How to make Soap

Below is what I would tell you if we were talking in person and you asked me how to make soap. (yes, I would talk your ear off before giving you a recipe and instructions).

When I started making soap, I learned primarily from videos and books. I relied heavily in the Soapqueens blog and videos for soap making information. I found her to be very thorough. I also had this book, (Aff link) which was part of a bundle purchase I made from a local soap maker who was getting rid of her supplies. I did my first soap with a recipe from that book.

If you told me you wanted to learn to make soap, first I would tell you to watch Soap queen’s basic soap making videos (linked above), since she does a great explaining the safety aspect of it. (Why you need to wear nitrile gloves, goggles, and long sleeves while making soap, for example). This is not mean to scare you out of making soap, but you do need to be aware that lye burns the skin, and if it touches your eyes you can go blind or get burned pretty bad. However, you have probably handled knives before. You know you can get cut pretty badly, and yet, if you cook, you use them often without incidents. Treat lye with the same respect, don’t be scared of it, but do be careful.

Secondly I would tell you that making soap is actually very easy, once you get familiar with the process. I would tell you that soap is made simply with oils (a fat) and lye (an alkali) and that both ingredients go through a metamorphosis when mixed so that if you measured everything right, you should not have any fear of any lye being in the soap after 48 hours.

(It is sort of like baking a cake, you know egg and milk and flours went in, but they became something else in the end)

I would also ask you, warn you, beg you, to make your first soap as simple as possible. Perhaps you watched a few videos of beautiful colored soap with swirls and designs and toppings, and that got you intrigued about soap. That is great, however, attempting to make a soap like that for your first time is not the smartest idea. It would be like a novice baker attempting an elaborate fancy cake when they have never baked before. It is best to walk before you run.

When I say to make a simple soap as your first soap, I mean a soap without colorants, without fragrance, without milk, and a small soap. This will allow you to recognize trace on its own, get familiar with the process. If you use olive oil, your soap will have a natural subtle and pleasant smell anyway.

I would ask you what ingredients you prefer to use, and would probably tell you to try to use oils you can find in your local grocery store. Then, if you like it, you can move on to buying products online or from industry suppliers. Some hardware stores carry lye, look for 100% pure lye ideally, or 99% if that is all you can find.

Here is the recipe and process I would recommend to begin with. You can move on to more expensive ingredients later if you want, but keep in mind it all goes down the drain in the end.

This recipe has a superfat of 5%, Superfat is actually quite simple to explain: let us say (as an example, not real numbers), that you need 3 grams of lye to turn 8 grams of oils into soap. Then, instead of 8 grams of oils, you use 10 grams of oils. Now you will have 2 extra grams of oils in the soap that remained in the oils status, they did not become soap. Supposedly this should make the soap more gentle on your skin. Soap makers experiment with different superfat percentages, however, note that the higher you go, you will lose cleansing properties in the soap.

While we are at it, each oil has different properties, and need different amounts of lye to become soap. So each oil has something called SAP value. (It means saponification value, or the amount of lye it needs to become soap. All this to say, you will need a lye calculator to make your own recipes, to know how much lye you need.

Basic Soap Recipe

(I no longer use lard in my soaps, however, it is an easy to find ingredient that will balance out your first recipe). To view the recipe properties, you can view it here (and also copy and save to your profile).

Oil	%	Ounces	Grams
Olive Oil (Not extra virgin, just regular)	35	5.82	165.13
Lard, Pig Tallow (Manteca)	35	5.82	165.13
Coconut Oil, 76 deg (not virgin coconut oil)	30	4.99	141.54
Total	100	16.64	471.79

Recipe Totals

Liquid (Distilled water) Required	4.8 oz	136.05 g
NaOH Weight (Lye)	2.4 oz	68.01 g
Oil Weight (Oils listed above)	16.64 oz	471.79

Mold/Mould:

Small cavities silicone molds or silicone loaf mold. However, if you do not have one, you can use something like a pringles can, a milk carton, even tupperware. Whatever you use, test ahead and make sure it does not leak. Avoid glass containers, aluminum or any other type of metal containers.

Equipment:

• Equipment and Supplies I use  

Since the above list can be overwhelming, here is the minimum supply list:

• Nitrile 8 ml long gloves (You can find these at a hardware store or dollar store)
• Safety Goggles
• Wear long sleeves, pants and closed shoes.  Clothes that are easy to remove too, in case of emergency. In my personal experience, most of my near misses (when I feel my skin itching or a slight burning sensation), or when I come contact with the soap batter, have happened when I am wiping down the containers, when I am almost done.

Supplies and tools:

• Plastic containers or buckets for mixing (Plastic #5 or #6) You need three: one to measure the lye, one to measure the water (that is large enough for both the water and the lye, ideally with a cover). And one for the oils (Large enough to fit everything). You can use the mixing plastic containers from the painting section at a hardware store, or the hard plastic carry out containers from some restaurants (for liquids, Plastic No. 5)
• Silicone Spatula / scraper.  I like this one for its thick handle and flexibility, I found it at a Ross or Marshall’s store.
• Large stainless steel spoon with long handle.  (To stir oils).
• Hand blender  (I have a cheap one, but it has lasted me a couple of years, eventually I might get one of those with a detachable end)
• Thermometer (you could do without for your first time, it will take longer though)
•  Scale (This is non negotiable, you cannot measure by volume, you need exact weights)
• Stainless steel large knife (to cut the soap later)
• Blanket and cardboard box for insulation (optional)

Process:

1. You need to wear your safety gear.  Lye burns! Plan to prepare the lye solution 1-2 hours ahead, to give it time to come down to 120°F= 48.89°C at least.
2. In a well ventilated area (outside or by a window), add gradually the lye to the distilled water and stir it with a metal spoon or the spatula. I use a drink stirrer spoon, it has a long handle. 
3. This will cause the first reaction, the water will become hot and vapors will rise. Do not breathe these fumes (I use a respirator because I am sensitive to it).   You can freeze your water ahead to avoid fumes, and weigh the ice cubes (they weigh the same as if the water was in liquid form).
4. The water/lye solution should go from cloudy to clear once it is dissolved. This may take several minutes.  If you do not have a dedicated soap area/room and other people might come into contact with this, make sure you cover it, label it, tell everyone and keep it isolated, where it cannot be spilled or touched by accident.
5. If you have a thermometer, take the temperature and then wait for this lye/water solution to come down between 120°F = 48.88°C and 110°F  = 43.33°C
6. if you do not have a thermometer, Wait for lye water to come to room temperature. You can tell by touching the outside of the container with your gloves, it should only feel slightly warm.
7. Measure, blend and melt your oils and let them cool down to about 110°F  = 43.33°C or to room  temperature as well, or if you have a thermometer, bring them to a similar temperature as the lye water solution, it does not have to match though so do not stress about it. Most soap making books recommend the oils are within 10 degrees of the lye water solution, however, it is not a law!
8. Once your oils and lye water have come to above temperatures, add your lye solution to the oils slowly, to avoid splatters pour it on the blender shaft or over a spatula if your container is tall.
9. Stir with the blender on Off position initially, then blend for 15 second periods, alternating with stirring, until it is at light trace.  This should anywhere from 2 -5 minutes. Trace is the stage when your soap has thickened enough that if you lift the blender (with motor off) or spatula, the portion that drips on top of the surface leaves a “trace” that you can actually see. You can see it explained in detail here.
10. Pour the batter into your mold or molds.
11. If you can, cover the mold with a cardboard piece or cardboard box, then with a blanket or towel to insulate and encourage gel phase. (If you leave in a warm climate, this might not be needed)
12. Wait 36 hours at least, or 2 days to remove from the mold and cut it.
13. Congrats! You have made soap. Now it needs to cure. The recommended period is 4-6 weeks. During the curing process water evaporates slowly but surely. You should place it somewhere in an open area and not touching unpainted metal, away from sun light. If you are curious how your soap behaves, you can try one bar after one week. It will not last long in the shower, but it should lather and work otherwise. You could weigh one soap bar every week, and keep track of how fast it loses water weight. I must warn you that making soap can become addictive!

What is Next?

After you have done your first soap, you can do your next and experiment using colors and fragrances. There are a lot of options for both natural and man made colorants. At which point they are added varies a lot from one soap maker to another and from the type of colorant.

For example, if you will use one solid color only and are using micas, you can add them to the oil blend first (before adding the lye-water solution), which usually ensure even color distribution. If you are using more than one color, you would split the soap batter (after emulsion or at light trace) into different containers (per color) and add the mica directly to them, and stir it with a spoon or use the stick blender to distribute it. I like mixing the mica ahead with a light colored oil and adding this instead.

Fragrance is usually also added after light trace, but some people add it sooner. Some fragrances do not like being in the alkaline environment that they lye creates, and they react crazy (they can cause ricing, acceleration, seizing (or soap in a stick), so be ready for some adventures, especially with floral fragrances. Read the fragrance reviews to see what other people’s experiences have been. I take reviews and manufacturer’s fragrance testing with a grain of salt, as their recipes, temperatures, and water amount are usually different from mine.