Yesterday my blog stats showed that someone came across my site, twice, through a search engine – The search terms were “where can I buy garlic soap?” and “how to make garlic soap”. I am certain that my blog came up because both soap and garlic are topics I blog about. While I do use many types of plants and foods in my handcrafted soaps Garlic is not one of them. I would be lying if I said that the thought never crossed my mind, but whenever it has I have immediately dismissed it, thinking it was not a good idea.
Regretfully the person searching for information on garlic soap did not find what they were looking for on my blog, so today I want to fix that.
There are actually two things that come to my mind when I hear the term “garlic soap”. One is a soap that would remove the smell of garlic. For this purpose a coffee soap is commonly recommended. Truthfully you wouldn’t even need a coffee soap, just rub some wet coffee grounds onto your hands and the garlic smell should be eliminated.
I do, however, make a coffee soap and many of my customers love it. This soap is made with a triple coffee infusion. I use brewed coffee as the liquid in the soap. I infuse the oils with coffee by adding coffee grounds to the oil and heating it to about 190 degrees Fahrenheit, and I then leave the coffee grounds in the soap to add some extra scrubbing power. I do sell my soaps locally and am willing to ship within the U.S. but I feel that shipping out of the country would be cost prohibitive. You can view my selection of soaps and skincare products here and if you are interested in ordering please email me at ruth20012001@yahoo.com and be sure to put “soap” in the subject line..
The second thing that comes to mind when I hear the term garlic soap is a soap that is infused with garlic. This is the one that I thought was a bad idea. I can see some potential benefits to applying garlic to the skin. Garlic is said to be antibacterial, antifungal, and antiviral. It sometimes used as a pesticide and is said to ward off evil. All that being said, it is questionable whether any of the beneficial properties of the garlic would survive the chemical process required in soap making.
If I were going attempt to make a soap infused with garlic I would start by infusing the oil (probably olive oil) with garlic. I would use a cold infusion method – mince the fresh garlic, add it to the oil and let it sit on a sunny window sill for several days. I would probably also infuse the water with garlic, again using a cold infusion process because heat tends to destroy the beneficial properties of garlic. I would strain all of the garlic from both the oil and water before making soap with it. For an experienced soap maker this should answer the question of how to make garlic soap. (I have not done a basic soap making tutorial but there are many available online.)
As for the other search question “where can I buy garlic soap?”. Even though I have never thought it was a good idea there are some things you just don’t know until you try. I do make custom orders. To request a custom order you must be willing to order a minimum of a two pound batch of soap (8-10 bars). Shipping would be limited to within the U.S.A.
Anyone wanting to request this type of soap or a soap made with specific ingredients just for you can send me an email at ruth20012001@yahoo.com be sure to put “soap” in the subject line.
Thanks for reading and have a great day 🙂