Making Your Own Soap
Handmade soap is so very good for your skin because the natural glycerin, which is a byproduct of the soap making process, is still in the soap, and there to soften your skin. Soap also makes the very best of gifts for almost any occasion, and being made by your own hands makes it even better. Best of all, making your own soap means you can tailor your soap to your own skin care needs, and your own tastes.
I recommend that a beginning soap maker make several batches of simple, white one pound of oils soap, before you go on to more advanced recipes. That way, you get a chance to learn what soap looks like as it forms, how the process progresses. After several batches, you will be confident enough to start developing your own unique recipes.
All of my recipes based on a simple formula: One pound of fat, 2 ounces of lye and 1 cup of distilled water. For that reason, the equipment needed doesn't have to be large. The Big Gulptm method of soap making was developed to accommodate both the small batches, and gives you a way to put all those extra plastic cups to use. You know, the ones that accumulate in the summer when all the fast food places are giving out the 'collector's' cups with a large drink. The Big Gulptm method needs a 32 ounce plastic cup, a one pint wide mouth canning jar, a wooden spoon, and molds.
So here is a list of all the things you'll need to get started.
Ingredients:
Oils and/or fats
Lye (sodium Hydroxide)
Distilled water
Safety precautions:
Goggles
Rubber Gloves
Vinegar
Equipment (none of which can be aluminum):
A good quality dieter's scale
A glass jar or bowl for mixing lye and water
A pot or cup for mixing the soap
A thermometer
A plastic or wooden spoon to stir with
A mold of some kind for the finished soap
And here is your basic recipe....
Basic Vegetarian Soap Recipe
10 ounces vegetable shortening
OR 5 ounces shortening and 5 ounces palm oil
OR 10 ounces palm oil
4 ounces coconut oil
2 ounces olive oil
2 ounces sodium hydroxide
1 cup distilled water
First you need a place with good ventilation. You don't want to mix the lye where you will be breathing the fumes. In my kitchen, I have range hood that vents to the outside. Be careful about this, many ranges have hoods, but they just run the air though a filter, and back into the kitchen. If this is the kind you have, you need to mix your lye outside. This only takes a few minutes, then you can bring it back in.
Measure your water into your jar. weigh your lye in a paper cup. Slowly pour the lye crystals into the water, and stir constantly. Don't let the lye crystals sit on the bottom of the glass, if they do, they can form a mass there which can cause a large build up of heat, and a steam bubble which may cause the lye water to erupt from the glass. Keeping it stirred will prevent this. Stir the solution until it is clear. It will still be VERY hot, but you can now bring it back in the house and allow it to cool. Make sure it is well out of reach of children and pets as it cools.
There are LOTS of oils that can be used to make soap. Each one has a specific amount of lye it needs to completely saponify. However, because of the caustic nature of lye, it is a good idea to have a little extra fat in the recipe. There are some recipes that specifically call for a good amount of extra fats. The extra fats leave an emollient layer on your skin and will help to soften it. Any extra lye, however will potentially cause damage to your skin and could cause a chemical burn in the extreme. For that reason, all of my recipes have slightly less than the exact amount of lye needed for complete saponification.
Next, combine your fats. If you are using the Big Gulptm method and mixing in a large plastic cup, you can melt the fats in an ordinary saucepan. If you are going to make a batch larger than one pound of fats, you will want a soap pot to mix in, and you can melt your fats in that. Now you need to watch your temperatures.
Most fats need to be approximately 20-30 degrees above the temperature of the lye. The best temperatures to mix the soap is 120 -130 degrees for the fats and 95-105 degrees for the lye. When the respective temperatures are right, slowly pour the lye water into the fats' mixture. And stir. The stirring will take approximately 30-45 minutes. As you stir the soap, you will see it begin to thicken. This is the soap forming. The soap will continue to thicken until it looks like a milk shake. When you can dribble a bit from the spoon onto the surface of the mix, and have it stay for a few seconds, it is done. This is called tracing. If you are having trouble getting the soap to trace, you can let it sit for about 5 minutes. Many times, if the soap can 'rest' it will quickly thicken when you go back to it. Just don't forget it!!!
Pour the soap into your molds, and set up out of reach of children and allow to sit in molds for at least 48 hours. During the winter, and in cool places, it is a good idea to keep your soap covered for the first 48 hours to keep it warm. the reaction requires heat to continue. You can put a piece of plastic over the mold, and a towel over that should be plenty.
After the first 48 hours, you can usually unmold the soap and cut it if needed. If the soap has a hard time coming out of the mold, place it in the freezer for a few hours and it should pop right out of the mold. If needed, the soap can now be cut. Then stack it so that it can get plenty of air circulation to finish aging. Leave it for 3 weeks. It should be ready to use.
There are several ways to test your finished soap. Some people lick their soap. It will give a little bit of a sting to the tongue if it's not ready. This is not the best method. Another method is to wash your hands with your soap. If after you rinse, you have a slimy feeling on your hands that will not rinse off, you have unreacted lye in your soap. Put the soap up to age another week and rinse your hands with vinegar.
Lastly, if you want a definitive answer on your soap, you can test the pH. A pH kit can be purchased from chemical supply stores, some pool shops, pet shops, or nurseries. Pour a little distilled water into a glass, and test the water to be sure it is neutral. Next, wash a bit of soap into the water to get it cloudy. Now test the soap solution. A good soap can be anywhere from pH 8 to pH 10. A nice mild soap will be between 8 and 9.
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