DIY soaps are among my favorite products. Particularly using the cold process method, you can create soaps with specific characteristics simply by carefully choosing oils and butter. In this recipe, I show you how to make a cold process soap using mango butter instead of shea butter. As you continue reading you will discover the recipe to create your own mango butter bar soap! Let’s go!
Disclosure: Some of the links in this post are affiliate links. By clicking through them and making a purchase, I may receive a small commission WITHOUT any additional cost to you.
Gabi
But before..if you’re interested in creating homemade soaps, but don’t know where to start, check out the course I create! Everything you need to know about making soap using the cold process method.
Mango Butter vs Shea Butter
Among the most asked questions is: “Can I substitute Shea butter for Mango butter?”
Mango butter has very similar characteristics to Shea butter. This can be easily observed by checking their composition in fatty acids with the help of soapcalc.net. Here, in fact, we find that the percentages of stearic, oleic, palmitic, and linoleic acids are very similar. We only observe slight variations on three important characteristics: hardness, stable lather, and conditioning properties.
Mango butter is more suitable if you want to give the soap hardness and a stable lather while shea butter is more suitable if you want to have a more conditioning soap.
NB: But remember that these characteristics vary only slightly so do not expect huge differences between a soap with mango butter and one with Shea butter.
Mango Butter Soap Recipe | Ingredients
To make mango butter bar soap you can follow these instructions:
- 50% | 150g (5.29Oz) olive oil (you can find it here)
- 2% | 6g (0.21Oz) castor oil (you can find it here)
- 20% | 63g (2.12Oz) mango butter (you can find it here)
- 15% | 45g (1.59Oz) coconut oil frac. (you can find it here)
- 13% | 39g (1.38Oz) jojoba oil (you can find it here)
- 114g (4.02Oz) distilled water (you can find it here)
- 40.14g (1.42Oz) Lye (you can find it here)
- Pigment: yellow (an example here)
- 1.5g EO mango (you can find it here)
Mango Butter Soap Recipe | tools and safety
The main tools are:
- protective goggles (you can find them here)
- glass rod (you can find it here)
- protective gloves (find them here)
- protective mask (find it here)
- silicone molds (you can find them here)
- hand blender (you can find it here)
To make soaps in a completely safe way, I recommend reading my post on ‘what they don’t tell you about homemade soap‘. I felt it was really important to describe the mistakes I made in my first few months of soap making. This post will help you avoid potentially critical situations just by following some simple steps.
Mango Butter Soap Recipe | Directions
To make our mango butter bar soap, let’s first weigh the fats and heat them in a bain-marie until they are all melted. In the meantime, we weigh the caustic soda that we are going to pour into the water (NOT the other way around!!). When the caustic soda solution and the fat solution have both reached a temperature of about 45°C, pour the caustic soda solution into the fat. slowly.
Using an immersion mixer, we stir the mass until it reaches the trace. At this point, we add pigments and the mango fragrance. We continue to mix gently with a spatula. We pour into the molds and allow them to cure for 4 weeks or longer. Curing time can vary depending on the conditions in which it is taking place, so it is up to you to observe the consistency of the soap after 4 weeks and decide if it is ready for use or if it needs more time.
Conclusion
With these guidelines, you too can have fun creating your own soaps with mango butter. With the cold method, we can also customize our soaps with simple exfoliants. If you like the idea go ahead and check out my recipes where I have used coffee powder or oatmeal.
Before you go, don’t forget to check out my course on how to make cold process soaps. theoretical chemistry concepts and a careful explanation of each step, so you can start making your own soaps more consciously!
Ready to make your first soap with my FREE guide to making soap?
If you like my content, help me with a small donation. With your support, I would like to buy new ingredients and create original healthy beauty products! Thank you 🙂
Gabi