The Essential Non-Crafters Guide to Making Soap

I recently completed my first batch of real soap.  Why do I refer to it as real soap? Well, in order to hold that designation, the finished product must be derived by having oils broken down by an alkaline solution. This process creates hydro-carbon chains that pull in the water on one end and dirt on the other.  The key feature on what soap you should be using is found in the ingredients creating those chains. 

My first foray into soap making utilized a pre-made base, which included the alkaline solution called lye. While my end-product was soap, I did not assemble all of the raw ingredients. Instead, I melted down the base, added scents and colors then poured the mixture into molds. It was fun and interesting, but it was more like baking a cake from a box mix versus creating it from scratch. 

Fast-forward to this batch.   In order to create soap from scratch, I would need the following:

• Recipe: Ingredients, ratios, and directions. There are 1000s of recipes and mixtures on the Internet, including hot-process and cold-process versions (more below).  I needed to get a working version
• Ingredients: The main ingredients are oil, lye, and water.  Secondarily, I wanted to add scents and colorants.  These require time to make or planning ahead to purchase.
• Equipment: A stick blender, crockpot, utensils, glass jars, molds, gloves, etc. Whatever you use should likely be kept for future soap making or crafting.  Don’t use your favorite mixer or spatula.
• Directions: All of this is new to me. I needed to determine how to handle the oils and lye. Also, I did not know what to expect during saponification and how to determine when it is “done”.

Hot Process or Cold

I decided to use a hot process, primarily because it would allow me to test my results more immediately after I completed making the soap.  In the hot process, the lye saponifies with the oils by heat. The caustic properties of the lye cook out from the product. In the cold process, additional fats are used in the recipes. The lye breaks down the extra fat and the soap cures with time, not heat, as the fatty acids are broken down by the lye.  This takes time, 4-6 weeks, to complete. Each process has its benefits, adherents, and evangelists.  At some point, my intention is to try both.  For now, I am starting with the hot process, primarily due to curing turnaround.

Recipe

There are 1000s of recipes and crafters out on the Internet blogging about making soap.  On top of that, every farm market and craft show has vendors selling soap, shampoo bars and the like.  They each talk about how their soap is the best because it has this ingredient or follows a certain process. I used Google Sheets to compare various recipes and understand amounts and ratios.  I combined all of this information to create one, master recipe. From this recipe, I was able to accurately calculate the required amounts of oil, lye, water, and fragrances needed to make soap.

Ingredients

Now that I had the amounts I needed, I decided on the oils to use. Information abounds on the properties of different types of oil and the benefits they bring to the end product. This time, I went with coconut, olive, almond and castor oil plus lard.  From my research, I thought this would have the best combination of moisturizing, lather, durability, etc. Next time, I plan to create a spreadsheet of all of the oils. That will allow me to balance the properties and experiment with various combinations. I would like to try jojoba oil, shea butter and cocoa butter in future versions.

• 

• 

As for the other ingredients, I bought distilled water at the grocery.  I could not find lye in a store. I ordered a food grade Sodium Hydroxide on Amazon that worked very well in my recipe.

Now, I had all of the main components for the soap. That left me with options to scent and color my final product. I decided to scent with lavender, rosemary, and tea tree oil. All three of these herbs soothe skin and contain anti-inflammatory properties.  Tea tree oil is available at the drug store, while I raise rosemary and lavender at home. I harvested some of each, dried it and put it in a glass jar with oil to fuse.  After a couple of days, I blended those ingredients and filtered it through cheesecloth.  Then, I added more fresh cuttings and repeated the process. I was well pleased with the results. Finally, for the colorant, I used spirulina to provide the nice, green color. This naturally derived algae hydrates skin and may be purchased online or in health food stores.

Equipment

To make soap, you will need the following materials: A crockpot, stick blender, digital scale, scrapers, wooden spoon, glass jars, and molds.  My first trip was to St. Vincent de Paul.  I was able to pick up the blender, glass mold, and utensils for $8. Nice. I bought an Ozeri Digital Kitchen and Food Scale on Amazon.  If you are going to make soap, you must have a digital scale. This one is very simple to use and performed admirably.  All in, the equipment I bought for the job was < $30 and now occupies part of a shelf in my garage, expressly for soap making.

The “Hot” Process

Now, I was ready to go. I assembled the ingredients and measured them out using the digital scale.  First, I put all of the oils into the crock pot and began the melting process.  Next, I mixed the lye into the distilled water.  Lye gets hot and is potentially caustic, so the mixing should be done outside in a well-ventilated area using safety goggles and long sleeves. While those two mixtures are starting to work, I assembled my scents and colorant.

• 

Once all of the oils melt, I add the lye and set my timer for 1 hour.  Using the stick blender, the mixture changes from translucent oil to an opaque, gravy look.  From there, the mixture will heat and bubble up.  I stay close by and stir as the mixture rises.  After about 20 minutes, the mixture starts to look like applesauce.  In another 20 minutes, it begins to look like mashed potatoes. At this point, I was close to completing my soap recipe. I pulled out my pH strips to test.  After a couple of tests, the pH indicated neutral and the soap was complete.  

• 

• 

• 

I let it cool for 5 minutes (which I think was a mistake) before adding the scents and colorant. I struggled to incorporate the additives. Plus, the tea tree oil almost asphyxiated me.  Once incorporated, I quickly got it into the molds and moved to a cool, dry place to cure for a day or so.  The longer you let it cure the more it will harden.  At that point, you are free to start using your new soap.

3 Compelling Reasons to Make Your Own Soap from Scratch

First, I am not a crafter but I love to bake. Making soap engages many of the same creative juices that baking does.  I really enjoy planning what I would like to include, assembling the ingredients I want, then creating the product with my hands by following the process. You utilize both sides of your brain plus your hands to arrive at your final product.

Second, I find that tackling a project provides a great feeling of accomplishment. I find it mentally stimulating to take an idea from a concept to creating the new outcome. It is just soap, but it is my soap and I enjoy that feeling.  I created it and now I can share with everyone out there. If you think you might also, I hope you can leverage this script to create your own. 

Third, I love using a product every day that I know 100% safe. The ingredients are pure and I know how it was made. I started buying natural soap over a year ago and I have enjoyed using the natural product versus mass-produced soap or beauty bars. Now, creating my own is a simple extension of lowering chemicals and enjoying naturally derived products.

Takeaways for Next Time?

The melt and pour batch of soap was a good exercise to generate a baseline for this more advanced process.  In addition to that exercise, I performed a great deal of research prior to making this batch from scratch. The research ensured I had everything laid out and I knew what to expect. Until you go through the process, you will be a bit stressed.  The biggest stressor is introduced when trying to determine when the soap is done.  I highly recommend knowing the cooking stages and having pH strips in hand. This made it as stress-free as possible. 

The cooking process went well.  Adding scents and colors needs improvement. I let the mixture cool too long and it became difficult to mix and get into molds. I also used too much tea tree oil. When using a strong scent, I would encourage you to lower the ratio compared to the other scents. Also for next time, I plan to look for two big molds versus using individual bar molds. The individual molds took too long to fill and got messy (as you may notice in the picture above).

All in, the outcomes from the first batch of soap from scratch have pleased me very much. The early feedback from my beta users has been very positive. They enjoy the way it lathers and they love the scent of the soap in use.  The tea tree oil may have been a bit strong during the making but stands up well when using.  

If you would like a bar to sample, leave a note in the comments and subscribe and I will get a bar out to you.  Stay clean!