Basic Soap Recipe
Equipment you'll need:
Non reactive bowls such as plastic or stainless steel (any metal will get hot so be careful)
Scale to weigh out ingredients
Whisk (or electric hand blender)
Mold
Instant Read Thermometer
These fats are either lard, tallow, or olive oil. If using other oils please refer to a soap calculator to determine the water/lye quantity that you will need.
16 oz fat
2 oz lye (sodium hydroxide)
5 oz water
Most recipes I've found also include coconut oil, palm oil, and other oils or scents... None of that is necessary. A good soap can be made with really simple ingredients. If you wish to spice it up you can infuse your oils with herbs to get some of the smells and natural oils present in the soap, especially if you super fatten your soap (add up to an additional 5% fat to smoothen the soap and the add the qualities of the plant oils to your soap).
Steps for cold process soap:
1) Heat oil to about 130 degrees F.
2) Using gloves and goggles, pour the lye into the water (make sure that you are in a well ventilated area and the the water container can withstand high heat and does not interact with the material of the container. Do not use aluminum, use plastic if possible as your glass containers will break with the heat and then you'll have lye water all over your floor... with shards of glass.) Leave until it reaches 130 degrees F.
3) Pour lye solution into the fats and stir.
4) Sponification is happening. Stir until you can lift your whisk and it leaves a trail (trace).
5) Pour into mold.
6) Leave for 24-48 hours.
7) Cut bars or pop from mold.
8) Place somewhere dark and well ventilated.
9) Let cure for 4-8 weeks (or more)
10) Use your awesome soap.
Note: If you use a hand blender your stirring/whisking time will be cut down to seconds instead of whisking for hours.
I can't remember the last time we used store hand soap. I too do not use all the fancy oils for soap. I don't feel the need and it ups the cost. My first experience with almond oil, shea butter, and coconut butter is the lotion I just made. I've wondered how the pioneers made lotion but haven't come up with anything yet. They surely didn't have coconut oil and the like and I'd like a simplier way just in case. Maybe just working with wool did it as lanolin does soften the skin.
ReplyDeleteWelcome Holly! I'll have to try your recipe for lotion. While some of the medieval recipes I've seen do use lanolin, I've also seen many of them to just use oils (almond, olive, etc) or beeswax if they wanted a salve like consistency. They did use some cream/dairy products in some, but they were used so quickly and mixed with other fats so that the dairy product would not curdle before they had a chance to use it. I was just reading a book on Thomas Jefferson and his garden - I'll have to see if he mentions anything about lotion in his gardening book. I'll have to try out some of the recipes and see if I can post some. What types of soaps have you found to be most beneficial to you? Thanks for reading!
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