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- Soapmaking
Discover how to make homemade banana oatmeal soap with this unscented cold process soap recipe. Crafted using real banana and oatmeal, this natural soap is well suited for dry or sensitive skin.
Cold Process Soap for Sensitive Skin
My natural unscented homemade banana oatmeal soap recipe was one of my personal favorites for a long time, though it didn’t really catch on until I put it on sale. Once it sold out I had folks asking me to bring it back. I didn’t bring this exact recipe back, but I did create a deliciously scented Coconut Mango Goat Milk soap that contains banana and, in lieu of the rolled oats, colloidal oatmeal. While the jury is still out on whether or not I bring back the original banana oatmeal soap, I thought I’d share the recipe so you can craft this fabulous moisturizing cold process soap for yourself.
This natural homemade oatmeal banana soap recipe contains real banana which really adds something special to its skin conditioning properties. However, the banana doesn’t really lend any sort of fragrance, so if you choose, you can add your favorite scent to customize it and truly make it yours. The unscented version of this soap also makes a great shampoo bar for dogs due to its gentle nature!
Unscented Homemade Banana Oatmeal Soap Recipe
© Rebecca D. Dillon
Ingredients:
These are the ingredients you need to make this banana soap recipe with oatmeal:
- 2 lb. 8.5 oz. olive oil
- 2 lb. 7 oz. 76° melt point refined coconut oil
- 1 lb. 3.8 oz. sustainable palm oil
- 6 oz. rice bran oil
- 4.5 oz. shea butter
- 36 fluid oz. distilled water
- 15.6 oz. lye (sodium hydroxide)
- 1/2 cup rolled oats
- 1 very ripe banana
(sodium hydroxide)How to Make Oatmeal Soap with Banana
Here is how to make oatmeal soap with banana:
- This recipe will fill three of my 3-3 1/2 lb. soap molds and yield 30-36 bars depending on how they are cut. To make this soap following your basic cold process soapmaking instructions.
- While your lye-water and oils are cooling, mash one very ripe banana in a bowl and set aside along with a measured 1/2 of oatmeal. (You can use up to 1 cup of oatmeal for an extra scrubby soap.)
- Once your soap reaches a very light trace add the banana and oatmeal and mix well. Then pour into lined molds, cover and allow to saponify.
- You can unmold and cut these into bars after 24 hours. If you’d like to cut costs you can sub 1/2 of the olive oil for canola. If you’d like to scent your soap, add up to 3 oz. of essential oils or up to 6 oz. of fragrance oil at trace.
- Allow to cure a minimum of three weeks before use.
More Cold Process Banana Soap Recipes
If you like this cold process soap recipe, then also try these other homemade banana soap recipes:
- Berry Banana Smoothie Soap
- Yogurt Banana Soap Recipe
For more cold process soapmaking recipes as well as other bath and beauty diy’s be sure to follow me on Pinterest.
Rebecca D. Dillon
Rebecca D. Dillon is a soapmaker, DIY-er and blogger whose life is controlled daily by a dachshund. You can learn more about Rebecca by checking out her bio. Or discover more great skin care & beauty recipes by subscribing to Soap Deli News blog via email.
22 Comments
Staci
July 7, 2013 at 8:39 pm
What can I use instead of coconut oil?
Thanks for your help!
- Rebecca D. Dillon
July 7, 2013 at 8:42 pm
Good subs for coconut oil are palm kernel oil and corn oil. This may cause the recipe to need the lye and water amounts adjusted so be sure to run back through a lye calc. I’m not sure how this will affect how the soap turns out though because I do various adjustments based on how the recipes turn out so it’s not a straight forward amount for superfatting.
Sue
October 25, 2013 at 1:23 am
hi, thanks for this recipe! i’m gonna trying making it for my pup, to see if it’ll help with her hotspots (oats are supposed to soothe itching skin?). how long can these soap keep, seeing that we’re using bananas in it? also, do we run the oats up in a blender for smaller bits?
thanks!
- Rebecca D. Dillon
October 25, 2013 at 8:51 am
The soap will keep pretty much forever as it’s cold process. I would run the oatmeal through a food processor or coffee grinder. Also for hot spots I really recommend my Neem Soap and neem salve. They worked wonders on my dog. I also have neem cream recipe that I use as well. I’ll be posting it to the blog in the next couple of days.
Sue
November 6, 2013 at 10:09 pm
hi, i tried out this recipe, but as my mold is quite small and i’m measuring in gram, i thought of resizing the recipe. but i forgot to resize the banana and oats, and just ahead to use 1 whole banana and 1/2 cup of blended rolled oats in my 380gram of oils!
i unmolded it after 24 hrs, but it was still very soft and i’ve left it sat for a few days (since Saturday night). yesterday, i cut it up but the inside part was still very wet 🙁
do you think i should rebatch it? if so, do i add in the lye solution and additional oils into the double boiler, or should i mix up the lye solution and oil, get it to trace and then only mix it into the melted down ones in the double boiler?
sorry, i’m still new at this and maybe i should’ve worked on a few basic recipe before attempting this 🙁
- Rebecca D. Dillon
November 7, 2013 at 9:47 am
This bar comes out of the mold very firm. It may have been too much banana if you sized it down really small as this recipe makes quite a few bars. You can try letting cure for a really long time and see if that helps, but I have no way of knowing. Also, I do discount my water for all of my recipes so they can be cut into bars right away – otherwise they tend to be super soft and take longer to harden up.
Lisa Boyd
November 14, 2013 at 7:15 pm
I put it through a lye calculator to bring it down by about 1/3 and so figured 1/3 the banana and 2 tbsp. + 2 tsp of the oats.
jojo
January 6, 2014 at 10:26 pm
hi! first of all I just want to say i’m SOOOOOOOOO glad I found your website YAY . second . I thought that I was suppose to use a preservative of some sort when using veggies and fruits . believe me I would prefer not to. But I would hate to sell this and have them growing mold after a few weeks of being sold. help i’m so confused. same thing for body scrubs . I want to put lemon zest on some of them but want to make sure they r going to last being by the bathroom and all
thankx in advance
- Rebecca D. Dillon
January 6, 2014 at 10:38 pm
As these are cold process soaps they do not need a preservative. I’ve tested these and even kept some tucked away and even a year and a half in they were still fabulous. So you’re fine adding fruits and veggies as long as it’s not melt and pour soap. Lemon zest away!
Savony
January 10, 2014 at 12:06 am
Nice! I’ve been looking for a good banana soap recipe:) I will let you know how it turns out!
Beverly
February 8, 2014 at 7:20 pm
Just discovered your blog, and I am fascinated with use fruit or veggies in my soap. Will definitely try this recipe (after I get rid of all the soaps I have laying around the house). I use baby oatmeal in my soaps, that way I don’t have to grind it. And then rolled oats to the top of my loaves. Also, anyone tried this in a hot process?
Kathy
March 4, 2014 at 4:55 pm
I’m SOOO excited about trying the banana oatmeal recipe . . . I do have colloidal oatmeal and think I’m going to use it instead of the raw oats. I’m also very excited about the Wash and Stain Soap Bar recipe. I’ve had ladies ask me if I had it at craft shows and the farmers’ market, but always had to tell them “no:(“. The Men’s Cedarwood & Baking Soda Soap looks like a great bar also for use in the kitchen. ***Where can I get Dunflower oil? or is it Sunflower oil?*** I’m recently unemployed and am hoping to use the spare time to expand my small business (hobby) into something more profitable. YAY!!!
- Rebecca D. Dillon
March 4, 2014 at 8:04 pm
It’s sunflower oil? Do I have a typo somewhere? Have fun with the recipes and good luck!
Robin
March 10, 2014 at 11:47 pm
I was wondering if this recipe works out as a hot processed soap?
Thanks!Michele
March 20, 2014 at 11:46 am
Does this soap have an expiration because of the banana?
- Rebecca D. Dillon
March 20, 2014 at 6:20 pm
No, it doesn’t.
Sytia Bootle
March 27, 2014 at 12:18 am
Hello. I am absolutely in love with your page.
I am attempting to make this soap but I am only aiming to make about 10-12 bars. How do I narrow down the amount of ingredients to accommodate that number? I’m using this for a school project. Thank you in advance for your help.- Rebecca D. Dillon
March 27, 2014 at 7:33 am
This post will tell you how to resize your batch. 1/3 of this recipe would make the amount you’re looking for.
Kimberly
June 10, 2014 at 5:54 pm
Hi Rebecca,
Thanks for the recipe, I can’t wait to try it! I was wondering if you would advise using instant oatmeal-which is what I have in my cupboard-or if this change would diminish any exfoliating properties from the soap. Thanks!- Rebecca D. Dillon
June 10, 2014 at 7:39 pm
You could use something like Quaker Quick Oats that comes in the big container but I’d opt against using the stuff that comes in the one serving packages.
Rupa
August 6, 2014 at 2:41 pm
What should I replace rice bran oil with?
I have the rest of the ingredients . Pl advice.Thanks in advance
Rebecca
November 21, 2014 at 4:07 am
Can you use this recipe for hot process? Will the banana still be okay?
Comments are closed.
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