Homemade Soap
- 24 ounces tallow
- 8 ounces lard
- 8 ounces coconut oil
- 15 ounces water
- 6 ounces lye
- NOTE: The combination of lye and water is caustic.
- It will burn the skin and may cause blindness if it enters the eye.
- Safety goggles and protective gloves are recommended for all and are wholeheartedly encouraged for the novice soapmaker.
- Please do not allow children or handicapped adults into your work area.
- Lye into water can often bubble up; do not look into the pan when adding lye to the water.
- Read the safety precautions on the lye container prior to starting on your soap making.
- Allow two hours for the process and make sure that you have time if it takes a little longer.
- Prepare your soap mold(s) by coating them with an oil or baking spray.
- I like to use small, plastic, individual serving size containers so that I don't have to cut the soap.
- Look at your containers and hold them to see if your soap will be the right size.
- This recipe will make enough soap to fill about 10 eight ounce containers.
- The containers don't need lids.
- Pour the water into a stainless steel or speckle ware pan.
- Do not use aluminum or glass as the lye can pit your pan and ruin your soap.
- Standing back from the pan, add the lye to the water.
- This should cause a chemical reaction whereby the water heats.
- Let this cool to about 100F.
- In another (the deeper) stainless or speckle pan combine the lard, tallow and oil.
- Warm them on low until they are at about 100F.
- When both pans are at 100F-110F, slowly pour the lye water into the fat, stirring constantly.
- Use a wood spoon or stainless steel spoon for stirring.
- As you stir, you will see the mixture go from a dark color to a light color.
- This is the visual proof that the oil and water are mixing.
- After you've mixed it by hand for a few minutes, you may use your electric mixer to continue mixing.
- Wear your safety goggles and gloves as the soap is very caustic and will burn skin.
- If your pan isn't that deep, you might need to cover it with plastic wrap and put a hole in the center for your mixer to prevent splatter.
- Every now and again, run your spatula along the edge of the pan to incorporate all of the soap into the mixture.
- Again, keep children out of the area.
- You are now watching for 'trace'.
- Trace is when you can see your path in the pot.
- More specifically, it is when you take a spoonful of soap and pour it on top of the soap, it sits there for a few seconds before blending into the mixture.
- This can take from 30 to 90 minutes to achieve, sometimes a bit longer.
- At trace you may add (10-20 drops of) essential oils for fragrance, if you wish, but blend it in quickly.
- As soon as you are at trace, and after the optional oils are added, pour the soap into your molds.
- Work quickly.
- Make sure that the soap is level in the molds as it has a tendency to puddle up in the middle.
- Put all of your molds into a wood crate or sturdy cardboard box.
- (If you plan on making several batches over the next few weeks, put a note in the box stating the date that you made the soap.).
- Wrap a blanket or two around the box to keep the heat inside.
- Put the box in an out of the way place where children and pets can't get into it.
- An electric oven or a gas oven with an electronic ignition is a good place.
- (Will a pilot light melt your plastic containers?
- If so, crack the oven door open.
- ).
- After 2-4 days you may unmold your soap.
- If, after a week, they present a challenge to unmold, put them in the freezer for a few hours.
- Return them to the box, leaving room so that air may circulate around them.
- Make certain that children and pets won't disturb them as they are still caustic.
- Wash your hands after handling the soap so that you don't transfer any lye.
- Your soap is still considered 'green' or uncured.
- Let the soap cure for at least four weeks prior to use.
- The harder the soap feels, the more it has cured.
- After four weeks it is safe to use.
- It will just dissolve quicker than a soap that has cured longer.
- A NOTE ABOUT OILS: I've used fragrance oils in soap.
- Fragrance oils are artificial.
- The label must state that they are safe for use on the body.
- Not all candle scents are safe to use in soap, so read your labels.
- Fragrance oils, because they are artificial, often will change the appearance of your soap, causing you to lose control over the look of the finished product.
- Because of that, I highly recommend that, if you want a scent, you use essential oils.
- Yes, they are expensive.
- Different oils from different companies will hold up differently in each batch of soap.
- It will take experimentation for you to really perfect the scent in your soaps, but your family and friends will love to receive your experiments as gifts.
- A NOTE ABOUT COLOR: Do not try food coloring or clothing dye to tint your soap.
- At trace, you may pull out a portion of soap and add some cocoa powder to it for a tint.
- You may purchase soap tint at your local craft or hobby store.
- Your water could be tinted from fresh fruits or vegetables and strained prior to the soap making.
- You may experiment in a number of ways to see what you prefer and what you don't at all like.
- A NOTE ABOUT EXPERIMENTATION: Keep notes on everything that you do.
- I'd seriously recommend sending yourself an email with your recipe and notes for each batch of soap since I've gone through the heartbreak of a waterlogged notebook and a virus-laden computer containing my soap notes.
- You can print and compile your emails if you like, and if your book gets ruined, do it again!
- Happy soapmaking!
tallow, lard, coconut oil, water, lye
Taken from www.food.com/recipe/homemade-soap-394788 (may not work)