Soap recipe and more information

I got several requests to share recipes and I thought I'd add a bit more in terms of general information on soap making. The biggest thing I want to say is that it's not a hard process and that the results are absolutely worth it.

(begin soap rant) If you've had dry skin every time you leave the shower and avoid soap for your face like the plague you need to try real soap. No, what you are using is most likely not soap. It's a detergent bar. Lever 2000, Irish Spring, Ivory, Dove and the rest of them - all detergent bars (notice how the packaging doesn't actually use the word "soap" anywhere? They can't, legally). What's the difference between real soap and a detergent bar? Real soap has high levels of glycerine that are produced as the lye and oils/fats chemically react or saponify and become soap. Detergent bars have that glycerin removed so it can be used in other products. This is why "soap" is so drying and harsh to skin. Oh, and if you're vegan you'll want to switch to real soap, since detergent bars pretty much all contain beef tallow as one of the main ingredients (it's cheap and readily available). Real soap, however, is very gentle and moisturizing. There is glycerin and a small amount of fats/oils remaining in the soap once it is finished and those ingredients moisturize and soothe skin. It's amazing what a difference there is once you try it. Real soap is gentle enough for the face, gentle enough for a baby's delicate skin. If you want to try soap without making your own, grab a bar of Dr. Bronner's soap, giggle a bit as you read the packaging, and give it a whirl. It's not my favorite soap by any means but it should be available at most health food stores, drug stores, and even many grocery stores. Just give real soap a try, OK? It's amazing stuff. (end soap rant)

Whew. Got that out of the way.

Now, you'd like to make soap? Here is my favorite recipe, sized to fit my soap molds. I use all vegetable oils, but you can use any fat or oil to make soap and there are many ardent fans of lard as a soaping ingredient (note: do not substitute oils for the ones I have listed without recalculating the amount of lye needed - the amount of lye listed is for this particular mix and amount of oils and fats only). This recipe produces a relatively hard bar that's creamy and full of suds when you use it and very gentle to the skin.

Basic Vegetable Oil Soap
2 ounces Castor Oil
7 ounces Coconut Oil
17 ounces Olive Oil
17 ounces Palm Oil
1 ounces Rice Bran Oil
Total Weight 44 ounces

14 ounces water
6.07 ounces lye (or 172 grams - I like to measure the lye using grams since it's a much more accurate measure of weight)

Optional things you can add in after trace:

3 Tablespoons essential oils
or
2 ounces fragrance oils (be sure fragrance oils are intended for soapmaking)

3 Tablespoons botanicals (any dry add-in such as herbs, ground tea leaves, seeds, ground oatmeal, etc.)

If you'd like to make up a different size batch, run it through a lye calculator, calculate for lye, then go to the bottom of the screen and change the amount to whatever you'd like. I wouldn't suggest going much smaller than 30 ounces or so as small amounts are tricky to measure properly and this is chemistry in action, so precise measurement is key.

A really basic vegetable soap recipe
17% coconut oil
42% palm oil
42% olive oil

lye needed for the amount of oils (again, use the lye calculator)

To figure out actual weights for the individual oils, plug in 17 oz. coconut oil, 42 oz. palm oil and 42 oz. olive oil into the calculator. Then resize the batch to whatever size you need. This is handy when you want to play around with the percentages of different oils/fats/butters, too.

Coconut, palm and olive oil are the vegetable oil triad - a mix of all three produces a well balanced, attractive soap. Coconut oil can be purchased in many grocery stores and pretty much all health food stores. Olive oil is easy, just get the cheapest you can get your hands on. Palm oil is tougher but can be found in restaurant supply stores. You can also order it online from many soap making companies. I'll list a bunch at the end of this entry. Lye can be purchased at some grocery stores (look for "Red Devil" drain cleaner) and in many hardware stores. Depending on where you live it might take a little bit of searching around to find some.

Even more information:
Kathy Miller's soap site - a great source of information on making soap. Tons of information here.
Walton Feed - another great starting place
The Soap Dish - one of my very favorite places to go to talk about all things soap related. There are some amazing people in this forum and a wealth of information available.
Majestic Mountain Sage - soap supplies and a great lye calculator
BrambleBerry - more soap supplies, great prices, great fragrance oils
SweetCakes - not the best prices, but awesome selection of fragrance oils
From Nature With Love - all the soap making supplies you could ever possibly want or need. Prices aren't the best, but you'll find literally everything here.
Camden Grey - essential oil mecca. Quality essential oils of every kind.
Essential Oil University - essential oils at truly incredible prices.

Soap making

In an effort to start paring down things that need to be moved, I made soap last night. We're running a bit low on our regular antimicrobial/nice to the skin shower type bar, so I made some more up. Here's how I do it:


First, I measure out all the oils and fats needed. For this batch, that meant olive oil, coconut oil, palm oil, castor oil, and shea butter. The amounts of each are important, so I use my kitchen scale to weigh everything out. I give the oils and fats a bit of a whir with my stick blender to break up any large pieces about now.

Next I measure out the "extra stuff" - things that add scent, help soothe skin, or just make the soap look more interesting. From left to right are powdered chickweed (soothing and healing), tea tree and oregano essential oils (antimicrobial), and powdered oatmeal (soothing). The first and last will also give the soap a nice flecked appearance since there isn't anything that will color it otherwise.
Next, I need a mold. I have a custom wooden mold that Dan made up for me a while back, but you don't have to use anything that fancy. For instance, pictured on the left is a mold I often use if I want to make a few quick square bars. Can anyone guess what it is?

Next I measure out the lye. This is very, very important. Different oils and fats need different amounts of lye to cause the chemical reaction needed to form soap, so I use a lye calculator (there are many of these available online) to do the math for me and measure carefully. Yes, you do need lye to make soap. No, there isn't any lye remaining in the soap when you use it. Yes, you should be very careful when using lye. Wear protective clothing (including eye protection), gloves, and shoes that cover your feet.

Next, I measure out the water. Then I slowly pour the lye into the water (never pour water into lye!) and stir until the lye dissolves. The lye solution heats up pretty quickly. There are some fumes that aren't good to breathe about now, so I make sure there's lots of ventillation. The measuring cup is in the sink in case of spills.

Now the lye solution gets poured into the oils and fats. The heat of the lye and water help to melt any fats that aren't liquid yet and also starts saponification (the process of turning fats and oils into soap). Heat and motion both speed the process along, so I start in with the stick blender to get things going.

I blend until I see trace, meaning when I pick up the blender (or a spoon), the mixture is thick enough to show a trace of the drops or drizzle on top for a moment or two. Pictured at left is a rather thick trace - I really wanted to get a good picture and went longer than I had planned. This makes it harder to mix in essential oils and the like, and can make getting it into a mold more difficult as well. I quickly add in the essential oils and other goodies.

Into the mold it goes. The mixture was thicker than usual this time, so I had to work quickly. I cover the top in plastic wrap to cut down on exposure to the air while saponification is happening. Otherwise, you can end up with an ashy layer on the top of the soap. Nothing harmful, just unattractive. I pop the mold into the oven preset to 170 degrees, then let it sit and warm for an hour. This helps speed things along. Then the mold is left in the oven (turned off) overnight. In the morning I do a quick test - rub my finger along the top and touch my tongue to see if I feel any "zap". None at all, so we have soap!


I cut the long bar into one inch sections and voila. The soap will be harder and lather better if left to dry and cure for a little while longer, but I can't resist using some of the ends to give my hands a quick wash. There really is nothing like real, honest soap - it's so unlike the detergent bars that you find in the supermarket (yes, even Dove isn't as gentle or good to your skin as real soap made with lye). Truly lovely stuff.