Making homemade soap, instead of buying it commercially produced, lets you create something with all-natural ingredients that you'll use every day and results in some very appealing gifts for friends and family. There are some important things to keep in mind when you make your own soap, but the basic process is fairly simple once you get the hang of it.
Step 1
Line the 9 by 13 cake pan with wax paper. This will be your soap mold when it's ready to pour.
Step 2
Mix the olive oil, coconut oil and grapeseed oil in the large pot and gently heat them on the stove, until they reach 110 degrees F. Be careful not to burn the oils. Use one thermometer to check the temperature, making sure it doesn't reach more than 10 degrees higher than you need it to be.
Step 3
Put the goggles on and be sure the room is well-ventilated. Pour the room-temperature water into the glass measuring cup. While continually stirring with chopsticks, slowly add the lye, being careful not to breathe in the fumes. A chemical reaction will cause this mixture to get hot very quickly; use the other thermometer, and take the temperature of the mixture in the middle of the cup; don't let it rest on the bottom or you'll get a false reading. Watch the thermometer for the lye mixture to cool down to the same temperature as the oil mixture: 110 degrees F. Discard the chopsticks.
Step 4
Pour the hot oil mixture into the large mixing bowl, using a spatula to get it all out of the pot. When both mixtures are at the exact same temperature, pour the lye mixture slowly into the oil mixture, briskly stirring continuously with the electric stick blender in small circles. Once you've finished pouring, keep stirring the mixture with a figure eight motion.
Step 5
Continue to stir the mixture until it becomes the consistency of honey and "traces," which means if you drizzle a bit of it across the top of the rest, it leaves a trail before disappearing. This lets you know that the soap is ready to be poured. Humidity, room temperature and how fast you're stirring the mixture will affect how long the soap takes to trace.
Step 6
Add your own essential oil for fragrance, such as cinnamon oil. Don't use perfumes, extracts or synthetic fragrances, because they contain alcohol, which will affect the soap's ability to set properly.
Step 7
Pour the soap mixture into the mold, and cover the top with a piece of clear plastic wrap. Wrap the mold with heavy towels for 24 hours, which keeps the heat in and encourages the chemical reaction that makes the soap set.
Step 8
Wearing rubber gloves, remove the soap from the mold, and cut it into bars of whatever size soap you like. Place the bars of soap on brown paper and store in a cool place where they won't be disturbed for a month, turning them over after 2 weeks.
Things You'll Need
- 700 ml purified or distilled water
- 270 g or 9 1/4 oz. lye, also known as caustic soda or sodium hydroxide
- 1,125 ml or 4 1/2 cups pomace olive oil, not virgin
- 500 ml or 2 cups coconut oil
- 500 ml or 2 cups grapeseed oil
- 2 candy or meat thermometers
- 9 by 13 cake pan
- Wax paper
- Brown paper
- 2 cup or larger glass measuring cup
- Large stainless steel pot
- Large stainless steel mixing bowl
- Chopsticks
- Plastic spatula
- Safety goggles
- Electric stick blender or whisk
- 10 ml cinnamon oil or other essential oil
- Clear plastic wrap
- Heavy towel
- Knife
- Rubber gloves
- Vinegar
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