Making Soap
Body Care | 2. July 2008 |Tags: soap
What is soap made of and how it is made? I’ve got no idea. When ever I need soap I walk into a supermarket and buy a bar.
With a bit of research on the internet I found quite a few people who wrote about their experience with making there own soap from scratch. I found some very detailed and simple instructions alongside some recipes. With all this knowledge on hand I decided to have a go at it myself.
To keep it simple I followed this recipe by Lisa Wood-Bradley.
450 grams olive oil
250 grams coconut oil
250 mls chilled water
90 grams caustic soda (sodium hydroxide/NaOH)
Optional:
20 mls of essential or skin safe fragrant oils
1/4 cup ground herbs or ground oatmeal
1 tablespoon of cosmetic clay
First I was off to the supermarket to buy all the ingredients. Caustic Soda is quite a dangerous substance and I was a bit concerned about that. But caustic soda is required to make soap out of fat and oil, so I got myself some rubber gloves and goggles to protect my hand and eyes when I’m mixing the caustic soda with the water and later with the fat.
It is very important to match the amount of caustic soda to the amount of fat and oil when making soap . All the ingredients need to be weighted precisely.
I measured out the water and chilled it in freezer till it was almost frozen. On the balcony I carefully mixed the caustic soda with the water. It is amazing how the water heats up when the caustic soda gets mixed with it.
In a pot I had already melted the coconut fat with the olive oil. The fat and oil don’t have to be hot, just melted. I slowly poured the caustic soda into it which made the oil instantly cloudy.
With my stick blender I whizzed the liquid till it started to go light and creamy. It started to look like custard. At that stage I should have added the tea tree oil but I simply forgot about it. Tja, maybe next time.
I filled the liquid soap into a loaf mould which I had laid out with some cling film and covered it. I wrapped the mould in a woolen blanket to keep the heat in. It is quite amazing how much it heats up through the chemical reaction of the ingredients.
A day later I could take my giant soap bar out of the mould. It was now solid but still soft enough to be cut easily. I cut 9 nice bars of soap out of it and laid them out on a rack. They need to be cured and harden for about 4 weeks before I can use them.
This was the first time I made my own soap. It was very exciting and great fun. I’m sure I will make some more and try some different recipes, or maybe make up my own. I will keep you posted.
Useful links if you want to try this yourself:
I love your blog, Marianne. The photos and instructions are very clear.
Very impressive ~!
C.
about time someone showed pictures, good instructions, well done
You make it look so easy. I am going to give it go for Christmas. Just one question, how long did you have to mix with the blender? And how could you tell when it was ready?
Tanja, it is really quite simple, just be careful with the caustic soda and wear some gloves and googles for protection. Normally it takes about 30 to 45min for the mix to set but it depends a bit on the mix of oils used. I don’t use the blender for the whole time. I blend it for a few minutes and let it sit for a while before I blend it again for a few minutes. You will know when it’s ready to be poured into the mould when it is thick like custard. Make sure you use a stick blender.
You can find some more recipes I’ve tried out on Making soap - Update.
Good luck and let me know how you went with it.