by Maria Muscarella
I’ve been making my own soap for about 10 years now. It started out as glycerine, or melt and pour, soaps, but I was disappointed with them because they melted away so quickly.
Then, during one of my first dates with my husband, we made lye soaps. It was a very simple process ending up with lots of long lasting, sudsy soaps. Now, my family and friends can count on getting a bar or two during the holiday season! I love making a big batch of yummy smelling soap, having enough to last us for a long while, and being able to give some as gifts. It’s so nice to pull one of my own soaps from the closet when I need more.
No more store bought soaps!!! Here is my quick and easy soap recipe. I almost always start with this and add to it whatever I’m in the mood for.
You will need:
-200 grams of lye (it’s not so easy to find this any more. Recently, I was able to get some at the ACE Hardware store. It may be called ‘Red Devil Lye’)
-19 ounces water
-21 ounces Olive Oil
-14 ounces Palm Oil
-16 ounces Coconut Oil
-cooking thermometer
-rubber gloves, old clothes, glasses
-old rubber mixing spatula
-electric beater/mixer
(this will make ~20 3-ounce or 15 4-ounce soap bars)
The first thing I do is line my soap mold. You can use a bread loaf pan, a rectangular tupperware, anything that is around 6×14 inches, or so… not an exact science (it’s also nice if your mold has a cover or something that will work as a cover). You will want to line this with wax paper, making nice crisp corners and taping everything together. This keeps the soap from coming into contact with the actual mold. (If you are using a flexible tupperware, this isn’t necessary since you can pop the soap out, but I still find it easier to line it.)
Next, measure out the lye into a large glass bowl.
Measure the water into a separate container (I use a quart jar).
Take both of these things outside, wearing your rubber gloves and other protective gear. Slowly pour the water into the bowl of lye and mix with the spatula. It will get hot very fast (up to 200 degrees) and put off nasty fumes. At this stage, it is also caustic and can easily burn the skin. So stay up wind of the bowl and mix carefully until the lye is dissolved in the water. Then wait for the lye/water mix to cool to 80-100 degrees.
While waiting, measure all the oils and warm them in a large ceramic or stainless steel pot until the oils are at 80-100 degrees.
When both the lye solution and the oils are 80-100 degrees, carefully pour the lye mix into the oils. With protective gear on, use the mixer/beater to mix it all together. This is called saponification (when the oils and lye come together and neutralize the lye) . It may take 5 minutes, it may take 20, but at some point you will notice that the mixture gets a little thicker. You will see the mix ‘trace’ or leave a mark of where you have just mixed… Kind of like cake batter, but not that thick.
At this point, you are ready to add any extras. I usually use essential oils and will add 2 Tbsp. of what ever smell or mix of smells I chose. I might also add ground herbs or flower petals, ground oats, clays or poppy seeds (for a good scrub). I haven’t tried it yet, but I’m thinking of adding colors, like a little poke berry juice or turmeric, to see what it looks like.
Blend these all in quickly. Pour into your mold.
If you want to have swirls in the soap (like the pictures), you can add your powdered herbs or colorants at this stage and use the spatula or a butter knife to gently cut/mix them in.
Cover your mold and place it in a warm place to rest (I usually wrap mine in a towel to keep the heat in).
Check your soap every day. After one to three days, your soap will be firm enough to cut into soap slices. (I almost always cut it up after a day… this recipe seems to harden pretty quickly.) You can cut it into whatever shape you want. I usually cut them about 1-1.25 inches by 3 inches, or so… again, not an exact science.
Lay the soap out to finish curing for at least 3 weeks. Some people like to cut the tops and edges off to make them look more finished or take the ‘ashy’ look off of them. I leave it all on… it’s not harmful and I like the home made look.
There are so many different ways to make soaps and so many things that can be added… milk, honey, cocoa butter, other oils…. Start with a simple recipe and have fun experimenting. Get a good book, too, so you have good references.
Kaia and I spent some time making some holiday soaps this past November. Pictured is a batch of Wintergreen/Sweet Orange soap, and she’s mixing in a little cinnamon powder ‘to make swirlies!’, while enjoying a piece of Halloween candy.
The next day, we cut it up into pieces and let it sit 3 weeks before using it (so it cures and isn’t so caustic). The first batch made 20 pieces of soap (~3 oz each).
The second batch we doubled and ended up with another 44 bars! … Clarysage/Ylang Ylang with swirlies of cardamom.
But probably my all-time favorites are Peppermint essential oil with poppy seeds (I call it “The Tingler!”) and Lemongrass essential oil soaps!!
I hope you find this helpful. Let me know if you try it and what smells and mixes you come up with!!
Maria Muscarella lives on 25 acres in the mountains of Western North Carolina with her human family and animal friends, attempting to live a more sustainable lifestyle. She is a Nurse-Herbalist and homemaker who enjoys doing things that are not so normal 🙂 You can visit her blog and read her ramblings at www.dirtundermynails.com
That is a wonderful tutorial! I bought some melt and pour and a 4 bar soap mold months ago and still haven’t tried it because I really want to do this kind of soap instead. And I thought is was very sweet that you and hubby made lye soap on a date. 🙂 How do you measure your grams and ounces?
Hi, Maria, what a great post!
I’ve been putting off trying to make my own soap for a couple years now…what beautiful soap you’ve made! Where do I find palm oil and coconut oil for the best prices?
🙂 Robbyn
Lye should always be added to the liquid not the other way around. Adding the liquid to the lye can cause a rapid volcano like effect with dangerous splashing….
Great tutorial and many thanks. Soap-making is on the agenda now at RoomFarm. I am inspired!
i am like thebackforty – i have wanted to try to make soap for forever…your post has really inspired me to get off my butt and try it! thanks so much for sharing this recipe…your soap looks good enough to eat!
Fantastic post. Gabrielle has a long-held ambition (and several books) to make soap and this is the perfect catalyst to get her going. She’s away seeing her daughter in England at the moment, but I’ll show her your blog as soon as she gets home.
Great post Maria, and timely too! I always make soap on the day of the Belmont Stakes horse race. I can stir to trace while I watch the horse stories. This is the first year I didn’t do it, and I was a little wistful 😦 But here is your beautiful post! Thank you.
I sure hope you’ll share where you like to source some of the oils at, especially if online.
I make my own shower oils using stuff like macadamia oil and jojoba oil, but the prices I get for them are quite high, especially with shipping. I figured I’d be spending about 4x the price of the good quality goat milk soap I buy now and almost exactly the same as my full price L’Occitane french imports.
I’d really like to do this on my own also, it is just the sourcing that has me baffled.
Would love any tips on oil sourcing!
we learned to make soap last summer from tansy. it is a really splendid skill to have! i bought lye yesterday for more batches soon.
i love your swirls.
Robbyn, you can find coconut oil and palm oil in most health food stores and avoid shipping costs. On the west coast for larger quantities, Mountain Rose Herbs carries good organic oils for soap making. Lye is the problem here, I had to order mine from a soap making supply house.
Thanks, Nita 🙂
Hey everyone! Sorry for the delay in responding to comments… we’ve been out of town.
Pricilla, yes, thank you for catching that! It is safer to add the lye to the water and not the other way around. I have done it both ways and not had a problem, but it is possible for the water to heat up too quickly if you pour the water into the lye…
As for sources, Mountain Rose Herbs is a great place to order oils. I’m lucky enough to have a local seller, though, which helps cut down on shipping charges. His info is http://www.pureandsimpleways.com/
And as far as measuring, I have a small digital kitchen scale. It works great!
Hope everyone has fun making soap! I really do want to see pictures and hear what you’ve come up with!