I began experimenting with making my own soap several years ago, firstly as something to sell at craft shows, secondly to save money. I began with melt-and-pour glycerin soaps. They were easy to do and looked nice, but people still wanted lye soaps, so I branched out.
Supplies for Making Lye Soap
There are a few items I had to purchase to begin making lye soap. I bought a large enamel or stainless steel cooking pot, two half gallon plastic pitchers, a long-handled plastic stirring spoon, two candy thermometers, a scale, and a plastic tub to pour the soap into. I also bought a cheap hand blender as it saves an enormous amount of time energy. I labeled each item clearly with the words “Lye Soap, Do Not Eat or Drink” on the side as sometimes I put my lye and water mixture in the fridge to cool down. It also lets the family know not to pour iced tea into those pitchers or make soup in that pot.
Simple Steps for Making Lye Soap
I first measure out distilled water into one pitcher and lye in another pitcher and mix them. Always pour the lye into the water and not the water into the lye. A volcano-like reaction can occur if you do it the other way around. I do this outside, as some nasty fumes are given off and you want to be careful not to breathe them. The resultant chemical reaction heats the mixture to over 140 F. This needs to then sit and cool until it reaches about 100-110 F.
While the lye mixture is cooling, I measure the oils and add them to the cooking pot. I heat them to 100-110 F then remove them from the heat. Once the lye mixture has cooled sufficiently and the oils are near that temperature also, I slowly pour the lye into the oils, stirring constantly while adding. Next I use the stick blender and mix it until it is the consistency of pudding. This is called tracing and can take 5 minutes or up to 30 minutes, depending on the oils used.
Once trace has been reached, I pour the soap into the plastic tub, smooth it out, and put the lid on. I wrap this in an old blanket and let it sit over night. Once it has cooled, the soap can be removed from the tub and cut into bar shapes. Place the bars on wire racks to cure for at least 3 weeks and your soap is ready to use. During the process, I don’t wear armored clothing and masks, but treat the mixture and ingredients as I would hot oil when cooking.
Obtaining Soap Recipes
I have tried several soap recipes over the years. Different oils react differently and are good for different things. I have used the lye calculator at Majestic Mountain Sage for years and find it easy to use and accurate when I try something new. I have settled on a recipe with only coconut oil and olive oil. It contains 3 pounds coconut oil, 1 pound olive oil, 20 oz. of water, and 2/3 pound of lye. It works well for me and is easy to find the ingredients. It is fun to play with the lye calculator and try different recipes to see what works just right for your family.