Homemade Loofah: Soap Bar

We'll openly admit that we love anything and everything tropical. Whether it’s the beach, the sun, or the scents – the tropical vibe gets me every time.

And with winter very nearly over, we're getting myself prepared for summer smooth skin. And that means exfoliating!

In this note, we'll share one of our favorite recipes for making a loofah soap bar.

We'll show you how to combine the loofah with the soap, resulting in a homemade bar that has a delicious hibiscus scent.

A loofah soap bar is a wonderful natural exfoliator, great for brushing away dry skin and exfoliating the skin follicles – leaving it primed for smoothness and smelling amazing.

Exfoliating soap bars stacked on a wooden soap bar drying tray.

What is a loofah used for?

Now you’re possibly wondering what a loofah is? And what’s it got to do with soap?!

A loofah is, in fact, a vegetable that grows on trees. When it’s dried after being picked and de-seeded, it makes an excellent all-natural skin exfoliator or natural sponge, which has better exfoliating properties than your regular store-bought sponges.

We seriously go back and forth between this soap bar and our charcoal soap bar recipe! Honestly, we still can’t decide which one we like better!

Loofah Soap Benefits

Loofahs come whole or readily sliced. If you’ve got a whole loofah, you can slice it and use it on its own in the shower, or better yet, use individual slices and combine them with a pourable homemade soap mixture.

You’ll need a soap mold for this recipe which you can easily buy online

Simply place the loofah slices into the soap mold and pour the homemade soap on top. Once it sets, you’ve got an amazing exfoliating soap to use!

Homemade exfoliating soap bars with loofa pieces.

The benefits of using a loofah soap bar include it being a fantastic all-around skin exfoliator, it’s 100% natural and it’s eco-friendly.

With a loofah soap bar, you combine natural exfoliation with cleansing, and there’s nothing synthetic or unnatural in there, so it’s super kind to your skin.

A loofah soap bar is the best of both worlds if you ask me – being an exfoliator and a cleanser in one, and if you try the recipe below, you’ll get that lovely hibiscus scent to leave you smelling divine.

Loofah soap bars are handy if you’re short on time or away on vacation and need to combine your essentials.

Loofah makes an excellent base for an exfoliating soap bar as the fibers are gentle on the skin yet contain enough elastic within them so they’re durable, meaning they stay firm even after several uses.

Benefits of Exfoliating

There are many benefits to exfoliating the skin! Skin cells naturally die off over time and leave a dull, lackluster appearance.

By regularly exfoliating once or twice a week, you’ll brighten the skin by removing that dull layer, revealing fresh skin underneath. We like to follow it up with our homemade body butter for glowing skin to keep everything soft and smooth.

Exfoliating also increases blood flow, making it easier for oxygenated blood to reach the skin’s surface, improving the health and appearance of the exfoliated area.

Another great thing about exfoliating is it slows down the aging process by stimulating the synthesis of collagen – the skin’s ‘elasticity’ protein which naturally declines as we get older.

Exfoliating also clears blocked pores and prevents spots and is a great base for using other beauty products, improving the effectiveness of homemade hand cream and homemade face steaming cleansers.

Body wash loofa bars with flower petals infused.

What to use instead of a loofah

There are alternatives to using a loofah, but you’d need to be creative in how to combine them to make a soap bar, which is why our choice is to use loofah slices, as shown below in the recipe.

They fit really well into the soap mold and last ages, which is why we love them.

But if you’re looking for something else for whatever reason, one of the best alternatives we know to loofah as an exfoliator is 100% cotton washcloths which can be reused time and again.

Also, you can look at silicone brushes which are good to keep bacteria at bay. Although silicone isn’t eco-friendly, it can last a very long time which perhaps balances things out.

But again, we're not convinced they’d work well in a soap bar!

Hibiscus Infused Loofah Soap Bar Recipe

Here’s the recipe!

Ingredients:

2 lbs shea butter melt and pour soap base
1 loofah
1 teaspoon brewed Hibiscus tea
2 teaspoons of dried hibiscus flowers
3 drops Vitamin E oil
5 drops Lavender essential oil
5 drops Siberian fir essential oil

Loofah Soap Recipe:

Cut the loofah into 1/2 inch rounds and place 1 in each soap mold.

Cutting a loofah with a sharp knife to add to the loofah soap molds.

Placing the sliced loofa pieces into the silicone soap molds.

Next, cut the melt and pour soap into pieces and place them in a saucepan. Melt the soap over medium heat.

Chopping up a shea butter melt and pour soap base to melt down for soap.

Chunks of melt and pour soap base in a small pot in preparation of melting down.

Once melted, remove the saucepan from the stove and add in the hibiscus tea, flowers, and oils. Stir really well to make sure everything is combined.

Stirring in dried hibiscus flowers and essential oils into the soap base.

Pouring recently melted soap into molds with the loofah to make exfoliating soap bars.

Lastly, pour the soap on top of the loofah rounds in the molds. Allow the soap to sit for 24 hours or until it’s fully hard before removing it from the molds.

And that’s it! It’s really simple and a great addition to your bathing routine. As always, we'd love to hear from you, especially if you try this recipe to see how you get on. Let me know by posting a comment.

And be sure to try out this coffee soap next! It is a deliciously smelling mild exfoliating soap for sensitive skin.

If you are looking for more herb infused soap recipes, you may like this herbal soap bar recipe.

Holding a homemade loofah soap bar with hibiscus flowers infused into it.

How to use your loofah soap bar

A loofah is an aggressive exfoliator, and even though it’s embedded into the soap bar, which does help give a milder scrub, it should be used on areas susceptible to dry skin: ie, the feet, hands, and elbows.

Loofah soap bars can be used the same as any soap bar, except that it has a piece of loofah in it. Use care when soaping the face, neck, or other sensitive areas.

Loofah Soap Bar

By the studio Ascher Prep: 5 minutes minsActive: 20 minutes minsTotal: 25 minutes mins Yield: 6 Bars Loofah soap bars on a wooden soap tray garnished with hibiscus flowers.

SaveSaved Pin Print Loofah soap bars smell fabulous and work great as a natural exfoliator

Equipment

Soap mold

Ingredients

Soap base 2 lbs
1 Loofah
1 tsp brewed hibiscus tea
2 tsp dried hibiscus flowers
3 drops vitamin E oil
5 drops lavender essential oil
5 drops Siberian fir essential oil

Prevent your screen from going dark

Instructions

Cut the loofah into 1/2 inch rounds and place 1 in each soap mold.
Next, cut the melt and pour soap into pieces and place them in a saucepan. Melt the soap over medium heat.
Once melted, remove the saucepan from the stove and add in the hibiscus tea, flowers, and oils. Stir really well to make sure everything is combined.
Lastly, pour the soap on top of the loofah rounds in the molds.
Allow the soap to sit for 24 hours or until it’s fully hard before removing it from the molds.

Notes

This soap bar is very exfoliating! Tried this recipe?Mention @our_oily_house or tag #ouroilyhouse! This recipe is for your own viewing pleasure and is not meant for healing purposes. Readers must perform their own research and tests before making any recipe.