Handmade natural tallow soap recipe: neem oil soap and salve

by Liz Beavis

After my success using neem oil to control insects around the farm and to cure my toenail fungus (how I use neem oil), I did a lot of reading about neem oil and I was keen to try to harness its properties as an anti-microbial and anti-inflammatory to help heal skin.  

You can get my neem oil natural soap from my online store.

Neem oil itself is a bit of a pain to use, as it goes solid in cold temperatures, liquid when it warms up and it never seems to stay in the bottle.  I have tried to take neem oil insect repellent on holiday and ended up with it spilled through my bag.  Luckily it does seem to wash out, but I thought it would be easier to use in a more solid form.

eight acres: neem oil soap and neem cream

I came up with a couple of solutions.  First I made a soap with 25% neem oil.  It smells like neem oil, but I am getting used to the smell.  Its kind of nutty and pungent.  I gave some of this soap to a friend of North African origins and she thought it smelt nice, so maybe it depends which spices you've grown up with!  This soap is great as a pet wash (Taz "loves" taking a bath with neem soap) as it repels insects including fleas.  I also gave it to a friend who had dry broken skin on her hands that just would not heal.  She has noticed an improvement since using the neem soap and neem salve (below).  I know this is not a comprehensive test, but if you are having trouble with dry skin, neem oil may be worth a try.  The soap could also be good for kids with nits (I haven't tried that though!).


eight acres: neem oil soap and neem cream
Taz enjoying some neem oil soap

I wanted my dad to try neem oil on his toe nail fungus seeing as the "expensive cream from the doctor" wasn't working.  I thought it would be easier to use if I thickened it with beeswax.  I made a salve with 50:50 olive oil and neem oil, and 10% by weight beeswax.  This stays in the jar and is more manageable to apply to toenails.  It can also be used on dry skin, insect bites, etc to relieve inflammation and kill microbes.

Neem oil is also a great insect repellent and I had been using a commercial neem oil mixture because I didn't want to use DEET, but as it tended to spill I decided to make my own version with beeswax.  I use a mixture of citronella, lemon grass, lavender, tea tree and eucalyptus, and 10% neem oil, in olive oil thickened with beeswax.  This mixture is effective (when I remember to use it!)  and does not spill.


eight acres: neem oil soap and salve


You can get my neem oil natural soap from my online store.

**Note that neem oil is not suitable for pregnancy as it has contraceptive properties**

Do you use neem oil?  Have you found it heals your skin?

Other posts about neem oil:

Neem oil as an insect repellent

Neem oil soap and salve

How I use herbs - Neem oil





You can find out more about tallow soap in my eBook Make your own natural soap

Other posts about soap:

How to avoid soaping mistakes
How to rebatch soap in a slow cooker
How to use water discount in soapmaking
Natural handmade soap with tallow
Natural handmade tallow soap recipe: big beer 
Natural handmade tallow soap recipe: black magic
Natural handmade tallow soap recipe: coffee grounds
Natural handmade tallow soap recipe: goat's milk and honey
Natural handmade tallow soap recipe: neem oil soap and salve
Natural handmade tallow soap recipe: pure tallow
Natural handmade tallow soap recipe: salt spa
Natural handmade tallow soap recipe: shaving bar
Natural handmade tallow soap recipes: bath soap and cleaning soap
Natural handmade tallow soap recipes: pink clay and greeen herb
Rendering beef tallow in a slow cooker
Soapmaking resources and books
Why use natural soaps and salves

 


1 comment


  • Sally Allen

    Your neem oil soap “cured” the eczema on my hands. It is now starting to flare up again so will need to buy a few more bars.


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