In the past two years, I've had a lot of fun experimenting with making soap. The goal was natural, inexpensive soap, and customized, useful gifts. I've made it ten or twelve times now, and have gotten very comfortable even though I'm often winging it. (Not when it comes to the lye of course! And if lye is keeping you from trying it out, here is a good post for you!)
Making soap is basically adding lye to water, adding that to oil, and mixing until it reaches 'trace,' or thickens and leaves a faint trail when you drizzle it over itself. Then you pour and cut it! There are many ways to spice it up, but it can be as simple as you like. Most recipes I have used call for 1-3 oils, though traditional recipes use 5-7 with different properties. I find the simpler ones to be just as effective and it's less to keep on hand.
The first I ever made was Pure Coconut Oil Soap, a nice, hard, very sudsy bar. I've made Sea Mud Soap and Gentle Soap for Babies from the same website, as well as recipes from elsewhere.
Some favorite add-ins are essential oils (0.5 to 1 oz), clay (for color or skin care), coffee grounds, poppy seeds, oatmeal, or sprinkling dried calendula or lavender flowers on the surface of the setting soap. An easy way to add a little something is to infuse your water with herbs (tea, really) before adding the lye - just make sure it has cooled completely. Here is a popular lye calculator if you are trying out a new recipe or formulating your own. Bramble Berry is a popular resource with lots of neat ideas, and Soaper's Choice is where I get oil (for soap and cooking!).
Although I hadn't made soap from scratch at the time, my family had the chance to visit an ancient soap factory in Sidon, Lebanon, 5 years ago. Their olive oil soap was stacked in large towers for air circulation in its long curing and drying stage. I didn't take a picture, but here is one from the museum.
Making soap is basically adding lye to water, adding that to oil, and mixing until it reaches 'trace,' or thickens and leaves a faint trail when you drizzle it over itself. Then you pour and cut it! There are many ways to spice it up, but it can be as simple as you like. Most recipes I have used call for 1-3 oils, though traditional recipes use 5-7 with different properties. I find the simpler ones to be just as effective and it's less to keep on hand.
The first I ever made was Pure Coconut Oil Soap, a nice, hard, very sudsy bar. I've made Sea Mud Soap and Gentle Soap for Babies from the same website, as well as recipes from elsewhere.
Some favorite add-ins are essential oils (0.5 to 1 oz), clay (for color or skin care), coffee grounds, poppy seeds, oatmeal, or sprinkling dried calendula or lavender flowers on the surface of the setting soap. An easy way to add a little something is to infuse your water with herbs (tea, really) before adding the lye - just make sure it has cooled completely. Here is a popular lye calculator if you are trying out a new recipe or formulating your own. Bramble Berry is a popular resource with lots of neat ideas, and Soaper's Choice is where I get oil (for soap and cooking!).
Although I hadn't made soap from scratch at the time, my family had the chance to visit an ancient soap factory in Sidon, Lebanon, 5 years ago. Their olive oil soap was stacked in large towers for air circulation in its long curing and drying stage. I didn't take a picture, but here is one from the museum.
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