Please talk to me about soap making

[Monkeyfeet]

Is it difficult? What do I need? Are there things I should stay away from? I am thinking about doin this after the holidays, so I would greatly appreciate any input.

thanks!

[mama2toomany]

What kind of soap are you looking to make?

[staceyshoe]

You can get a melt & pour kit where you melt the soap base and add color or fragrance, pour in mold, and use right away. You can also "cook" soap using lye and fats. The second method takes a little more equipment. Do you know what you're interested in?

[resimom]

making cold process soap is not difficult but you will be using some dangerous chemicals. are you wanting to make just plain unscented soap? all you need to make unscented castille soap is olive oil and lye. a stick blender is extremely helpful but not absolutely required.

do you know anything at all about making soap?

if you do i can give you a recipe using one can of red devil lye so you don't have extra lye left to store.

[resimom]

do this while children are asleep or not at home. use caution, gloves, and goggles:

1. line a soda or water bottle box (about 2ft x 1ft and 4 inches deep, exact measurements not important) with a trash can liner. you can just put the whole box inside the bag then pat it down so you can easily pour the soap in once you have made it. if needed, you can reinforce the box with packaging tape to make it more sturdy.

2. make a "nest" of towels, blankets, etc and put your prepared soap box on top and in the middle. you will be using the nest to insulate the box. prepared castille soap is difficult to move in the first day so put this all in a safe warm place where your kids can't get to it. have a second trash bag next to your nest.

3. in a large non-corrosive pot measure 140 ounces of olive oil (costco and sam's club sell 5 litre bottles for about $25) and warm to about 100 degrees (like a warm bath). if you are scenting your soap you will need to be more precise, but for basic soap it is not vital.

4. in a large plastic pitcher measure out 5 cups of cold or room temperature water. filtered is best but tap is usually okay. to this water slowly add the entire 18 oz of red devil lye. this is the standard size available at many grocery/hardware/department stores. the fumes are a bit overwhelming, don't breathe them in directly. you can mix it outside but if you do be very careful carrying the lye inside. continue stirring until the mixture is clear. (if you are stirring with a wooden spoon use one that you can throw away when you are finished.)

5. slowly pour lye solution into warm oils. the lye solution is HOT and CAUSTIC. use caution!!! if any of it gets on you rinse immediately and thoroughly.

6. mix with a stick blender on low using figure eight motions being sure to go up and down the entire solution but being careful not to lift the blender above the surface of the soap solution. doing so will force air into your soap.

7. continue mixing. the solution will first become cloudy, then yellow. continue until it looks like vanilla pudding right before it is poured.

8. pour uniform solution into prepared box. cover with your second trash can liner. wrap nest around your box and leave it alone for a few days.

9. after several days cut it into desired shapes and let dry for a few weeks. you can use it after a week or so, but the full curing time allows the excess water to evaporate.

10. clean up all supplies immediately, before removing your gloves and goggles. remember to clean under the blades of your stick blender. i find it helpful to "mix" hot water with the stick blender plugged in to help in this step. if you are wiping with cloth be sure to toss those in the washer immediately. fresh soap is caustic and will burn you. if you used a wooden spoon dispose of it after rinsing excess off.

this will yield about 12-14 lbs of soap after accounting for waste and excess left in the pan. i would guess that is equivalant to about 50 standard size bars of soap.

hth .

[resimom]

one more thing--start and end with a sparkling clean kitchen to prevent accidents.

[Monkeyfeet]

Thank you all so much for your replies! I am looking to make just basic natural bar soap, but I know absolutely nothing about it. I was thinking that in the long run it would save me money!

resimom--thank you for the directions! I think that I will give it a try!

[resimom]

Originally Posted by Monkeyfeet

Thank you all so much for your replies! I am looking to make just basic natural bar soap, but I know absolutely nothing about it. I was thinking that in the long run it would save me money!

resimom--thank you for the directions! I think that I will give it a try!

no problem . i think the 5 litre bottle has about 7 lbs of oil but i'm not sure of that. if you have a source you could use palm in it too to give a quicker trace (the pudding look) and curing time. the palm also makes bigger bubbles to keep it from having that slimey feel that pure castille has.

lmk if you have more questions. i am trying to get to 500 posts and i'm running out of things to post about, lol!

[adoptinmama]

I should know this, but....What is a stick blender? Where do you get one?

[AngelBee]

:

[ashleep]

also, a good place to start is www.millersoap.com


I suggest reading as much as you can before starting. It is pretty easy, but I don't recommend just jumping in without doing some reading. And ALWAYS check your recipe with a lye calculator. A simple typo on someone else's part could leave you with lye-heavy soap or oils that can't saponify.