Our Handmade Soap
Our handmade soap has spoiled us… we like it so well, we never buy commercial soap any more. Recently our soap supply has been getting low and I have needed to make more. I finally got all the supplies together and turned out two batches of goat milk soap on Saturday afternoon. I unmolded the soap and cut it into bars this morning and have just put it on the shelves to cure. I love making soap… it always fascinates me that you can take such unappealing ingredients as oils and lye and that the soap making process transforms them into a completely different product… soap!
Soap, like anything else, is only as good as the ingredients you put into it. All oils are not created equal when it comes to soap making… the oils you choose will determine how well the soap hardens, how well it lathers, and if it dries or moisturizes your skin. After years of experimentation, I now use a combination of palm oil, coconut oil, olive oil, and jojoba. Palm oil gives hardness to the soap, coconut oil makes the soap lather well, and olive oil contributes mildness. Jojoba contains natural antioxidants and also adds moisture to the soap. Soap making isn’t something you can guess at or be careless about… it is a chemical process and accuracy is extremely important. Ingredients must be weighed, not measured, temperatures must be monitored closely, and the soap mixture must be stirred until it reaches a true trace. (More on all of these in a future article.) Soap making isn’t a difficult process, but not all soap recipes or oils make the same quality soap, and how and how long the ingredients are mixed greatly influence the resulting soap.
Usually I make two or three batches of soap the same day, but only one batch at a time. Each batch makes six pounds of soap and approximately twenty-two bars. I pour the soap mixture into wooden molds that my husband made, where it stays for approximately twenty-four hours. By this time the soap is firm and unmolds into a lovely long block of soap that we cut into bars using a wire cheese cutter. I put the bars on shelves to cure by standing each bar on its side, leaving some space between each bar so the air can circulate around it. I turn each bar to a different side every day so the soap will cure evenly. After a couple of weeks, I wrap blocks of a dozen bars in waxed paper and store the soap in cardboard boxes. Both the waxed paper and the cardboard boxes allow the soap to breathe as it finishes curing. A good soap made with a balanced proportion of lye and fat is gentle to the skin after a few days and will lather well right away, but I like to cure soap for a minimum of several months before using it because it gets even better with time. Cured soap is also harder and denser and will last much longer than freshly-made soap.
Soap you make yourself… it’s a VERY good thing!
Written by Shirley | Filed Under Doing It Ourselves, Simple Living
Comments
Comment by Alissa:
Hi there!
I’m a newcomer to your blog, and I’ve been enjoying your posts. :)
I was just wondering if you have calculated a cost per bar when you make your own soap?
Thanks!
Alissa
Comment by Mrs. Mordecai:
Your soap is amazing. It will be interesting to read about the process you use to make it.
Comment by Hadias:
I am curious in regards to Alissa’s question on cost per bar as well. My husband had purchased homemeade soap from a friend at work and inquired of me if I thought that I could make it. I would love for you to share more info. on the ingredients, process and cost.
Comment by Rose:
Looking forward to your next post on soap. I am icthing to give it try!
Comment by Tammy:
Please share a recipe. My mother-in-law makes soap and we love it. I’d really like to make my own.
Comment by Sheila Gregoire:
I’ve always wanted to try this! We’ve made melt & pour soap a ton of times, but I’ve always wanted to do it from scratch. I could just never figure out where to get the lye from. I’ve got the palm oil and everything!
I think homemade soap just looks delicious. I’ve got all sorts of books in my shelves on how to make soap, and I like just looking through them. Even the pictures make me feel all nice and lathery!
Anyway, I’ll have to try this sometime soon, too. Just as soon as I find some lye.
Comment by Shirley:
Most Lowe’s have small cans of lye. Look for 100% sodium hydroxide and shake any can before you buy it. If it doesn’t shake and sound “loose” inside, it means that moisture has caused the lye to cake together. Some hardware stores will have lye too… look under drain cleaners, but the lye MUST be 100% sodium hydroxide with no other ingredients.
It’s fun to work with, but I’m not a great fan of melt and pour soap because of all the chemicals it contains. Most sellers don’t give a complete ingredient list, and the ingredients can range from propylene glycol (the stuff in anti-freeze) to sodium laureth sulfate.
Comment by Grace:
I buy homemade soaps from several people on the web and from craft fairs. I just love to use some of them but the others I just like having them near. There is something about a hand made item that appeals so much to me. I would love to try this myself. I will wait patiently for your instructions. I am going to make the homemade body powder as soon as I can find some rice flour. You are awesome!
Grace
Comment by Anne:
Anxiously awaiting the recipe – like my mom (grace posted right above me :) She’s turning into a granola chick – i love it :)
Comment by Shirley:
Welcome to both of you… I will be posting the recipe for the soap, but I want to do a tutorial at the same time… and I just haven’t had the time lately. Hopefully soon. Thanks for taking the time to comment!
Comment by SewFixated:
I can’t wait to see your recipe and the tutorial. I’ll be checking back!
Comment by Gaby:
Hi Shirley! First, let me thank you for having such wonderful information on your blog. I’m interested in making soap and am currently doing research about it… that’s how I found your blog. I would be very interested in getting the recipe you use to make your soap. Thank you!
Gaby
Comment by Michelle H.:
Oh I’d love to try this too – can’t wait for the recipe!
Comment by :::::::::::: wife mom maniac :::::::::::::
do you use it for laundry, or just body care?
Comment by Ruth Ann:
I don’t want to miss your recipe when you post it. I’ll keep checking back. Where did you get the oils and did you buy them in bulk? Thanks for all the information. I love reading your blog.
Comment by Shirley:
I buy the coconut and palm oils in 5-gallon buckets from a local health food store. They special-order these oils for me, and they are better quality oil (food grade) than is commonly sold online. I also buy the jojoba at the health food stores, but not in as large a quantity.
I buy the olive oil at grocery stores when it is on sale. I do not use pomace olive oil because of the chemical solvents used in its manufacture.
I buy the lye at local hardware stores in the small plastic cans because I can shake the can and be sure the crystals inside have not caked. Be very careful about buying lye in bulk… it is often lumpy because it has been exposed to moisture, and lye that has “lumped” will not work the same as lye that hasn’t, even though the supplier may tell you that it will.
Comment by Andrea:
HI!
Recently jumped into soap making, but I’m still at the melt and pour phase. I really want to eventually make my own soap, but I have mixed feelings about working with and using lye. What are your thoughts on it? Have you ever tried making soap without it?
Comment by Shirley:
I have never been nervous about working with lye. I am always careful with it, and I certainly would keep it away from children and pets, but it is very safe to use if it is handled properly. By the way, any properly-made soap will no longer contain actual lye. Combining the oils and lye in the correct amounts at the correct temperature causes a chemical reaction called saponification that actually changes the oils and lye into another product… soap.
I am much more concerned about melt and pour soap because of all the chemicals that are in it. Melt and pour starts life as ordinary soap (made with lye like any other soap). Then a variety of chemicals are added to this soap to make it melt easily, be pourable, etc., resulting in a far-from-natural product. The law does not require soap ingredients to be listed, and many melt and pour soap bases do not list the chemicals they contain. Some manufacturers claim that their bases contain only vegetable oils and glycerin, with no mention of other ingredients like the chemicals Sodium Laurate, Sodium Laureth Sulfate, and Propylene Glycol (the same chemical that is in antifreeze).
Please leave a comment!