This is my third clay bar, and I’m pretty excited about it. Like previous bars it’s mostly clay, but this one is held together with diluted liquid soap instead of water, giving us a bar that’s a hybrid between a bar of soap and a clay bar. It’s pretty neat.
For this bar I chose a blend of gentle white Kaolin clay and deeply cleansing Fuller’s Earth (Multani Mitti) clay. The two clays help detoxify the skin, exfoliate, cleanse, and battle acne.
In bar form, it’s easier to use clay as an everyday cleanser. You can just run the bar under some warm water and glide it over your skin for a thin layer of clay. Let it dry for a few moments before rinsing it off.
Paired with some diluted liquid soap, we get a stiff, sticky paste. Resist the urge to over-hydrate the paste so you end up with a pourable slurry—that’ll result in a crumbly mess rather than a bar.
My bar didn’t dry particularly pretty, but that’s because I tried to build it up above the mould, so I don’t recommend that approach. If your bar ends up ugly and you hate it you can always bash it up, run it through a coffee grinder or food processor, re-hydrate it, and try again.
So—if you’re in love with the cleansing power of clay and want to try it in a convenient, sudsy bar form, I think you’ll like this tan coloured bar. Give it a go 🙂
Clay & Soap Bar
35g liquid soap paste
70g just-boiled water½ cup Kaolin clay
½ cup Fuller’s Earth (Multani Mitti) clayCombine the liquid soap paste with the just-boiled water in a jar or container with a lid, and let it sit for about a day so the soap paste softens and dissolves into the water. You should be left with a very runny, sudsy liquid.
Stir the clays together in a large bowl, and then begin to knead in the soapy liquid, adding it a little at a time and mashing everything together until you have a stiff paste that incorporates all the clay. You may not need all the soapy liquid, or you may need to add a bit more water depending on how your clay measured out.
Once you have a stiff paste, pack it into your mould—silicone muffin or soap moulds work really well. Leave it to dry out for several days (or as long as required—it’ll take longer if you’re lucky enough to live somewhere humid). As it dries it’ll pull away from the edges of the mould.
To use, run the dry bar under some warm water and glide it over your skin, leaving a thin layer of clay. Let it dry for a few moments before rinsing it off and following up with some argan oil. Let the bar dry completely between uses.
Hi, Just wanted to tell you how much I love your blog!
Thanks, Angela!
Ooooo. I really like this variation. I just took delivery of kaolin clay. I will be using African black soap for the suds, yay. Thank you for sharing so generously.
The African Black Soap variation is actually the next thing I was planning on trying 😛 Great minds think alike!
Hi Marie,
Would this bar be appropriate for the typical twice daily facial cleansing routine? Or is it meant to be used only once in a while? Thanks!
Hi Colleen! It’s something I’d typically use once a day, but that’s just my skin—feel free to experiment with 2x a day and see what your skin thinks 🙂
Hi Maria,
What is diluted liquid soap paste? Do i just soften a bar of my homemade soap or use liquid soap (like castille) and add water. Love your site. Keep up the great work.
Thanks
Hi Karen! Click the link in the ingredients list for the instructions on making your own liquid soap paste 🙂 For this recipe you could use a pre-made liquid castile soap as well, though, and just thin it out with a bit of water. You’d probably want 50–60g of liquid castile soap and then use water beyond that. Thanks for DIYing with me!
Hi Marie,
I’m wondering where you bought your blue round silicone mold and how much each cavity holds-4 ounces or so?
Thanks.
They’re from NDA (link in the big box above) and each cavity holds 100mL 🙂
Hi, have you ever tried to make those clay bars with butters and oils? I use them specially in winter time, when cold and rough air dries my skin more than in summer time. Unfortunately I don’t have straight link or recipe right now, but you can find them from my blog signaturelli.blogspot.com or from danish LiseLise’s blog.
Hi Signe! These bars are a bit like that 🙂 There’s not a ton of clay in them, though.
I made this using liquid castille soap and substituted Alabama clay for the fullers earth clay. It’s similar to Morrocan red clay. It turned out very nice. I used it today for the first time, and was pleased with how clean my skin looked and felt. It’s so much fun to make my own products!
Awesome! I’m so glad you’re enjoying it 🙂 I’ve been loving this bar for travel, and I love how easily it glides on (once properly wetted, at least :P).
How much liquid Castile soap did you use?
I used 60 grams of liquid castille soap.
I have searched so many sites and yours is my all time favorite!!! I love everything you post. I was just wondering if I could use organic, liquid castile soap in this recipe? Thanks for your blog!
Thanks Megan! You should be able to use castile soap instead, that’s more or less what you’d be making if you made your own 🙂
How many does this recipe make?
That is completely dependent on how big you make them, just like how you could make 1 cake or a bunch of cupcakes with the same cake recipe. The bar I made was about 100mL in volume.
Hello humblebee! Im new to your blog and i live in India where most of the ingredients are really difficult to get and can’t be shipped even through amazon! 🙁 I off lately read your clay soap recipes and im just awaiting to try them! Could i use goats milk soap instead of the liquid soap because i have acne all over my cheeks with little scarring . Would this clay bar help me control the acne? Or would the French clay bar work more better.
Thank you.
Hey! If acne is a concern I would honestly avoid soap all together; give this and this a read 🙂
Quick tip on the silicone molds- Check out the ice cube tray section at Walmart or target (any similar kind of store will likely have them. I think I have seen them at the dollar store too), and you should be able to find silicone ice cube trays for extremely cheap! They’re smaller than most other silicone moulds so you can make more individual bars. They make great gifts! They have several different shapes to choose from as well. I have a few trays with octagon shaped moulds that are about 1.5″ in diameter and they’re PERFECT!
Great tip! I’ve also picked up some cute specialty/themed ones (like spheres and Darth Vader’s head) from AliExpress for far less than they are on Amazon 😀 They take ages to arrive, but they were very inexpensive and are holding up beautifully!
Any options on how to lower the ph level for this soap? To make it more suitable for facial washes?
Please give this FAQ a read 🙂