Make Home-Made Soap
Source: Cole Brothers
Soap - Introduction
How Soap is made
Soap is made by mixing lye and water with fats or oil. Through a complex
chemical reaction lye which is also called sodium hydroxide (a base) converts
Fats or Oil (an acid) to soap. This process is called saponification.
How Soap Cleans
Soap cleans by acting as an agent between water and dirt. Soap allows the
water to wet the surface that is being cleaned better. In addition, soap grabs dirt
and connects it to the water. Soap basically grabs dirt or grease and allows
water in to wash it away. This may be an over simplification of the process but it
is accurate.
Soap does more than just clean. The soap you make using this online guide will
contain at least 25% pure glycerin. Glycerin draws moisture to the skin, soothing
and lubricating its cells. Most soap sold in stores has had its glycerin removed
and sold back to the consumer in other skin care products. Also, most store
soaps are actually petrochemical-based detergents, which are good cleansers
but are harsh on the skin.
Soap – Good Reasons To Make Soap
Here are some of those characteristics as well as some other good reasons to
make your own soap:
• Lye soap is gentle.
• The quality of soap that is made at home can easily surpass store bought soap for
considerably less money.
• With homemade soap you get exactly what you want. You can scent, color or make the
bars all natural if that is your preference.
• Depending on the ingredients used, home made soap bars can easily outlast their
commercial counterparts.
• Lye soaps have a 'creaminess' that just can't be duplicated by any of the soaps you find in
stores. Lye soap is wonderful on your skin. The making of lye soap causes it to produce a
large amount of natural glycerin as a by-product. This is stripped off in commercial bar soap
production and sold for other commercial uses like lotions, but in homemade soaps the
glycerin is left in the soap.
• Lye soap can be used to clean just about everything. . There's nothing you can't use it on.
By the way, ever get engine grease on your hands while working on a car? Give lye soap a
try! Saddle soap is simply lye soap, so it's good for leather too.
• Soapmaking is fun and creative. Bars of custom soap make great gifts for friends and
family.
• If you wish you can produce soap for profit. Soapmaking is a good barter able skill which
can easily be turned into a profitable business.
• Soap making is easy!
Soap – Safely Working With Lye (NaOH)
NaOH / Lye is one of the key ingredients in the production of soap. Through a
chemical reaction it converts oils and fats to what we know as soap. Lye is
also one of the key ingredients in drain openers such as Drano and liquid
plumber because of its unique ability to convert greasy buildup into a soluble
substance thus clearing a clogged line. Lye should be handled in the same
way that drains cleaner, bleach or pool chemicals would be handled. If
mishandled it can be a dangerous chemical and can cause harm to you and
others. If handled correctly these kinds of problems can be avoided. There
is no reason why accidents involving lye cannot be completely avoided.
You can substantially reduce your chances of ever having an accident by
remembering three things.
1. Never pour water into lye. Always pour lye into the water. (Slowly) If you
pour water onto lye it can cause a violent reaction.
2. Secondly, be careful not to splash or spill the lye solution.
3. Keep lye out of the reach of children.
Soap – Ingredients
Oil or Fats - Almost any natural oil or animal fat can be
turned into soap.
Lye (NaOH - Sodium Hydroxide) - This is the ingredient
that converts the oil or fat to soap.
Water - Preferably distilled water or bottled water.
Minerals in hard tap water aren't good for
soapmaking.
Essential and Fragrance Oils - These are not required,
but can add a nice fragrance to your soap.
Soap Colorants – To color the soap.
Other additives - Oatmeal, spices, herbs etc can also be
added to soap at the trace stage.
Soap – Equipments
• Pair of safety goggles and a long sleeve shirt or
coveralls. (Important)
• Pair of Neoprene rubber gloves or dish washing
gloves.
• Half gallon Rubbermaid type pitchers (dishwasher
safe) one for water, one for lye
• Sturdy plastic stirring spoons, one for oils, one for
lye/water mix.
• Glass (not aluminum) candy thermometers.
• Large enameled or stainless pot to melt oils in. (16 qt.
would work). (Do not use aluminum pots, only
stainless steel or enameled.)
• Old blanket, preferably wool. (For insulating molds
after pouring)
• Kitchen food scale or postal scale.
• Saran type food wrap. (For lining molds)
• Molds
• Stick Blender is optional (creates a faster trace) or
Standard Kitchen Blender with lid and Towel
Soap – Method
Step one - Prepare your molds. Molds can be anything
from a greased pan to capped PVC pipes or candy
molds. Set up your molds on a flat and level
surface. Grease them with PAM. Make sure you
have enough molds ready to accommodate all of your
soap mix
MOLDS: For molds you can use a wooden or cardboard
box lined with saran wrap, candy molds or even a
PVC pipe capped on one end. If you use a PVC pipe
all you do is spray the inside with PAM, pour the
solution into the pipe, and let it set, and then uncap
and push out the soap. You then can cut it into round
pieces.
Soap – Method
Step Two - Measure out your water and lye. Dissolve the
correct amount of lye in cold water (Do not use an
aluminum container. Use stainless steel; enamel
coated steel or a heat resistant glass container like
Pyrex). Do not pour water into the lye. Pour the lye
slowly into the water a little at a time. Stir until
dissolved and let cool. Your previously cold water will
become very HOT in a matter of seconds after stirring
in the lye Allow the lye/water solution to cool to around
43oC. At this point it will be clear.
Soap – Method
Step Three - Measure, Mix and Melt Oils and fat and let
cool gradually to around 43oC. If your oils are already
in liquid form such as palm oil, coconut oil, canola oil
or corn oil simply heats them up to around 43oC.
Make sure the pot that the oil is in is large enough to
hold the oil and lye solution with enough room left
over for stirring without splattering. If you wish you
can use a separate container for mixing the oil and
lye. In this case you would pour the warmed oil into
this container prior to step 4.
Soap – Method
Step Four - Pour the lye solution into the oil/fat in a thin,
steady, stream with slow, even stirring. Be careful not
to splatter the solution onto yourself or others.
Continue stirring. Depending upon the type of oil you
are using the solution will begin to thicken or trace in
between 15 minutes to 3 hours. If you are using a
slow trace recipe you may want to stir for a few
minutes and then let the solution sit for 10-15 minutes
and then repeat this process until a trace appears. (A
trace is when you can take a spoonful of the soap
solution and pour a stream across the top of the
solution and have it leave a trace)
Soap – Method
Step Five - When the solution begins to thicken you can
add any essential oils or fragrances as well as any
other additives that your recipe calls for. (I.e.
Oatmeal, herbs etc...) Stir these ingredients into the
soap mix thoroughly.
Step Six - Pour this mixture into your mold or
molds. After you pour the solution into your mold you
should cover it with a towel to keep the soap from
cooling to fast. This will assist the soap in curing.
Step Seven - Let the soap harden for a day or two and
then pop it out of the mold, cut it and let it age for
about 3 weeks before using it.
Soap – Making in Blender
Although using a blender does not allow for big batches
of soap, it has four major advantages:
• Blending your soap mix makes for a much shorter
time to the thin trace stage. Instead of 15 - 40
minutes, it might require only minutes or even
seconds.
• Since liquid fat and oils can be used at room
temperature, no thermometers are required. For solid
fats simply heat them until they are melted.
• The blender effectively whips the lye water into the
fats producing a much smoother mixture so the
chances of your mix separating are greatly reduced.
• Your soap bars will be creamier in consistency and
should float due to the air that is whipped into the
solution.
(Use small one-pound batches only).
Soap – Making in Blender
Step One - Dissolve the lye in cold water and wait until it
cools and the mixture turns clear.
Step Two - Carefully pour the oil and then the lye/water
solution into the blender. Be careful not to splash or
spill the lye on yourself or others.
Step Three - Lock the blender in position, secure the
cover, place a towel over the top of the blender for
safety, and process at the lowest possible
speed. Make sure you are wearing your goggles
when you process the soap mixture and make sure
the towel is in place to avoid any accidental splashing
of the lye/oil mixture.
Soap – Making in Blender
Stop the blender and check the soap often to watch for
what is called a thin-trace stage. This is when the
soap mixture just begins to thicken. Each time you
stop the blender, wait a few seconds before removing
the cover. Sometimes the soap "burps" when it stops
as trapped air comes to the top. At the thin trace
stage, stop the blender and stir the soap to check for
tracing and to allow bubbles to escape.
Step four - At this point you can add any essential oils,
colorants or fragrances as well as any other
ingredients such as oatmeal or herbs. Blend these in
for a few seconds and then stop the blender.
Step Five - Pour the soap into individual molds. Cover it
with a blanket for insulation. Let the soap set for a day
or two and then after popping it out of the molds cut it
and let it age for at least three weeks.
Soap – Making Liquid Hand Soap in a blender
Making liquid soap is no more difficult than making hard
bars. The difference is in the type of lye you use. For hard
bars you use sodium hydroxide. For liquid soap you use
potassium hydroxide also known as Potash or KOH.
Prepare the same way you would regular bar soap in a blender
except use potassium hydroxide instead of sodium hydroxide
and instead of pouring the solution into a mold you pour it into
a plastic container to cure. (The solution will take a little
longer than regular soap to trace since you are using
potassium hydroxide versus sodium hydroxide.) Once in the
container let the mixture cure for two weeks. After two weeks
thin the mix with water until it is about the consistency of hand
soap. At this point you can add any essential oils or
fragrances you desire. You can use a stick or regular blender
for this step also. After it is mixed pour the soap into a pump
jar type container and you are done.
Soap – Recipes For Blender Process
Two Liquid Soap Recipes
Recipe#1
340 g Palm Oil
170 g Coconut oil
50 g Olive oil
122 g KOH - Potassium hydroxide
250 g Water + 10 cc desired fragrance + desired color
Recipe#2
340 g Soybean oil
80 g Coconut Oil
60 g Palm Oil
60 g Corn Oil
109 g KOH - Potassium hydroxide
230 g Water + 10 cc desired fragrance + desired color
Soap – Recipes For Blender Process
Two Bar Soap Recipes
Favorite Castile I
235 g Olive oil
150 g Coconut oil
100 g Palm oil
74 g NaOH – Sodium hydroxide
210 g Water + 10 cc desired fragrance + desired color
Favorite Castile II
250 Palm oil
140 Coconut oil
100 Corn oil
75.5 g NaOH – Sodium hydroxide
210 g Water + 10 cc desired fragrance + desired color