5 oz. I use Trader Joe’s Organic Extra Virgin Coconut Oil, which is a few bucks at Trader Joe’s. You can also get Viva Labs Organic Extra Virgin Coconut Oil, or Nature’s Way Extra Virgin Organic Coconut Oil on Amazon. You can use any brand of coconut oil, as long as it’s pure coconut oil, not a coconut oil blend.
- Shea Butter – 2.5 oz. I use Unrefined Ivory Shea Butter. You can also try Ivory Raw Unrefined Shea Butter. I’ve also seen my local Whole Foods selling small quantity of shea butter in its handcrafted soap and bath product section.
- Olive Oil – 2 oz. I use Trader Joe’s Imported Olive Oil. You can try Bragg Organic Extra Virgin Olive Oil, or Zoe Organic Extra Virgin Olive Oil. Any brand of pure olive oil will work.
- Sea Salt – 8 oz. I use Trader Joe’s Mediterranean Sea Salt (fine crystals). You can try Whole Foods Sea Salt (fine crystals), Real Salt Sea Salt or Bob’s Red Mill Sea Salt. Sea Salt helps to make the activated charcoal soap harder and more long lasting.
- Activated Charcoal – 1 tablespoon. I use Hardwood Activated Charcoal Powder. You can also try Activated Charcoal Powder. With a little bit of effort, you can also use the powder inside activated charcoal capsules that you can get from pharmacies and health food stores.
- Calcium Bentonite Clay – 1 tablespoon. I use Aztec Secret Indian Healing Clay, which I’ve seen available at my local Whole Foods. You can also try All Natural Calcium Bentonite Clay.
- Coconut Milk – 7 oz. I use Whole Foods 365 Organic Coconut Milk. Amazon also offers Thai Kitchen Organic Coconut Milk.
- Lye – 2.6 oz. I use Food Grade Lye. You can also use 100% Lye Drain Opener sold at Lowe’s. If you go with the drain opener, please make sure it’s 100% lye.
- (Optional) Tea Tree Essential Oil – 1 tablespoon. I use NOW Foods Tea Tree Essential Oil.
- (Optional) Clove Essential Oil – 1/2 tablespoon. I use NOW Foods Clove Essential Oil.
- Silicone Soap Mold. I use a 6-cavity silicone mold. Because this activated charcoal soap is also a salt bar, I would not use a mold that requires me to cut the soap. Cutting a salt bar often makes it crumbly.
Step-by-Step Instruction on How to Make Cold Process Activated Charcoal Soap
When you make soap at home, please, PLEASE, take all necessary precautions, including wearing your protective gear, and making sure no children or pets are around. When you work with lye, be sure to protect yourself and those who might be around or near you. Learn more about soap making safety here, here and here.
1. Make lye solution by slowly adding lye to frozen coconut milk in a well-ventilated area. Using coconut milk to create lye solution is thicker than using water. You must first freeze the coconut milk overnight, and then add lye to the frozen coconut milk slowly. You must keep the temperature of the coconut milk as low as possible to prevent the lye from scorching it. Making lye solution with milk, including coconut milk, is a slow process that can take around 10 minutes. The finished product looks like melted ice cream with a light yellow tint (see pic below). Learning more about using milk in soap here.
2. Melt all your oil and butter in a double boiler. You can create your own double boiler by placing a glass measuring cup in a pot of water.
3. Slowly add the coconut milk lye solution to the melted oil and butter.
4. Use a plastic or silicone spatula to mix the coconut milk lye solution and the oil and butter.
5. Use a stick blender until the mixture reaches thin trace (milk shake consistency). No need to thicken the soap mixture too much. After you add sea salt, it will thicken very quickly.
6. Pour the mixture into 2 glass measuring cups, and add activated charcoal in one, and calcium bentonite clay in the other.
7. Use a stick blender to mix everything well. I suggest mixing the cup with the calcium bentonite clay first. If you mix the light color first then the dark color, you won’t need to wash the stick blender between mixes.
8. Add Mediterranean sea salt to both the activated charcoal soap and the calcium bentonite soap. Mix everything well with a plastic or silicone spatula. If you want your soap scented, you can add essential oil to the sea salt before adding the sea salt to the soap mixture.
9. Pour the activated charcoal soap in molds. Be sure to bang the molds against a hard surface a few times to get all the air bubbles out of your soap. If you want to be fancy, you can add a swirl to the activated charcoal soap.
10. Place the activated charcoal soap in the freezer for at least 3 hours before un-molding the soap.
11. Because this is a cold process soap, allow the activated charcoal soap to dry (cure) for at least 4 weeks before use.
12. At the end of the drying (curing) period, you will have beautiful activated charcoal soap that is loaded with skin cleansing and skin nourishing ingredients.
That’s it! Not too difficult right? You can easily whip this soap up in an hour. The dark and light colors make the activated charcoal soap look pretty striking, don’t you think? So, will you be giving this detox activated charcoal soap recipe a try? If you do, I’d love to hear about your experience, or any questions you might have. If you like this recipe, be sure to share it or pin it. Happy soaping!
Hi… I love this soap but would prefer not to put salt in it… Does that change the formulation at all? TIA
Hi, thank you for sharing the recipes.
I plan to make it for the first time.
May i know what is the temperature for lye sol and oil when i mixtures each other?
My favorite special bar! I made this with some girlfriends at Christmas time and they’re all asking if we can make more.
Can finely ground pink Himalayan salt be used instead of sea salt?
I can’t even wrap my head around using a lye calculator. Could you please tell me if I can and how much goat milk I would use to substitute in for the coconut milk?
Can you use this recipe with the premade soap from Michaels?
Yes, ish…
Since the lye process has already been done with those bases you would start further into the instructions. No lye or coconut milk necessary.
1: Choose your Melt&Pour base.
(Coconut and Goat’s Milk options available.)
2: Cut Melt&Pour base into chunks and divide into 2 separate glass containers. Melt according to package directions.
3: Add Bentonite Clay to one portion of Melt&Pour and Activated Charcoal to the other. Stir to incorporate thoroughly.
4: Add salt to each portion and stir each again.
5: Pour into molds and allow to harden completely before removing.
6: Remove & use. No cure time necessary.
(Wrap airtight if not using immediately. Melt&Pour attracts the humidity from it’s surroundings.)
…Hope that helps!
I followed your instructions exactly and made a batch. Right now it’s in the freezer.
I’ve been making soap for several years, but this is my first batch with frozen coconut milk.
I had a real problem when I put the lye onto the frozen coconut milk. I let it sit for about 10 minutes and it would not melt the coconut milk. So then I poured a few Tablespoons of liquid coconut milk into the mix to get the lye moving. That worked. I kept stirring and it took a good while, but then the coconut milk melted.
When I had the stick blender in the lye mixture, I spent a long time in there and it just wasn’t coming to trace. After about 15 minutes I kind of got tired of it and it looked like it was nearly to a very light trace. So I went onto the next step.
The next steps didn’t thicken it much at all.
So I poured and put it in the fridge.
I have a hunch that I’ve got a disaster for me in three hours.
Ideas what went wrong?
Thanks for your help!
Ell
Hi Ell, I’m so happy that you tried this activated charcoal soap recipe. How did your soap bars turn out?
About mixing lye with frozen coconut milk, one option is using some liquid coconut milk (in room temperature), like you did. For me, after I add lye to the frozen coconut milk, I gently and slowly stir the lye crystals with a silicone whisk. That usually helps with melting the frozen coconut milk and mixing in the lye.
This recipe does tend to take a bit longer to reach trace, because of the very cold lye solution. Like you, I can usually get to a light trace after 15 minutes. What type of salt did you use? Sea salt is a good option, but dead sea salt is not. If you are not happy with how your first batch turned out because the bars are too soft, you can up your salt content by 25-30%, to 10-11 oz. That should harden your bars.
Please let me know if you have more questions. I’m happy to answer them. Happy soaping!
Hi! Thank you for sharing this! I’m wondering if I can substitute lye with glycerine bars available in the market?
Interesting question. It sounds like you would like to make a charcoal bar using the rebatch or hand milled method. I haven’t tried it with added charcoal, but I think it should work, if you use ingredients such as meltable glycerin bars. If you are concerned about working with lye, here’s a post for 1st time soapers that might help you get started. Please keep me posted on which method you decided to try, and let me know if you have any other questions. Happy soaping!
Hi how long is this soap good for and how do you store it? Can i wrap in plastic and keep in a cool place?
Great questions. In general, this soap can be stored for 2 to 3 months in a cool and dry place. No need to use a plastic wrap. I try to use the freshest oil when making soap bars, which can make the bars stay fresh longer.
Hi Silvia
I made this soap for myself and a couple family members and we love it!! So thank-you for this great recipe! I was wondering if I can substitute distilled water for the coconut milk for a faster/easier process??
Thanks so much!
Shari
Oh, fantastic, Shari! I’m so glad you tried this recipe and shared your homemade soap with your loved ones. Yes, you can substitute coconut milk with water when making your lye solution. Your soap might not be as nourishing, because its super fat content would be a little lower. Please keep me posted on your soapmaking adventure!
Hi, I am going to make this as my first attempt at soap making. I just have a quick question. Are the measurements in weight or in volume? For example is it one cup of salt or is it a half pound of salt, etc..?
I’m so glad you’ll be making your very first batch of homemade soap! For this recipe, the measurements for the oil, butter, sea salt, milk, and lye are in weight (oz). The activated charcoal, calcium bentonite clay, and essential oil are measured in volume (tablespoons). Please reach out if you have more questions.
Can you use this as a face soap?
Mmmm….probably. You can certainly give it a try. For people who have sensitive skin, it’s probably not a good idea to use this soap as a face soap, at least not on a daily basis. It has charcoal as well as clay. It might be a little too coarse for daily use on the face. Hope you’ll give this recipe a try. It’s a fabulous body soap.
I made this soap a couple of month back and have started using it. It doesn’t look as nice as yours, but it is fabulous as a soap. Love it, thanks for posting this.
I’m so glad that you’ve made this activated charcoal soap, and like it! You made my day. 🙂
Can I just BUY this soap??!!! I’m not a soap maker!
Thanks!
Thanks for reaching out. I’m so happy that you like this soap. While I don’t sell it, I do have an Etsy shop, where I sell an activated charcoal detox soap.
I want to make your recipe but i want to add msm sulfar and glycerin. Any suggestions on how much of each to add to your recipe so i can still have good results?
Thank you
Interesting questions! It’s not necessary to add glycerin to your homemade cold process soap, because it’s already in your soap. But if you want to add additional glycerin, you can use less coconut milk, and use glycerin in place of the missing coconut milk. Maybe use 5.5 oz of coconut milk, and 1.5 oz of glycerin. I’d make the lye solution using frozen coconut milk, then add the glycerin after you’ve mixed the lye solution with your oil/butter (at step 5).
I haven’t tried adding sulfur powder to any of my homemade soap. I did some research and learned that most people add sulfur powder to their soap after trace (at step 5). You can read more about how to make sulfur soap from scratch here and here. I’d love to know how your soap with added glycerin and/or sulfur powder turns out!
Hi! Hoping to try your soap recipe but Is it possible to omit the lye? What does it do to the soap?
Thanks a lot
Glad to know you want to try this soap recipe. To make soap from scratch, you will need to work with lye. Soap is made when you combine lye with oil. No lye, no soap.
But if you absolutely don’t want to work with lye, you can try making rebatch or hand milled soap. You start with a few bars of ready made all natural soap, like Kirk’s Natural Soap. You grate the soap, put it in a crock pot, add liquid (like water or milk), and cook it until the soap is melted (about 45 minutes). You then pour the melted soap into a mold. Wait a day, and release your soap from the mold. You just made rebatch/hand milled soap without using lye. Here’s my post on how to make rebatch/hand milled soap. Hope you’ll give it a try!
Is there a way to speed up the cure process
Thanks for reaching out! In general, cold process soap, like this activated charcoal soap, takes at least 4 weeks to dry/cure. The longer you wait to use a cold process soap, the harder and milder it becomes. Right after pouring the soap into the mold, some people leave the soap in the oven overnight at the warm setting (between 140 and 165 degrees Fahrenheit) to speed up the drying/curing process. You can try that. I’ve used salt bars like this one and this one after 3 weeks of drying/curing without any issues.
Hi, thank you for sharing your soap recipes! I have activated charcoal at home I use to make tooth paste. The container warns it can cause permanent staining, so I am really cautious about cleaning my teeth in the bathroom, and go out side to clean them with the toothpaste I make with activated charcoal. Have you had any problems with the soap causing black stains in the bathroom, or because it it mixed with fat is it no longer a problem?
Thank you for reaching out! I haven’t experienced any staining problems while using this activated charcoal soap. If I leave the soap on the countertop (without a soap dish), it does leave a light stain, but it’s not permanent and I can easily clean it with water. This is probably because the amount of activated charcoal is rather small compared to other ingredients in this soap. I also use activated charcoal to make a DIY charcoal face mask, and haven’t had any staining issues. I find that if activated charcoal lands in my sink or on my countertop, I can wipe it off with a wet paper towel if I don’t wait too long. I’d love to know if you’ll be trying this soap recipe. Keep me posted on how you like it please!
I wanted to double this and entered it into the MMS lye calculator. The amount of lye you have written in the recipe doesn’t look right according to the calculator. It says to use around 6.75 oz to 7-10 oz liquid for a double batch. If I double the recipe amount it would be 5.3 oz lye to 14 oz coconut milk. Could this difference with the calculator be because of the salt and clay additives? Should I go with the calculator recommended amount or just double the recipe above?
Glad to know that you will be giving this recipe a try! I use the SoapCalc Lye Calculator. It allows you to make different adjustments, including the super fat percentage. Most of my soap recipes are pretty high in super fat, usually between 7% to 10%. I took a quick look at the MMS lye calculator that you mentioned. I don’t think the MMS lye calculator allows you to make adjustment to super fat. The MMS lye calculator probably has super fat at around 5%. That’s why the MMS lye calculator is telling you to use more lye than my recipe. Also, because this recipe uses sea salt and calcium bentonite clay, both can make the soap mixture VERY thick, it’s a good idea to use more liquid. That’s why the recipe says to use more liquid (coconut milk) than the MMS lye calculator suggests. Please let me know if you have any more questions. I’d love to know how your Activated Charcoal Soap with Calcium Bentonite Clay turns out.
I made this recipe THEN ran it through the calculator at MMS and wish I had followed those recommendations. The batter was nearly the consistency of peanut butter within a minute of pouring the lye solution into the oils. It’s a mess and I only can hope it’s salvageable. Lesson learned. I’ll run it through the calculator first from now on. I’m glad this may be working for some, but I’m afraid I have a yucky disaster on my hands.
Thanks for reaching out! Sorry you had some issues with this recipe. You said soon after you added the lye solution to the oils, the soap batter thickened quickly. What was the temperature of the oils when you added the lye solution? If the temperature was high, that could be the problem. For your next batch, I recommend allowing the oils to cool to room temperature before adding the lye solution.
Also, the soap batter thickens quickly in this recipe because of the sea salt (see step 5 in the instructions), and the charcoal and clay. It might not be because of the amount of lye. Hope your next batch will work perfectly. Keep me posted please.
This soap looks so pretty. But will the bentonite clay make the soap turn green?
Thank you for reaching out! I agree, this detox soap, with its striking colors, does look very pretty. The calcium bentonite clay doesn’t turn the soap green. It does give it a slight beige undertone.
I’m making this tomorrow and I must say I’m pretty excited. I was wondering what the temperature of the oils and lye have to be when I start to mix them?
Good question. Some soapers like to mix oil and lye at a certain temperature. They often use a Non-contact Digital Thermometer to check the temperature of oil and lye. They usually mix oil and lye when both are at around 120 – 130 degree. For this recipe, because I’m using frozen coconut milk to make lye solution, the lye solution will never reach 120-130 degree. I add the lye solution to my oil/butter once the oil/butter is completely melted and mixed. The thing to look out for in this recipe is when you add sea salt, and calcium bentonite clay. Both ingredients tend to thicken the soap mixture very very quickly. So you really gotta work fast once those ingredients are added, or you might have some problem getting the soap mixture into your mold. I’d love to know how your activated charcoal soap with calcium bentonite clay turn out. Keep me posted, please!
Hello,
I’m going to try this out sounds like a beautiful bar of soap. I’m worried it will be too hard and not lather. How do you find that?
Thank you
That’s a great question. You’re right. Usually, if a soap bar has a lot of salt, it will not lather. But if you use a high percentage of coconut oil, even a salt bar will lather. But a bar made with a ton of coconut oil tends to be drying. The solution is to make a high super fat salt bar. That’s what I did with this salt bar recipe. It has a high percentage of coconut oil, and high super fat. I’d love to hear all about it if you make this salt bar!
Hi, this recipe sounds awesome. Will soon try it out. Am just taking my baby steps in the soaping world and already addicted to making soaps lol! Have already made charcoal soap and Himalayan pink salt bars. Can I switch the sea salt for Himalayan pink salt?
I agree, soap making is SO addictive! Whenever I finish a batch, I’m thinking about what I can make for my next batch. What I love about making my own soap bars is that there’re so many amazing all natural ingredients I can use. The possibilities are endless. I hope you will give this Activated Charcoal Soap Bar recipe a try. And yes, you can substitute sea salt with Himalayan pink salt. Let me know how your bars turn out. I’d love to see a picture of your soap and share it with others on this blog.
What is the advantage of a salt bar compared to an other soap? To make it harder? I used to be an ER nurse and we gave our patients who had overdosed on pills a bottle of activated charcoal after the rest of the stomach content had been removed.. I never thought that black stuff could be used anything else! It really makes beautiful soap!
Do you have any recipes for soap without coconut? My daughter is allergic to coconut and it’s almost impossible to find a recipe that contains something else!
Thank you for reaching out! I like sea salt bars because they are super hard and long lasting. Also, because the bars are loaded with sea salt, they are also rich in beneficiary minerals, such as magnesium, calcium and potassium. Activated charcoal is another great soap making and DIY cosmetic making ingredient. Many believe that activated charcoal can be used to detox our skin and body. I think it’s for this very same reason you gave people who overdosed activated charcoal at the hospital. Per your request, here are some of my coconut-free soap recipes: Olive Oil Crock Pot Soap, Castile Soap with Olive Oil and Milk, and Rebatch Soap and Hand Milled Soap. If you use the rebatch/hand milled soap recipe, be sure that the soap base you begin with doesn’t have coconut milk or coconut oil. I’d love to know how it goes with any of these recipes.
I would LOVE to give this soap a try! My great grandmother made lye soap, and we have one bar left from the last batch she made before she passed away. Thank you for sharing your recipe!
Thank you for reaching out and sharing your story about your great grandmother. I encourage you to try making lye soap as your great grandmother had done. I’ve posted quite a few lye soap recipes on this site. Click here to see them. For me, soap making allows me to create something that’s useful and that I can share with my family and loved ones. I hope you will give some of my recipes a try. Please do reach out if you have any questions about any of the recipes.