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Have you ever thought that it would be cool to make homemade soap, and then immediately wondered what kind of crazy person would actually do that? Well now you know! 🙂
Seriously, though…it’s not hard. Promise.
Here’s what makes soap-making scary, one word: lye.
The intimidation starts with the ordering process. You have to order it online, because stores don’t carry pure lye. I think the regulations got quite strict due to the meth industry. And if your experience is anything like mine, you’ll have to sign something saying that you’re not planning to cook meth nor build bombs (although I’m pretty confident that if I were planning to do one of those two things…I’d also be ok lying about it). But press on, friend! It’s just an order form.
If handling a caustic substance freaks you out…know that most homes used to have lye in them for household uses. Even now, many drain cleaners are still made with lye. Are you afraid of Drano?
Aside from the lye, this simple soap has only a couple of other ingredients: water, olive oil, and coconut oil.
Homemade Soap in a Nutshell
- Add lye to water–it gets really really hot.
- Add oils to saucepan, begin heating.
- When the lye mixture has cooled, the oil has heated, and they meet in the middle at the same temperature, you mix them together. (Waiting for this to happen is really the longest part of the process). Then you mix and mix until the mixture gets thick (this is called trace). At this point the lye is no longer caustic (due to a process called saponification) and you have made soap, runny as it may be.
- Pour your runny soap into molds to cool. Wrap in a towel so it cools slowly overnight. (Towel with Aztec hieroglyphics not necessary)
- The next day, cut the soap into bars. Lay bars out to dry (cure) for several weeks and voila: you made soap!
Tutorials
That’s the ‘Cliff’s Notes’ version. For the complete rundown on the process, I’m going to give you two tutorials. They are both from Rhonda at Down to Earth, and are the same recipe. The reason I’m giving you both of them is that they each give valuable information and details. These are what I use when I make soap.
Tips for Soapmaking
Making soap is not cooking. It is chemistry. If you follow the rules carefully your soap will turn out every single time.
For you homeschoolers– soap making can be a great way to ease into your chemistry studies!
You must use a kitchen scale to weigh your ingredients. This is not a time for measuring cups and spoons. Must means MUST.
Another tool that is a worthwhile investment is a hand held stick blender. I got mine to make soap with, but also use it for pureeing sauces and soups. (Which answers another question I’m often asked: Yes- you can use your soap making tools for cooking later…after all, they’re covered with soap by the end of it all! I will say, the Pyrex measuring cup where I mix my lye and water, I only use for soap making.)
You can add essential oils, use herb-infused oils, or even soap coloring. I make mine completely unadorned. I would consider someday adding some lavender essential oil, or using herb-infused oil (but I live with all boys, you know). Plus, I’m really happy with the plain soap. So for now, that’s what I’ll make.
Rocky Mountain Oils is where I get all of my essential oils.
The longer you let your bars of soap dry (cure) the longer the bars will last. I shoot for 6 weeks of curing. You could use them after a couple of days, but they would dissolve quickly in the shower. (Interesting aside… this is why store-bought bars of soap are often wrapped in waxy paper, they want to keep it moist so it dissolves faster so you have to buy more. When I buy soap, I always unwrap the bars and store them that way.)
Silicone baking molds really are the best molds to use, in my opinion. They peel off easily and can be re-used. I use a mold with 4 mini loaf pans and then slice the loaves into bars. I think it would be fun to make some smaller hand soaps in shapes like shells or hearts, or even some larger floral shapes. One day…
What is holding you back from giving this a try? Let me know and maybe I can help. I’m no soap-making expert, but I have done it a bunch of times with success.
Have you made soap on your own before? How did it go?
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Wow! That was so interesting! And I had no idea that companies wrapped their soaps in wax paper so it’d would be used quicker. Very informative….and I live in a house of boys too, but I’d love to add some essential oils to mine, maybe YL’s Christmas spirit (I know Christmas is over, but gosh I love that smell 🙂 ) Thanks for the info!
Seasonally scented soaps. What a great idea!!
It isn’t the lye that stops me from making soap, although I didn’t know where to get it, thanks for letting me know ordering is the best option. Time and other supplies. Okay, mostly time, I don’t want to take the time to make soap. Would rather buy it from people like you who enjoy the process and do it often. Thanks for the instructions, now if I take a notion to try it I know where to come. 🙂
If you have the inclination, you should give it a try! Funny, your comment about buying it from people who enjoy the process, I’ve been thinking about selling some of the products I make. I’ve been checking into all of the red tape that goes along with selling.
This is a wonderful resource-tweeted and pinned on my DYI board. I am doing a lot less DYI than I used to. I’ve made glycerin soap from kits-yes, lye does intimidate me, and we are only a family of two now.
Thanks, Alana! The lye can be intimidating for sure. That’s why it’s so important to have clear instructions to follow. And people love getting bars of homemade soap as gifts, so don’t let that stop you!
This is very interesting. I was not aware that people were doing this. Thank you for sharing.
Until recently I actually sold my own handcrafted soaps, salts, candles and bath bombs. So therapeutic but with the kids getting more mobile I just decided that’s one thing I’ll have to step away from a bit. 🙂 But it is so much fun!
Yeah, definitely wouldn’t be safe with littles running around underfoot! Nor do you have the most free time to do stuff like this. I have made bath salts, and just simple beeswax candles. Would love to hear how you made yours. My niece made me some bath bombs for Christmas, but I haven’t tried them yet.
I make homemade cheese, so I’m sure I could tackle this. Looks like fun!!
Oooo, I haven’t done cheese. (Well, ricotta, but I don’t think that counts.) I’m confident you could tackle this without any problems!
This is so interesting and at the same time very industrious too. I am not sure I have the patience for it but bookmarked it for a someday later…
That was so interesting to read! I haven’t made soap but I have made coconut oil sugar scrubs. I may have to check out soap in my next venture!
Sugar scrubs sound fun! I’ve never made them. I will be looking into those. 🙂
I really want to try and make my own soap! I’m a bit worried about the lye but I’m sure I can get the hang of it!
Visiting from Rosilind’s link up! Nice to meet you!
It’s really not too scary as long as you thoroughly read instructions and follow them. I’d encourage you to give it a try!
Oooh…. can I add shea butter at any point to make it more moisturizing?
Because it’s more chemistry than cooking, any changes need to be run through a ‘soap calculator’. There are lots of them online. Or you could search for a recipe that uses shea butter that has already been tested. As I consider adding herbs or essential oils I’ll be looking for tested recipes to try.
I think I’ll stick to this recipe for the first time. Thanks! 🙂
I think that’s a good idea. Exactly why I chose a really basic recipe to get comfortable with.
Wow. This is such a great idea. Instead of using all those chemicals from the soap we buy from the stores.
Thanks for sharing at Family Joy Blog linkup. I’ve never made my own soap but my mom has.
I think it’s very interesting that commercial soap making extracts the glycerine produced by saponification for seperate sale and replaces with a interior product. A few years ago I used Rhonda’s tutorial to make soap. It wasn’t really hard. I live in Australia and was able to buy caustic soda from Bunnings. I used a bar mix and found that the soap traced super quick and set up before I got it into molds. Next time I may try alternating between the bar mix and hand stirring. The soap was good but even after months of curing were a bit soft. I think I may need to adjust my ratios of oil next time. I think it was suggested that a higher coconut oil content made a harder soap.
Thank you for stopping by, Therese! I think it’s great that you can still buy lye (caustic soda) in stores. We have so many regulations! I would say that my soap is sometimes a bit softer than store-bought as well, but it lasts just as long. I hadn’t thought about adjusting the ratio of olive to coconut oil…good idea!
I’m going to try this in the summer so I can do this on the porch for ventilation.
Another article I read said you can look for drain cleaner that says 100% Lye at home depot type store to save ordering it. The soap calculators are very handy and easy to use. A soap maker told me coconut oil is for making the soap lather; don’t know if your soap will be harder but you will have nice creamy bubbles.
I have some leftover herb-infused oils that I will see about using; they don’t smell great but they are soothing for your skin.
Thanks for sharing with The Art of Homemaking 🙂
I have read about coconut oil making bubbles, too. Good luck with your soap-making! I’d love to hear how it goes.