Making soap is much easier than you thought but a little more complicated than you might imagine. In any case, this is quite an interesting process from which you can make a kind of girls’ master class over a glass of wine 😉
So, to begin with, you will definitely have to purchase the two main ingredients you will need for soap:
– distilled water
– sodium hydroxide.
- Distilled water can be obtained at any pharmacy. And it is necessary to use it, because our tap water is too calcareous, which reduces the quality and shelf life of soap.
- Sodium hydroxide is the only “chemical” that is needed to process oil and fats into soap. And don’t worry, this substance is completely transformed and destroyed during the saponification process, so the finished soap does not contain chemicals.
NOTES:
- To begin with, we recommend starting with a small amount of soap. Then it won’t be such a pity if something goes wrong in the process.
- Silicone molds for candy or cupcakes are ideal for soap bars. But it is better, of course, to buy soap molds separately.
- If you want to make colored natural soap, you can just start with 1-2 teaspoons ground turmeric or red ground paprika. Turmeric makes soap golden, and paprika powder will give it a reddish tint. You simply dilute the spices in 1-2 tablespoons of distilled water and add them at a certain stage of soap making
- If you want to use essential oils, we recommend adding about 20 g of your favorite fragrance to the number of soap ingredients that we will now write.
BASES FOR SOAP
360 g of olive oil
90 g coconut oil
125 g distilled water
60 g sodium hydroxide
Or
125 g olive oil
90 g almond oil
90 g sunflower oil
75 g coconut oil
65 g of shea butter
150 g of distilled water
60 g of sodium hydroxide
TO MAKE SOAP YOU NEED:
- rubber gloves
- safety glasses and mask – optional
- steel pan
- two glass measuring cups
- electronic kitchen scale
- cling wrap and possibly a towel
- thermometer
- caustic soda
- fats and oils – soap base< /li>
- distilled water
- tablespoons, blender and dough scraper
- soap mold
STEP #1
We mix the alkaline base
✔Put on rubber gloves and keep a handgun nearby.
✔In a well-ventilated place, for example, on a balcony or near an open window, weigh out as much water as indicated in the recipe in a glass container.
✔Weigh out and carefully pour into water, the required amount of sodium hydroxide.
✔Stir with a tablespoon until the sodium hydroxide is completely dissolved in the water.
☝️It is very important to stir the solution until the sodium hydroxide crystals are completely dissolved, because they will not dissolve in the soap mixture later and make the soap unusable.
☝️The water gets very hot and cloudy at first, but it will soon become clear again.
☝️Try to keep your face as far away as possible while measuring and stirring the lye to avoid inhaling toxic fumes.
✔Let the lye cool to about 40- 45 degrees, ideally outdoors or in a sink so that any splashes of it can’t do any harm.
🙏Don’t worry about all these safety measures, usually nothing actually happens at this step. But we have to warn you just in case.
STEP #2
Make the fat/oil mixture
✔While the alkaline soap base is cooling, measure the solid fats into a steel pan and let them melt over low to medium heat. Please note that excessive temperature will destroy all valuable fatty acids.
✔As soon as everything dissolves, remove the pot from the stove.
✔Pour the oils into a bowl of the required volume
✔Let the fat-oil mixture cool to 40-45 degrees.
✔Immerse the blender in the oil and tap the bottom of the pot several times to release air bubbles.
✔Slowly and carefully pour the alkaline base into the oil pot and turn the blender on low speed. Slowly move the blender in different directions and all the way to the bottom of the bowl or pot. You’ll immediately notice the oils and lye combining to create a cloudy liquid.
✔Stir the mixture until it’s a little…creamy.
✔Add the aromatic oils and turmeric or paprika to the oil, stirring constantly.
☝️If you are already a “pro” in soap making, then at this stage you can also add certain scrubbing elements to the soap: ground coffee, spices, chopped herbs, etc.
✔Continue mixing with a blender until everything is well mixed and the mixture will not become the consistency of cream soup. Of course, we don’t recommend eating it😁😁
✔When you are satisfied with the appearance of the future soap, remove the blender from the mixture. You should see some streaks on the surface of the mixture, and that’s good.
STEP #3
We pour the soap mixture
✔Pour the soap mixture into the soap mold and use a pastry scraper to scrape as much as possible out of the pot.
✔Tap the mold on the work surface a few times to release any air bubbles that may still be in the soap mixture.
✔Wrap the soap mold with cling film, then in a towel, put the future soap in a place where neither children nor pets can get to.
STEP #4
Clean up your workspace
STEP #5
Drink a glass of wine and eat some goodies, because you deserve it!
STEP #6
What to do next with soap
✔After 24 hours, when the soap mold has completely cooled, remove the soap from the mold. If you used a large mold – cut the soap into pieces.
And now will be the most difficult moment of soap making – waiting!
✔Put the individual pieces of soap in a place where you can leave them untouched for 4 -6 weeks.
Usually we put the soap on a dish towel or on paper on the top shelf of the cupboard so that children and cats don’t taste it🤨😁
During this time, the saponification process is completed, the soap becomes soft, then the excess the water evaporates, making the soap hard, which will allow you to use it longer.
You can also start using it earlier, but we still advise you to wait at least 4 weeks and be patient, even if you want to experience the result of your own skill immediately .
We wish you success!
