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Easy homemade soap
Use this simple recipe and you'll be lathering up with your own soap in no time.
Mon, Dec 10 2012 at 1:49 PM
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Photo: Subbotina Anna/Shutterstock
As the last generations of Depression-era children or back-to-the-landers take their leave of this world, their DIY skills go with them. When we try to learn from scratch, we soon discover that recipes in books don't tell half the story.
DIY soap making and other skills slipping away
I have never figured out why this knowledge started slipping away from us, but I am trying to re-learn some of the basics. I now make my own soap, hand lotion, yogurt and bread. I am trying to figure out toothpaste, but it is hard to find good information about abrasion damage. I also found a great cheese site, which has a recipe for labneh, a cheese I can make from my homemade yogurt, and I plan to make other cheeses with my friends, who write about the Hundred Mile Diet.
I have never figured out why this knowledge started slipping away from us, but I am trying to re-learn some of the basics. I now make my own soap, hand lotion, yogurt and bread. I am trying to figure out toothpaste, but it is hard to find good information about abrasion damage. I also found a great cheese site, which has a recipe for labneh, a cheese I can make from my homemade yogurt, and I plan to make other cheeses with my friends, who write about the Hundred Mile Diet.
My soap recipe is customized to use full bottles of most of the oils, so you don't have a lot of inventory lying around, and you don't have to do a lot of measuring. Normally, making soap requires a lot of finicky weighing, since measuring by volume isn't considered accurate enough. So far I have had no problems, and, for those without a scale, I give both weight and volume in this recipe.
Making homemade soap can be dangerous
Before we begin, let me stress that soap-making can be dangerous. Although it is easy to become comfortable with the process, you should only make soap when you fully understand the safety procedures.
Before we begin, let me stress that soap-making can be dangerous. Although it is easy to become comfortable with the process, you should only make soap when you fully understand the safety procedures.
Here is some general homemade soap information
Soap is made in two parts, lye and water, plus a mixture of oils. The two don't combine easily, so they must be brought to similar temperatures. Lye and water get very hot when mixed, so the mixture must cool before being added to the oils.
The oils must be gently heated. The oil is nowhere near hot enough to cook with, but still, please do not start any fires. Every oil has a different saponification index, which is a measure of how much lye is required to turn that oil into soap. This means, if you run out of coconut oil, don't go replacing it with olive oil.
Lye is VERY caustic, so don't get any on your skin. It also gives off nasty fumes, so use goggles and very good ventilation or a respirator. Check out the Materials Safety Data Sheet on lye.
You will also need a mold. You could use a 9 x 13 cake pan and line it with wax paper. I bought a used Rubbermaid bread box that is about 14" x 6" x 5". This makes a big block of soap that is not safe to cut with a knife. I cut it with a guitar string wrapped around a couple of chopstick handles.
Homemade soap: The hardest step
The hardest thing about soap is knowing when it is done. This is judged by a state called "trace." This is when a dribble of soap kind of stays on the surface instead of sinking into the pot. Think honey on a counter top as it slowly flattens out.
The hardest thing about soap is knowing when it is done. This is judged by a state called "trace." This is when a dribble of soap kind of stays on the surface instead of sinking into the pot. Think honey on a counter top as it slowly flattens out.
The book that I used to work out this recipe is called "The Soapmaker's Companion" by Susan Miller Cavitch. This is also where I found recipes for hand lotion.
Homemade Soap Recipe
- Lye — Mix in large pyrex measuring cup, stir with a chopstick saved from order-in Chinese food. Again, do not breathe the fumes. Wear goggles.
- 700 milliliters purified water
- 270 grams or 9 1/4 ounces lye (one small container)
- Oils (Mix in a big pot.)
- Olive oil 955 grams or 4 1/2 cups (Use the cheap pomace olive oil; virgin doesn't work as well.)
- Coconut oil 390 grams 500 milliliters 2 cups
- Grapeseed oil 515 grams 500 milliliters 2 cups
Let lye mixture cool to 110 degrees F. Warm oils to 110 degrees F. When both are at the same temperature, slowly pour lye mixture into oils. Mix with a stick blender until trace, periodically scraping sides and bottom of pan with a spatula. I mix with short pulses of the blender, and it only takes about three minutes.
The first time I made soap I used a whisk and my spatula, which I washed carefully later. Next time I used my Braun stick blender. Once I felt sure that I was going to make soap regularly, I bought a used stick blender at Value Village for $5 and dedicated it to soap making. If you use a whisk, you can look forward to hours of stirring. I also have a couple of thrift-shop thermometers, one for the lye and one for the oils. I have also heard of people making soap by feel. When the containers of lye and oils feel similarly warm to the touch, you are good to go.
At trace, add 10 milliliters cinnamon oil. Mix as little as possible, just enough to combine. Theoretically, the soap can harden very quickly at this stage, trapping your spatula inside a giant bar. I have never had a problem with this recipe, though.
Pour into mold. Wrap with heavy blankets for 24 hours to keep the heat in and help the chemical reaction.
The next day, when soap has set, cut it into bars and store, separated nicely, on brown paper in cool place. Turn over after two weeks. Use after one month.
Related soap posts on MNN:
- 5 tips for making soap at home
- Why eco-friendly soap is better for your health
- Is soap free the new clean?
You might also like:
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this is a good business idea for starters. I have a question though, how and where can you obtain the lye? You said it is caustic, now, do you need a special privilege or a permit to gain access with lye?
I`m working on a project on soap-making and i was just wandering if it`s possible to use a different combination of different oils to make our own unique brand of soap.
Yes, you can experiment. I would look in a variety of places to see how much is ratio driven and to get ideas.
I was wondering if you can use tea instead of water in this recipe? I just know caffeine is really great for skin and was interested if it would change anything here.
I would love to try and make my own soap. How caustic is Lye? Can soap be made without it? I have asthma/allergies and would hate to have the lingering smell of Lye in my home. Any ideas?
Lye will eat away your flesh in a matter of seconds. WARE GLOVES!!! And safety glasses.
what's next? making your own penicillin?
Actually there is no need to make Penicillin. Using Colloidal Silver is much more effective, costs less and doesn't damage your internal fauna ;^)
I need to have a roommate night and make a bunch of soap.
I don't understand this can somebody please help me
hi. i would like to try the soap recipe above and i love how you dont use palm or kernel oil. My question is how many bars of soap does this batch make so i know how big my mould has to be <3
Just do what I do run it throug a lye calc. This way you know the ounces or grams and that way you know exactly how much you ar making.
I make my own toothpaste with calcium bentonite clay mixed with baking soda. It works great and makes your teeth feel super clean. Also it whitens your teeth and helps with cavities. You can add other stuff like cinnamon or cloves, peppermint oil, etc for flavor and added benefits.
The answer to your question as to why no one knows how to do anything any longer is the work that goes into doing. Our grandmothers and most mothers had a day to work on such projects. Who can afford to stay home and do this much work to have these products? I for one am all for learning the "old ways." But it is a matter of wanting to take the time and have fun in doing it. We have become an overworked society.
Part of the reason we're overworked is the choices we make regarding life-style. Our grandmothers were willing to do with a lot less than mos of us are now. AND the tax base was WAY lower then than it is now! (The gov't didn't take as much of our pay away from us)
I found creolin on amazon. Have you looked there?
You can make toothpaste by getting vegetable glycerin (health food store), baking soda and a flavorant. Be careful with cinnamon oil, too much and it BURNS. Use 1 Cup baking soda to 2 Tbls glycerin to start. add more to get your consitency. add a few drops flavor oil (from baking store). Put in airtight container. Dip your toothbrush and go. It's not at all abrasive.
FYI-Mission Peaks Soap makes the BEST soap mold and cutter,check it out.I love using mine the soap bars look really professional.Sweetcakes -makes the best fragerance oils and Mountain Rose herbs has the best selection of herbs and gadgets. Summerbeemeadow.com is a great place to order lye for soapmaking and Phenol P for testing your soaps PH, to make sure it's not lye heavy.
The best book on learning soapmaking is "The Everything soapmaking Book" by Alisha Grosso ,Amazon.com usually has it.I think people should learn to make as many home products as they can-we are in a recession and it will probally turn into a depression.I've made soap for at least thirteen years,it is so easy to make.Learn to make as many things as you can-you'll save money,the environment and if we do have a depression you will be better prepared.
Yours truly, Jo
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