If you want to make your own homemade soap—and a purely natural one at that—we can really help you out.
You can easily find the ingredients for making soap online. Of course, health food stores and drugstores are another option. If you want to make soap for children or with children, you can even find complete soap-making kits. Of course, you can also find ready-made soap bases that you can then customize to your liking. And then you’ll be able to make it yourself using just three basic ingredients, saving money and knowing exactly what you and your children are washing with!
First, let’s talk about what those three basic ingredients are:
1. Oils and Fats
You might be wondering which fats are suitable. Suitable fats include, for example:
· Olive oil
· Coconut oil
· Palm oil
· Lard
· Tallow
· Avocado oil
· Castor oil
· Sweet almond oil
We recommend trying out the different oils and then choosing the one that works best for your skin based on your own experience.
2. Solvents
Of course, water is the most suitable solvent. Distilled water is ideal.
3. Lye
Sodium hydroxide, also known as lye, is a very strong caustic substance and a hazardous material. Therefore, it is not advisable to have children present when making products at home using your own ingredients. LYE IS CAUSTIC! When working with lye, always pour the lye into water, not the other way around. This is because it releases toxic fumes!
You can also enhance your production with:
· fragrance
· color
· longer shelf life
For production, prepare the following equipment:
· 2 pots (stainless steel, enamel)
· scale
· a sturdy plastic spatula and a hand mixer
· kitchen thermometer
· molds for the finished soap
· GLOVES
Instructions:
1. First, gather all the necessary items listed above. Measure and prepare everything in advance according to your chosen recipe.
2. Pour the measured distilled water into a suitable stainless steel container.
3. Pour the exact amount of lye into the container with water and stir carefully until completely dissolved.
4. While the lye is dissolving in the water, melt the weighed fats in a separate pot. Once they have melted, add the liquid fats as well.
5. At a temperature of 30 degrees, slowly pour the water with the lye into the pot with the melted oils.
6. You must stir this mixture. Feel free to use a hand blender. Gradually, but only after a few minutes, you will see that your mixture changes color, begins to thicken, and becomes creamy.
7. Next, pour the mixture into the prepared molds
8. Leave the molds with the soap in a warm place for at least twenty-four hours. Ideally, wrap them in blankets or quilts. Only then should you unmold the soap and trim and decorate it as desired.
9. Let it cure in the room for up to six weeks.
