Clove Melt and Pour Soap: A Simple Spiced Bar

Melt and pour is the friendliest way into soapmaking: the base is already finished soap, so there is no lye and you only melt, scent, pour and wait. A clove bar smells like a gingerbread kitchen. The only number that really matters is the weight of oil you add, so we will start there.

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Start with the number, not the mold

We keep our soap recipes at or below 0.5% essential oil by weight of the base, which matches the topical maximum the Tisserand Institute lists for clove bud oil. For one pound of base, 453.6 g, that is 2.27 g of clove oil. At the 1.054 relative density on the Certificate of Analysis we publish for one bud batch, that is about 2.15 ml, and at the rough convention of 20 drops per ml, around 43 drops. Weigh it rather than counting, since drop sizes vary. Each 100 g bar will hold roughly half a gram of oil.

A rinse-off bar spends only seconds on the skin, which is gentler than a leave-on product, but clove's main compound, eugenol, is a recognised contact allergen, and repeated contact is how sensitivities build. That is the reason for the modest figure. Check your soap base supplier's stated maximum fragrance load too, and if it is lower than 0.5%, use theirs.

Picking a base

Melt and pour bases come in a few styles, and the one you choose changes how the bar looks. A clear base shows any speckle or colour you add, so it looks like stained glass. A white or opaque base gives a creamy, bakery look that suits a spice scent. Open the block before you buy a lot of it and smell it, since some bases carry a scent of their own that will mix with the clove. If you want the clove to take the lead, look for a base labelled unscented.

Colour and finish

A soft tan or brown suits a clove bar, and a soap-safe colorant from your supplier is the way to get it. Add it a pinch at a time, stirring as you go, and keep the shade lighter than you think you want, because it deepens in the mold. For the top, a few cloves or a dusting of cinnamon pressed lightly in just before the surface sets looks pretty. Keep them on top and out of the middle of the bar, so nothing scratchy ends up where your hands go.

Bud or leaf

We sell both. Our bud oil is warm, rich and sweetly spicy, and our leaf oil is bolder, smokier and drier. Leaf is the more economical one and a favourite with formulators for soap, but it is not a milder oil, so the same 0.5% applies to both. Pick on scent; our bud versus leaf comparison will help you.

The pour, in order

Weigh and cut the base. Cut it into cubes and weigh it, since everything else is a percentage of that.
Weigh the clove oil before you melt anything. Tare a small cup on the scale, add oil to 2.27 g per pound of base, and cap the bottle straight away.
Melt the base gently in short bursts in the microwave or in a double boiler, stirring between, until it is just liquid. Overheating dulls scent and can make the base rubbery.
Let it cool for a minute until a skin begins to form at the edge, then stir in the clove oil thoroughly. Adding it late keeps more of the aroma.
Pour into a mold, pop any surface bubbles with a spritz of rubbing alcohol if you like, and leave it to set undisturbed before unmolding.
Wrap the finished bars and label them with the date and the clove percentage.

Spices such as ground cloves can add speckle, but they also add scratchiness, so a light hand is best. Base, molds, colour and wrapping come from a soapmaking supplier; we sell only the oil.

Wrapping and giving

Once the bars have set, cut them into neat rectangles and wrap each in paper or cellophane, with a label listing the base and the clove percentage. A twist of twine and a cinnamon stick make a good gift. Keep the bars on a dry shelf rather than in a steamy bathroom, so they last longer.

Who should skip this bar

If you have eczema, reactive skin or have reacted to clove, cinnamon or fragrance before, leave clove out of your soap. Keep bars away from the face and eyes, and make sure children and pets cannot reach the oil or the soap. If you are pregnant or nursing, ask your midwife or OB/GYN, and see what we say in our clove oil and pregnancy post. For a leave-on use of the same arithmetic, our clove balm follows the same low ceiling.

Store the oil tightly capped, cool and dark; our post on storing clove oil explains how. Let the bars cure for a few days and you will have a spiced soap that makes a gift-worthy little stack.