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Handmade Natural Soap - Basic Recipe

Posted 4 May, 2008 at 8:35pm by Tina Jiang
(Filed under: Soap Making)

I started making bar soaps at home from scratch a few months ago and have become somewhat “obsessed” with soaps, so I finally decided to write about it. “What made you decide to make your own soap?” my friends and coworkers ask. It seems like a strange thing to do, especially in this day and age (and I live in Silicon Valley). Well at first I did it out of curiosity more than anything else. But after I started using my handmade soaps and read more about it, I discovered that they have more benefits than I realized. Until a few months ago, Softsoap or Dial liquid hand soaps and Dove or Olay body washes are what you would find in our home, and it has been that way for a long time. During this last winter season (and previous ones), my skin got really dry and itchy and none of the “intensive moisture” body washes I tried helped. Then I started using my handmade soaps, and the itching stopped and the dryness improved significantly. The soaps had nice lather even with our hard water, didn’t sting Michael’s eyes when he washed his face, and rinsed clean quickly unlike the body washes that left a film on the skin. I gave some to my parents, Michael’s parents, coworkers, and friends, and everyone liked them.

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The more I read about soap making, the more I realized that simple and natural soaps are much better than commercial soaps. Commercial soaps (liquid and bar) contain chemicals that may be harmful in the long run (some people are out right sensitive to them) and synthetic detergents (e.g. sodium laureth/lauryl sulfate or ammonium lauryl sulfate) that clean too well, leaving skin dry and itchy. Commercial soap manufacturing also takes out the glycerin (moisturizer) from the soap and sells it to cosmetics manufacturers for more profit. Natural soaps retain the glycerin and are generally milder (mine are pH 7), whereas commercial soaps are generally more alkaline (pH 10) with the exception of Dove (pH 7). I don’t think I’ll ever go back now that I’ve used handmade natural soaps. There are soaps on the market that are made with wholesome ingredients, e.g. look in the natural beauty section at Longs Drugs, or check out Whole Foods or local health food stores, or go online - there are many soap makers (individuals & families) selling handmade natural soaps.

I learned how to make soap with the “Everything Soapmaking Book” by Alicia Grosso. It’s an excellent book for the beginner soap maker. I followed the basic recipe in this book which uses the following ingredients and yields ~2 lbs of soap:

Note: these are weight, not volume measurements
6 oz distilled water
2.25 oz lye (sodium hydroxide)
10 oz olive oil
6 oz coconut oil
1 tbl/0.45oz castor oil

If you are wondering “do i have to use lye,” the answer is: No Lye = No Soap. Lye reacts with the oils to form soap and glycerin - there is no lye left in the soap if the recipe is formulated properly. In fact many soap recipes are “superfatted”, i.e. include a bit more oil to a) ensure all the lye is neutralized, and b) increase the lathering, moisturizing, or other properties of the soap (depending on the oil added). The castor oil in the above recipe is for superfatting the soap and boosting lather. Lye is not only used in soap making but also in many bath and beauty products such as toothpaste, mouthwash, deodorant, skin care products, etc. Go to Drugstore.com and do a search for sodium hydroxide, and you’ll see a long list of common products that contain this ingredient.

Now that I’ve made a number of batches of soap, I can tell you that as long as appropriate precautions are taken (explained below), it is safe to work with lye. So where do you get lye? If you have a Lowe’s near by, that would be the easiest - find “Roebic 2lb Heavy Duty Drain Opener”. Before you freak out on the drain opener part, let me explain that this product is 100% sodium hydroxide and therefore is ok to use in soap making. It comes in tiny little beads of snowy white color. I’ve read from other soap making sites that Ace Hardware also carries a “Rooto” brand drain opener that is 100% lye as well. If you don’t have either of these stores nearby, you can buy lye online - do a search for “buy sodium hydroxide”. Please don’t use crystal Drano or any other drain opener because they contain additional ingredients such as aluminum bits and/or other chemicals that definitely shouldn’t be in your soap!

For olive oil you can use any kind but the color of the soap will vary. Extra virgin olive oil is usually greenish yellow, so the soap will take on that color as well. Extra light olive oil is usually lighter and your soap will be whiter as a result. Coconut oil is a staple ingredient in soap recipes - it contributes lather and hardness to the soap. It can be found in health food stores, Whole Foods, or Walmart (in the vitamins/supplements section), and is usually in solid form below 76 degrees. Castor oil can be found in drug stores and Walmart. You can also use other plant-based oils in soap making, such as soy bean oil (common vegetable oil), canola oil, corn oil, peanut oil, sweet almond oil, Crisco, or animal fats such as tallow (beef fat) and lard (pork fat), but the amount of lye required will change depending on the oil. There are lye calculators online so people can make their own recipes, but for first time soap makers it’s better to follow the recipe exactly (make no substitutions). I will discuss lye calculation and soap recipe formulations at another time.

The tools you will need are:
- safety goggles to protect your eyes
- thick rubber gloves to protect your hands and arms from the lye (wear long sleeve shirt, long pants, and socks if possible so none of your skin is exposed in case there’s a splash/spill)
- a good scale for weighing the water, lye, and oils. it should measure down to 0.25 oz, and preferrably have a “tare” function which allows you to reset the reading to 0 after putting a container on the scale, or after you add each ingredient so you have a clean reading of how much of the next ingredient you are adding
- a instant read digital food thermometer to measure the temperature of the lye water, oils, and the soap mixture
- two heat proof 4 cup/32 oz glass measuring cups (e.g. Pyrex or Anchor brands), one for the lye & water solution, the other for the oils
- plastic, ceramic, or glass bowl for measuring the lye
- plastic or silicone spoon for stirring (wood is not recommended because lye will “eat” it away over time)
- stick/hand blender or stainless steel whisk (if you use the whisk be ready for a good arm work out)
- small cardboard box or plastic container to pour the soap into
- plastic bag, plastic food wrap, or wax/freezer/parchment paper for lining the container so the soap is easy to remove
- knife for cutting the soap after it solidifies

Caution: do NOT use nonstick, aluminum, cast iron, or tin pots/pans, containers, or utensils because they will react badly with lye and ruin both the soap and the tool. Also wood is not recommended for repeated use because over time the wood will eventually break down from coming into prelonged contact with lye.

The instructions for this basic recipe is for cold process soap making, which doesn’t require cooking the soap after mixing the oils and lye water together. This method takes less time while making the soap, but requires longer curing time (3-4 weeks minimum) before the soap becomes neutral and mild enough to use. In contrast, the hot process involves cooking the soap mixture in a stock pot or double boiler for a few hours which speeds up the neutralization process but also takes longer to make the batch. I’ve done both and each has it’s pros and cons. I’ll discuss hot process at another time.

At a high level, cold process soap making is pretty simple - mix lye with water, mix lye water with oils, pour mixture into container, cut solidified soap, and let cure for a few weeks. Below are the detailed steps:

1. line the container with plastic bag/wrap or wax/freezer/parchment paper
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2. put on your protective gear - goggles and gloves
3. weigh the lye - pour 2.25 oz of lye into the bowl
4. weigh the water - pour 6 oz of distilled water into one of the glass measuring cups
5. pour the lye into the water slowly and stir to dissolve - this generates a lot of heat and will give off fumes (just stand back a bit or hold your breath while stirring). Never pour water into lye as this will cause a strong reaction and the splash/eruption can incur serious injuries. Set aside the lye water to cool. You can reduce the amount of cooling time by sitting the measuring cup in a cold water bath in the sink, or by freezing the distilled water into ice cubes beforehand, which also seems to reduce the fumes generated when lye is added.
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4. weigh the oils - scoop out 6 oz of coconut oil into the other glass measuring cup, follow with 10 oz of olive oil, and 1 tbl/0.45 oz of castor oil. Melt the oils in the microwave - start with 1 min, then 30 second increments if needed. Avoid overheating the oils because it will take longer for the oil to cool than the lye water.
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5. measure the temperature of the lye water and the oils - if they are within 20 degrees (usual range is 90-110 degrees), then it’s ok to proceed. For small batches such as this recipe, it’s better to work at the higher end of the temperature range. If the oils have cooled down too much, you can warm it up a bit in the microwave - use 30 second increments and avoid overheating.

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6. pour the lye water slowly and carefully into the oil while stirring. measure temperature of the mixture.
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7. use the stick blender or the whisk to stir the soap mixture until it reaches a thin pudding or gravy like consistency - when you lift the stick blender/whisk out of the soap mixture, the drippings should leave patterns on the surface of the mixture instead of disappearing completely. Another way to confirm the soap mixture has “traced” is to check it’s temperature - if it has risen a couple of degrees Fahrenheit, you are there (this is a great tip from the book “Smart Soapmaking” by Anne L. Watson). The stick blender will take a few minutes if not seconds (depending on the power of the blender), the whisk might take up to an hour if you have weak arms like mine.
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8. pour the soap mixture into lined container, cover with plastic wrap. let it sit for 2 days.
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9. 2 days later, check the soap with your goggle and gloves on (because the lye is not fully neutralized yet and may cause some skin irritation). if all went well, it should look solid and relatively smooth. take it out of the container and cut into bars with a stainless steel knife. if the lye water separated out of the soap mixture and is floating on top, or if the soap is crumbly or has shiny crusts - something went wrong and it’s lye heavy - do not use. I’ve only read about these issues, since I haven’t had a single batch of lye heavy soap having followed the recipe exactly.
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10. cure - let dry for 3-4 weeks, turning daily to ensure even drying on all sides.
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Store soaps in a ventilated container and use within a year or six months in hot areas. Because this recipe is all natural and doesn’t have any preservatives, the soaps will go bad eventually. Hopefully they’ll get used up so quickly or given away as gifts that you’ll never find out what soap gone bad is like :)!

To clean up after making soap, with your goggles and gloves on (because the soap mixture is not yet neutral), wipe everything down with towel/paper towel then wash with dishwashing liquid and warm water.

There’s a lot more I want to share about soap making, e.g. adding scents and color, recipe variations, trouble shooting, etc. But I think my first blog entry is long enough… Let me leave you with a humorous read about “the love of soap” from the Dilbert blog:

http://dilbertblog.typepad.com/the_dilbert_blog/2007/06/for_the_love_of.html

Update:
I wrote a second article on making soaps in the round with a marble pattern: http://www.orthogonalthought.com/blog/index.php/2008/06/handmade-soap-in-the-round/

and a third article on making soaps in a slow cooker (the soap is usable right away): http://www.orthogonalthought.com/blog/index.php/2008/06/handmade-soap-using-a-slow-cooker-hot-process/

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61 comments to Handmade Natural Soap - Basic Recipe

Corinne, May 7th, 2008 at 7:07 am:

  • This is the coolest thing ever! Trying to become self-sufficient in a world where you can buy EVERYTHING is hard… learning to make things from scratch is awesome, especially when you learn how easy it is!

Maria, May 7th, 2008 at 4:58 pm:

  • My Mom experimented alot with soapmaking when we were younger. The bars really do last forever when you compare them to any other bar on the market, you just end up missing the convenience of liquid soap. My mom would get huge bags of beef tallow from a butcher for pennies a pound and would render it all down. Now THAT will make you a cheap bar of soap! We had so much fun picking different scents and fillers (baby oatmeal was popular)! I will definitely be looking for a follow up blog, you may have just inspired me to get into soapmaking again! I think I’ve read the book you mention, too. Very informative, if I remember. The most fun books are the ones full of pictures though, they can give you so many creative ideas!

Maria, May 7th, 2008 at 5:05 pm:

  • Oh, one thing I didn’t see mentioned (perhaps I missed it) is once a tool is used for soapmaking, or more specifically if it comes into contact with the lye or young soap, it shouldn’t be used for any other purpose. That goes for glass and metal as well. Lye is powerful stuff and you really don’t want to risk accidentally ingesting traces of it. Thought I should throw that out there for anyone feeling ’soapy’!

Tina Jiang, May 7th, 2008 at 9:00 pm:

  • Corinne,
    It’s a lot of fun making soap from scratch, and I get so much satisfaction from using what I made with my own hands and giving it to others to enjoy. I hope you give it a try ;-)!

    Maria,
    I do hope you pick up soapmaking again! Oatmeal soap was very popular with my testers also (I mean friends, family, and coworkers :). I love trying different scents (have a lot of fruity and floral ones waiting to be tested) and experimenting with colors… I’ll be writing about that for sure. I haven’t made soaps with tallow yet since it’s harder for me to get than plant oils (and I’m too lazy to render the fat :-P), but I have promised a couple of friends who are bacon lovers that I’d make bacon soaps for them… LOL.

    I’m still a beginner soap maker, so as I continue to learn and experiment I’ll definitely be sharing more info with everyone. I agree pictures are awesome - I can’t seem to get tired of looking at beautiful soaps in books or on the internet… that’s when I decided I must have developed an obsession :-D!

    Good point on using separate tools for soap making vs. cooking. Safety first always! Thanks for pointing that out!

Dr Bubbles, May 8th, 2008 at 2:49 am:

  • your a nut! spend 50cents on a bar of Ivory. save weeks of dangerous hassles…..ahduhhh!

Jen, May 8th, 2008 at 1:09 pm:

  • I think this will definitely be something to try this summer. I have an organic respirator, so I think I’ll wear that instead of holding my breath during the fumes.

Elizabeth, May 10th, 2008 at 3:28 am:

  • I have been making soap for more than 11 years. I love it!!! There is nothing like kitchen chemistry to fill a day with fun and excitement.

    Dr. Bubbles, you have no idea what Ivory does to the skin. If you pay attention to your skin, you will find that ivory soap will leave a film of drying detergent. If you do any research you will find that sodium tallowate — the chemical salt that is created from combining lye with tallow — comes from the old oil that is picked up from places like McDonnald’s and other fast food joints. Hmmmm… seems to me I don’t want to wear my frechfries.

    Tina, you might want to look online for some lye calculators. They will make your life so much easier. Also, I would suggest branching out to other oils. I have found that a combination of coconut oil, cocoa butter and olive oil make an extremely hard bar of soap as well as fast tracing as well.

    If you are interested in learning to make goat milk soap, feel free to email me :)

    *HUGS*

    Elizabeth

raymund, May 10th, 2008 at 3:40 am:

  • wow, its very informative,. i like the way it was done but i need an easy and affordable materials yet it was educational. more power and GOD BLESS!

Joal Heagney, May 10th, 2008 at 4:10 am:

  • In response to Maria’s comment about liquid soaps, the early soaps were liquid rather than solid. Instead of using soda lye, households would collect the ash from their cooking fires and soak them in water in order to collect the “pot-ash” lye. (KOH rather than NaOH)

    The soaps made using this alternative lye were often very soft or outright liquid, and were either used as-is, as a liquid cleaner, or were “hardened” by the addition of salt to the recipe, replacing the potassium ions with sodium ions.

    For a really strong (but extremely caustic) cleaner, the potash lye was also used straight onto surfaces. A more moderate modern cleaner is good old baking soda, which is a bicarbonate rather than a hydroxide. It’ll still cut through fat though (Excellent on greasy fry pans). Not entirely certain if you could make soap with it however.

deez, May 10th, 2008 at 8:10 am:

  • Very interesting reading, but all this talk about wearing goggles and gloves and long sleeves in order to not get lye on you….and no mention of what to do/what happens if you DO?

    I only know what I recall from that movie “Fight Club” and I think he poured vinegar (an acid) on it to neutralize the strongly alkaline lye.

Michael Chu, May 10th, 2008 at 11:46 am:

  • Elizabeth,

    Although sodium tallowate can be made from waste oils, it’s unlikely that a company the size of P&G would do so because of several factors - P&G can negotiate with cattlemen/slaughterhouses to either get raw beef fat or rendered tallow at low rates with reasonable expectations of quality without having to deal with the filtration of waste frying oil. Waste frying oil will also vary drastically in chemical composition depending on how long the oil was used before discarding, what was fried in it, and the original oil composition. When making a commercial product, most corporations aim for consistency and uniformity of product - you don’t want to buy Ivory in January and another bar in August to find them of different colors, odor, or texture. It’s off-putting to the customer, so companies who can afford to do so, generally use virgin oils and fats to manufacture goods. Quality levels are easier to maintain that way.

Adam Seale, May 10th, 2008 at 9:57 pm:

  • As if it needs repeating (and it does),
    don’t mess around with the lye.

    In the event of a lye spill (or any other strong base), treat it as you would an acid spill in the lab.

Adam Seale, May 10th, 2008 at 10:04 pm:

  • That is to say, yes, vinegar (which contains dilute acetic acid) would be a good choice, immediately preceding a trip to a doctor.

    Anyway, I do like the idea of home soap making. Natural bars seem to be a good step above the average store-bought brands.

    Maybe someone should find a chemical that would have the same effect as raw sodium hydroxide (I’m not sure if it’s the simple pOH increase or some reaction involving the NaOH itself that’s at work here), but would bond it with some other chemical to make it inert until used.

Michael Chu, May 11th, 2008 at 12:19 am:

  • Adam’s right, but anyone who is able to concentrate on a task and be careful shouldn’t let the lye part dissuade them from attempting this. If you took high school chemistry, you’ve probably worked with sodium hydroxide before - just remember that you were careful then, so be careful now. I think a lot of accidents happen to people because they get distracted or aren’t really present (mentally) when they’re doing things. I see this in the kitchen all the time - people don’t have their mis en place, are chopping up veggies while something is already burning on the stove, and changing a baby’s diaper at the same time. If you know you’re going to be attempting soapmaking in that state of mind, then I think it’s not a good idea. Otherwise, understand that lye is a strong base and will produce chemical burns and pay attention when you’re working with it. No problem, right?

Heather, May 11th, 2008 at 7:34 pm:

  • That is just awesome we have often talked about making our own soap cant wait for the different smellie ones lol thanks so much

mypraise, May 11th, 2008 at 11:50 pm:

  • It’s an interesting article. I would like to try it at my free time.
    you have suggested ” safety goggles to protect your eyes and thick rubber gloves to protect your hands and arms from the lye (wear long sleeve shirt, long pants, and socks if possible so none of your skin is exposed in case there’s a splash/spill)” you covered almost everything but you did mention something to cover the nose, mouse and cheecks, isn’t it need a mask or something to protect them also?

Jen, May 12th, 2008 at 11:23 am:

  • I just found lye crystals at my local hardware store and the MSDS sheet states the concentration of NaOH is 95 to 100 %. I take this to mean that it’s meant to be all sodium hydroxide lye, but there might sometimes be incomplete reactions in the production. Think I should be concerned about that up to 5%?

    For the Canadians, this is “Free Flowing Lye Crystals” sold at Home Hardware, and the MSDS sheet is available through their website, Home Hardware (HH) product # 3226-431. Thought I’d put it out there, since I don’t think Roebic and Rooto are sold where I live.

Tina Jiang, May 12th, 2008 at 1:25 pm:

  • Dr Bubbles,
    My husband likes cooking from scratch, and I like making soap from scratch… see any similarities here :)? I’m not saying everyone should make soap, but personally for me it’s a lot of fun, and there’s the added benefit of having an usable/practical end product :)!

    Jen,
    You may want to try freezing the distilled water into ice cubes then supplement with additional water to get the right amount of liquid. This is actually the method I prefer since it greatly reduces the amount of fume generated while mixing the lye as well as the time it takes the lye water to cool down. Just make sure to pour the lye into the ice cube/water mixture slowly and stir well, so you don’t end up with a lump/crust of lye sitting at the bottom of the container (which takes more work to break up - speaking from experience :).

    With regards to the “Free Flowing Lye Crystals”, I think the safest thing to do is to call the manufacturer and ask them if there’s anything else in it other than lye. I wouldn’t take the chance of having the 5% of unknown ingredient(s) in the soap…

    Elizabeth,
    Nice to meet a veteran soap maker :)! Yes I’ve been using lye calculators and tried recipes using different oils - in fact this is the topic of my next post (soon I hope:). I made cow milk soap once and people really liked it! I’d love to try making goal milk soap next and will be emailing you for tips and advice :).

    Raymund,
    I plan to write about creating your own soap recipes using different oils and using online lye calculators in the next post - stay tuned! In the mean time, please check out this recipe using vegetable shortening which is more economical than olive and coconut oils: http://waltonfeed.com/old/soap/soapgwil.html. The Waltonfeed soap page is a good resource for beginner soapmakers: http://waltonfeed.com/old/soaphome.html. Another good resource is Kathy Miller’s site: http://millersoap.com. For online lye calculator try Majestic Mountain Sage: http://thesage.com/calcs/lyecalc2.php

    Joal,
    I’m not a chemist, but from what I read - soap cannot be made with baking soda. However, for those who are interested :), baking soda does make an effective and very affordable “microdermabrasion” facial scrub. Just mix with a little bit of water and gently message onto skin in circular motions, then rinse off with water. Note: it might sting sensitive or inflamed skin, so use personal judgment and remember to be gentle.

    Deez and mypraise,
    I’ve seen different advices on what to do if you get lye on the skin - some say pour vinegar over it, while others say it’s better to just rinse with cold water. I’ve made a number of batches of soaps and haven’t had this happen, so (fortunately) I don’t have any personal experiences to share. However I do think it’s prudent to seek medical attention immediately if a burn occurs. I know lye seems very scary (if it wasn’t for the fear of lye, I would’ve started soap making a long time ago), but given how many people have done this at home and from my personal experiences, I can tell you that it’s safe to make soap when you take proper precautions.

    Regarding protection of the rest of the face - it is a good idea, but in my opinion it’s not necessary. I wear goggles because I don’t want to take chances with my eyes, even though I don’t like it since it fogs up often and is uncomfortable. But for me the inconvenience of wearing a face mask outweighs the benefit of protection in the unlikely event that I get splashed. Wearing gloves is a necessity however, because you definitely don’t want your hands to come into contact with lye. Long sleeve shirts, pants, and socks don’t add too much inconvenience so it makes sense to wear them as well. I’m not against more protection, just weighing in practicality. I want to also call out that folks should not be working with lye when you are tired, distracted, or in anyway unable to focus on the task at hand. I only make soap when I’m in a good state of mind to focus on what I’m doing, and that’s the only thing I do during that block of time. This is perhaps one of the best ways to protect yourself from accidents (in addition to wearing goggles and gloves, and following instructions :).

Jen, May 13th, 2008 at 7:46 am:

  • thought I’d follow up regarding the Home Hardware lye crystals, manufactured by CP Industries. Email response:

    Thank you for your interest in our product
    The 5% is natural impurities in the lye. This product is used regularly to manufacture soaps at home.
    Please read the msds carefully as it is material that should demand caution and safe handling.

    Thanks again,
    Keith Lucas

Tina Jiang, May 13th, 2008 at 9:20 am:

  • Oh that’s great - thanks for sharing this information!

Brandon, May 14th, 2008 at 2:18 pm:

  • OWWWWWW!!!!!!!!! Don’t replace sodium hydroxide with hydrochloric acid.

Andrea, May 15th, 2008 at 12:37 am:

  • I’ve always wanted to try this. It’s looks like quite a bit of work but I’m going to give it a go.

michelle, May 16th, 2008 at 1:07 pm:

  • Hello everyone My husband found this page and is wanting to try it out Ive got so experience I’m not sure if you can call it that though the little hobby kits they sell at wal~mart and Michaels. but getting to my quests and remarks I would love to see how to add scents and colors to to the homemade soaps as well as other versions of the recipes(ex cows milk soap). My husband would also like to try this recipe with palm instead of the coconut oil is there any difference in measurements or any different ingredients that should be used? other than that thank you for putting this up finally something me and hubby can do together

Rob, May 19th, 2008 at 4:21 am:

  • Tina my spouse wrote the post right above mine. We tried the recipe yesterday, and boy oh boy…

    First came the running around for the components we did not already have. Walgreens does not carry coconut oil, nor do 3 other shops in my town, but I did find it at GNC, a vitamin and supplement store. Then to Ace hardware for the potentially face melting chemicals. They no longer carry Rooto, but they do carry a product called insta-flow, which is 99% lye with no other active ingredients according to the MDS sheet.

    So to the actual making…
    The lye turned the water black. Not grey, but midnight in a mineshaft black. Coooool.
    I used standard ounces for the coconut oil, and fluid ounces for the olive oil, not that it made much of a difference, as the scale we have appears to have a case of the gremlins, and I ended up kinda eyeballing everything after the lye.

    All in all, I think we may have used too much oil, but the mix did trace and achieve the consistency you mentioned. I currently have it in the mold, where it kinda looks like soap. By Wednesday I should know how it turned out, as that is when I will take it out of the mold. Thank you for the recipe, and if you have any further advice, or suggestions, please let me know.

Jen, May 19th, 2008 at 10:21 am:

  • hey Tina, I was checking my unit conversions and put the recipe as you posted it into the Misty Mountain Sage Lye calculator and it comes out as much more than 4% superfatted… is there some big round off error at some point?

Tina Jiang, May 19th, 2008 at 9:43 pm:

  • Jen,
    I’m glad that you are using the lye calculator to check the recipe. Yes this recipe is ~10% superfatted per the Majestic Mountain Sage lye calculator. Different soapmaking books/sites recommend various superfat (or lye discount, same thing) percentages ranging from 0% to 10%. My guess on why this particular recipe has a higher % of superfat is that the author probably wanted to build in extra buffer since many readers who try this recipe are probably making soap for the firs time, so it’s better to error on the side of having excess oil rather than excess lye. You’ll get an extra mild and moisturizing soap, although the higher amount of excess oil will probably cause rancidity to occur faster. The batch I made turned out very nicely and was used up quickly before it even had a chance to go bad :)! I normally go with 5% superfat and have been pretty happy with the results. I do recommend using the lye calculator to check recipes in books and on web sites before you try them, just to make sure they are not lye heavy (due to typos, etc.) and that the amount of superfat is what you want. Happy soaping!

Tina Jiang, May 19th, 2008 at 11:01 pm:

  • Michelle and Rob,
    I’m glad you are trying soapmaking together :)! To answer your questions:

    Scents are usually added at trace before you pour the soap mixture into the mold. Amount of scent needed varies depending on the strength of the scent as well as personal preference. I don’t like very strong fragrances so I usually use 1-2 teaspoons of fragrance oil for a batch of this size or 1 tablespoon for a batch twice this size. Start with less and you can always add more. Make sure to mix the scent well into the soap mixture before pouring into the mold, otherwise you may get pockets of fragrance oil in the finished soap.

    Colors can be added at various times, depending on the type of colorant used. Some can be mixed into the lye water (e.g. titanium dioxide which makes the soap white), melted into the oil at the beginning (e.g. crayons), or added at trace to create a marble/swirl pattern (e.g. pigments mixed with glycerin then added to a portion of the soap). For the first time, the easiest and most affordable option to try may be crayons, however not all colors will come out true so you’ll have to experiment. I made a batch (twice the size of this recipe) with 1 tablespoon of mandarin orange fragrance oil and a piece of orange crayon (Crayola brand) and it turned out beautifully. Just melt the crayon with a little bit of oil first before you add the other oils.

    Substituting oils – you can use palm oil and not coconut oil, but it makes a different soap due to the different properties of the oils. Palm oil makes a hard bar and so does coconut oil, but in addition coconut oil provides fluffy lather that few other oils do, except palm kernel oil which can be used in place of coconut oil. Coconut oil is obtained from the meat of the coconut from the coconut palm tree, while palm oil and palm kernel oil are obtained from the pulp and kernels of the fruit of the oil palm tree. To make a recipe with palm oil and olive oil, use one of the online lye calculators below to figure out how much lye is needed. I usually go with 5% superfat/lye discount.

    Lye water – something is not right here… the lye water should not be black. My guesses are: 1) the other 1% of inactive ingredients in the insta-flow is causing this. I strongly recommend that you contact the manufacturer to find out what’s in the 1% - you don’t want metals or anything toxic to be in your soap (in fact, I don’t think you should use this batch of soap) and 2) the container used to mix lye water reacted with the lye – what kind of container was it? Glass and stainless steel are ok; nonstick, aluminum, cast iron, or tin are not. If this is the case, please don’t use the soap since it would be toxic due to the reaction between the lye and the metal.

    Weighing the oils – if possible please invest in a new scale. It’s hard to get the right proportions of oils and lye without a good weigh, and you risk using lye heavy soap on the skin or having excess oil oozing out of the soap or fast rancidity.

    Here are some additional online resources for soapmaking:
    - Majestic Mountain Sage lye calculator: http://thesage.com/calcs/lyecalc2.php
    - Soapcalc lye calculator: http://www.soapcalc.com
    - Kathy Miller’s soap site: http://millersoap.com
    - Waltonfeed soap page: http://waltonfeed.com/old/soaphome.html
    - Teach soap site: http://teachsoap.com/
    - About.com Soap Making Central: http://candleandsoap.about.com/od/soapmakingbasics/Soap_Making.htm

    Happy soaping together :)!

Jen, May 20th, 2008 at 8:34 am:

  • Hi Tina,

    I ended up making it yesterday, adjusting the lye to about 6% super fatted. Although it’s looking okay to me right now, I gave up whisking before trace I think (it had been about 2 hours and I was hungry.) Any idea what that’ll mean for my soap? Guess who’s got weak arms? too bad I can’t harness my bicycle legs to do the work.

Tina Jiang, May 20th, 2008 at 10:18 am:

  • Hi Jen,
    When you were mixing did the soap mixture get thicker and more opaque? How does the soap look in the mold right now? Does it look solid or has it separated into layers of oil and lye water? If it’s solid it’s probably ok… next time try using a stick blender (I never hand whisked again after the first batch :-P).

Jen, May 20th, 2008 at 1:27 pm:

  • yes, it thickened and went opaque, just not as thick as I thought it needed to get. it’s looking solid now with no separation, so I guess it’s fine.

    considering I have enough lye for some 40 batches, I think I’ll get the stick blender :P

Michael Chu, May 20th, 2008 at 2:01 pm:

Tina Jiang, May 20th, 2008 at 4:24 pm:

  • Jen - it does sound like your soap is ok :). My first (and only) hand mixed batch didn’t get too thick neither, but turned out nicely. I’ve been using the Cuisinart Smart Stick Hand Blender which has worked well so far. You can find it online or at Bed Bath and Beyond if there’s one near where you live: http://www.bedbathandbeyond.com/product.asp?order_num=-1&SKU=14915265

Betty's Only, May 21st, 2008 at 6:08 pm:

  • I think that your site is very interesting. This will help me to get on the ball for my candle making. I have never made soap, but to my understanding it is very similiar to candle making. I like your pictures and it is hands on. Keep up the good work.

Karrie, May 22nd, 2008 at 8:31 am:

  • Tina~~I’ve been making soap for a few months also–it’s very addicting! The sites and books you’ve mentioned are great, and are ones that I’ve also read/researched. A couple more books that are really good, are Soap Naturally, and the Susan Miller Cavitch books. It’s interesting to research from several sources because although the basics are the same, each person has their own individual way of making soap, and in turn, you develop your own.
    Great blog~~and I wish you Happy Soaping!

michelle, May 23rd, 2008 at 8:17 am:

  • Tina
    My husbands soap thickened up and changed colors there was no separation of the lye nor the oils its the same color as yours is above the only problem we had was getting it out of the mold my husband used. He decided that pvc was the best mold. Needless to say its not and please anyone that is reading this don’t use pvc. I made a batch as well but mine reacted differently then my husbands even though I followed the same steps to a T My batch seemed to set up a lot faster than his it also seemed like my batch produced more heat but I used a microwaveable Tupperware dish for mine instead of the pvc in which he used

michelle, May 23rd, 2008 at 8:23 am:

  • ps Tina the container was a glass measuring cup and a stainless steel whisk to mix. As to the other 1% I’m unsure I know that mine did not turn to black it was like a dark Grey.

Michael Chu, May 23rd, 2008 at 3:57 pm:

  • Every time I’ve seen Tina make soap, the lye water has been clear… I’m a little concerned about all the grey/dark grey/black comments. The lye crystals themselves are white, but after it’s been dissolved into the water it’s clear.

Tina Jiang, May 23rd, 2008 at 8:48 pm:

  • Michelle, try putting the pvc pipe in the freezer for an hour then dip it in very warm water for 30 seconds or longer (with the end covered with plastic wrap and rubber band). I’ve never tried this but some of the soap books I read suggest this method for easier releasing of the soap. I have made soaps in pvc pipes, which were lined with parchment paper I got from Walmart. The paper is longer than the pvc pipe, so after the soap solidified I just grabbed the end of the paper that’s sticking out of the pipe and pulled the whole thing out. This seems to work well every time. Some people coat the inside of the pvc pipes with oil first, which also makes it easier to push the soap out later.

    Also even with the same recipe and steps, every batch is a little different in terms of time to trace, amount of heat generated, etc. I guess the important part is that the soap comes out ok in the end.

    I am concerned about the other 1% ingredient in your lye. I still think you should contact the manufacturer and find out what it is. You don’t want to risk using toxic soap on your skin…

michelle, May 24th, 2008 at 5:55 am:

  • Tina

    Robert is going to contact the company about the lye today or tuesday since hes on vacation to see what they say ill let you know what out come is

Rob, May 28th, 2008 at 5:44 am:

  • I just got the word from the folks who make insta-flo. They confirm that there are no metals in the lye, and what caused the water to turn black was just plain old carbon. Funny thing about that is that my batch cured white.

    Keep in mind with MSD sheets they have to list things like metallic powders. I’m no chemist, but I worked with the sheets when I worked in land surveying and also rock crushing facilities. The idea behind those sheets is to save lives, so while product labels may be a bit confusing, the msd sheets pretty much have to tell the truth.

Claire, May 28th, 2008 at 6:09 am:

  • I made a batch and it hasn’t gotten completely hard after 2 days. Doe’s anyone know anything about rebatching.

Claire, May 28th, 2008 at 6:10 am:

  • I need to know about rebatching. My soap has not hardened after 2 days.

Tina Jiang, May 28th, 2008 at 10:35 am:

  • Rob, I’m glad the lye is ok. It’s good to know about the MSD sheets (I’ve not looked at one before). Enjoy your first batch of soap :)!

    Claire, what consistency is your soap? Is it just soft, or have the oil and lye water separated? If the latter, the soap should not be rebatched and needs to be disposed of. It would be good to know why the soap is not hardening, e.g. excess water/oil, not enough lye, etc..

    Here are some links on rebatching information:
    http://teachsoap.com/rebatch.html
    http://millersoap.com/re.html

Tina Jiang, May 28th, 2008 at 10:42 am:

Carolyn, May 29th, 2008 at 10:38 pm:

  • I have a three year old and “traced” my way to your site after reading about lye, wondering why on earth would we ever use it in soap products. Anyway, this blog is FANTASTIC, I guess I’ll be buying lye after all :) Many thanks to all participants, I hope to share my experiences too soon.

Neerja Singh, June 2nd, 2008 at 1:22 am:

  • Dear Tina,

    Yours is the best, most informative blog I’ve seen on soap-making, thanks a lot.

    I’ll look forward to your future posts because I would love to know how to add exfoliating agents, flowers or ingredients like activated charcoal to make them more interesting and valued as gifts.

sir jorge, June 2nd, 2008 at 3:43 pm:

  • this is nothing like fight club! I’ve missed out for so long.

Loren, June 4th, 2008 at 7:52 am:

  • Excellent article. I’ve often toyed with the idea of making my own soap. This post will be a great reference. Thank you!

Six Neat Things » Blog Archive » Hey!, June 8th, 2008 at 5:21 pm:

  • […] how to make hand made soap. Like from scratch, not melt and […]

linda, June 10th, 2008 at 11:29 am:

  • Tina, what can you tell me about making goat milk soap. Would you have a good beginner recipe? I have goats and lots of milk.

Tina Jiang, June 10th, 2008 at 11:46 am:

Jen, June 12th, 2008 at 11:04 am:

  • I came home from vacation Tuesday and used my freshly cured soap for the first time :D

    I also got a cheap (under $9) stick blender. it’s not very high powered at 150 Watts, but I figure in soap making, it doesn’t have to break up any solids so it ought to do.

Tina Jiang, June 12th, 2008 at 5:12 pm:

  • Awesome! How did you like the soap :)?

Kerri, June 18th, 2008 at 11:08 am:

  • I’ve made soap for years. I don’t and won’t use lye. I use the huge slabs of glycerin, add in oatmeal, olive oil, lavendar, etc. I have done a lot of different add-ins, but really love the oatmeal because I really sensitive skin. Thanks for the article. I really love reading about others that go the distance to create a product at home.

Glenn, July 2nd, 2008 at 6:14 pm:

  • Fantastic ! I followed your directions and whamo, have my first batch drying now :) The only problem I have is waiting, do I HAVE to wait 4 whole weeks ? What could happen if I try a stick in 2 weeks ?

Tina Jiang, July 2nd, 2008 at 9:50 pm:

  • Glenn, you can try it after 2 weeks :). It’s better if you wait 3-4 weeks, i.e. the soap will become milder and longer lasting, but it is usable after 2 weeks. I’ve tried various batches after 2 weeks and they worked fine :).

Glenn, July 17th, 2008 at 5:28 pm:

  • Tina, thanks for the info. turns out the soap is great !!
    Well, one thing. Its a little soft. Im almost done with the batch!
    Between my wife and I we go through 2 bars a week :(
    Is there anything to do on the next batch that will firm the soap up ?

Tina Jiang, July 21st, 2008 at 7:25 pm:

  • Glenn, I’m glad to hear that the soap is great :D! To make a harder bar you can substitute a portion (try 4 oz) of the olive oil with another oil that’s solid at room temperature, e.g. palm oil, palm kernel oil, cocoa butter, lard, or tallow (beef fat), depending on what you can get easily. I don’t recommend increasing the amount of coconut oil since it’s already 38% of the original recipe and too much of it can be drying to the skin. Please use the Majestic Mountain Sage online lye calculator (http://thesage.com/calcs/lyecalc2.php) to get the exact amount of lye needed for each recipe you make. Hope this helps!

Virginia, July 23rd, 2008 at 11:23 am:

  • I didn’t notice that this was mentioned but, you can use Rice Bran Oil in place of Olive Oil and also Canola Oil can be used in place of Olive Oil. I have been making soap for about 8 years and have used both oils as they are more inexpensive than Olive Oil. Do any of you make shampoo bars? I have had dry scalp all my life until I made and tried shampoo bars. They are great.

Rev. Kathryn, July 27th, 2008 at 9:18 pm:

  • This was the most interesting read I’ve had in a long time. I usually get frustrated reading stuff on line and click out of whatever it is I’m reading. For some reason I found your explanations along with the pictures just perfect for keeping my interest. Now I’m sure I can make the kind of soaps I would like to use. I LOVE LOVE LOVE the smell of rosemary, thyme, lemon balm, and sage and would love to make soaps with those herbs in it. I do yearly projects…last year was picking 20 lbs. of blackberries and making freezer jam which I sold. The year before I made natural christmas wreaths, which was fairly lucrative.

    My friend just sent me a juicer…I wonder if I can use it to press oils from my herbs or do I have to get some other contraption that presses oils? Any ideas?

    Why are the last 6 photos missing from your soap making?

    Thanks and many blessings,
    Rev. Kathryn
    Featherstone FMCC

Tina Jiang, July 29th, 2008 at 8:28 pm:

  • Virginia, I recently tried using canola oil in place of olive oil and it worked out well :). In my next blog article I plan to write about making your own recipes using different oils and liquids, using lye calculator, adding colorant and scent, etc.. I’ve made a batch of shampoo bars using olive oil, coconut oil, palm oil, and castor oil - I was surprised by how much lather it had and really liked the solid form. The only problem for me is hard water, so I need to do a lemon or vinegar rinse after shampooing. Overall I like the idea of a natural shampoo bar vs. conventional shampoos that’s mostly water and sodium laureth sulfate.

    Rev. Kathryn, thank you for the positive feedback. I think the best way to get oils of herbs is to purchase the essential oils from an online supplier (e.g. http://snowdriftfarm.com/essentialoils.html or http://www.thesage.com/catalog/EssentialOils.html), which is cheaper than buying them from health food stores. I’m not an expert in the process of extracting essential oils, but I don’t think it can be done with a juicer. You can use herb tea in place of water in soap making, or add powdered herbs to the soap mixture at trace, but the scent of the herb is unlikely to survive the chemical reaction with lye. Essential or fragrance oils are usually the way to scent soaps. The online suppliers I mentioned earlier have both available for sale.

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