Home Made Soap Question

[Wifezilla]

I use lard, coconut oil, olive oil, castor oil and some vegetable oil.

Do you have a step by step on this?

 

[Sebrightmom]

I have been making soap for a few weeks now. I have 5 batches under my belt. I really enjoy making soap. I am hoping to be able to sell some for extra money. Here is a recipe I use. I really like it. I got it off my goat soap yahoo group.

Ingredients

10 oz milk (or Water) I freeze my milk into ice cubes trays the day before
4.4 oz lye


14 oz soybean oil (shortening)
8 oz cocoanut oil
8 oz olive oil
2 oz castor oil



First prepare your mold (s). I use molds that I got from Hobby Lobby. They work really well, plus they are pretty.

Measure all your oils and set aside in the pan. I use an stainless steel pan.

Melt them together and let them cool until you can touch the outside of the pan just for a second.

During the melting time.

Measure lye into a paper cup. Then add lye to the liquid (milk or water) What I do is put a smaller plastic bowl into another bigger bowl filling with ice water. Then dissolve lye into the milk (or water). Add a little more and stir until lye is fully dissolved. It will get very hot very quickly.

Add the lye/milk (or water) mixture to cool oils. Use a stick blender (or plastic spoon) and begin to mix them. Keep blending and stirring until light trace ( Looks like gravy or instant pudding before it goes into the frig) If you lift the blender or spoon and the trail stays on top of the soap for a second it's time to add fragrance and pour into a mold. Some people cover this mold with freezer paper or waxed paper and insulate with a thick towel and leave alone for 8 to 12 hours, but I don't. I just leave it in the molds for 24-48 hours then take them out and cure them for atleast 4 weeks.

I hope this helps.

 

[Iceblink]

My Mom and I used to make soap together when I was growing up, we used olive and coconut oil. We added dried herbs or oatmeal for fragrance/scrubbing. It definately wasn't cheaper than Ivory, even with buying the ingredients in bulk, but it was cheaper than buying an equivalent quality product.

As for molds, we bought some large 'tupperware' cake pans from the thriftstore, dried it in blocks, and cut it into bars.

I still make homemade soap occasionally but I mostly make it for my dog. She loves to roll in stinky stuff, and peppermint soap is much cheaper and better for her sensitive skin than 'dog shampoo.' It also lasts much longer and is easier to use.

There are probably soap recipe books at your library. I would recommend following the recipies exactly a couple times before you experiment.

Oh, and when working with lye, keep a couple lemons on hand in case of contact. The acid in lemon juice neutralizes the alkilinity. (sp?)