A few weeks ago my friend Ashley (from @3littlelambshomestead on Instagram) came over to teach me how to make soap! I was so happy to see the process isn't as intimidating as I thought. If you never made soap before, let me tell you it's a great skill to have. It will give you excellent soap that everyone in your family can use (including baby).
To create the recipe we calculated all of our ingredients on this website called SoapCalc. If you ever need to create your own recipe, SoapCalc is a great source for you. Our simple recipe, along with some important information about hot-process soap making, is below. I hope you enjoy watching the tutorial!
TOOLS YOU WILL NEED
- Hand Blender
- Slow Cooker
- Soap Cutter
- Soap Mold
- Measuring Cups
- Thermometer
- Silicone Utensils
HOT-PROCESS SOAP MAKING
Now that you have all of your tools, you can make your own soap at home! One major benefit of making soap using the hot-process is that it will be ready for immediate use! Unlike cold-process soap, you won't need to wait for hot-process soap to cure. The still-caustic soap batter has to be cooked for several hours, this forces it to neutralize. The "hot" part of the processing is cooking the soap batter over low heat until it neutralizes. I like this process because it saves me time, I don't need to wait for the soap to neutralize on its own.
HOW DO I KNOW MY SOAP HAS BEEN NEUTRALIZED?
The easiest way to reach neutrality is by cooking the caustic batter in a slow cooker. Once the soap has been fully cooked, you can use phenolphthalein or litmus strips on hand to check the soap's pH. Using the phenolphthalein to test the pH is very simple: put a few drops on the soap. If it turns pink, the soap isn't ready yet. If it comes out neutral, it means the soap has reached neutrality. Therefore it's better to do this test while the batter is still in the slow cooker, that way you can cook it for longer if necessary.
Some people do the tongue test, but I would not recommend doing it unless you're very experienced with soap making process.
LEMON & LAVENDER ARTISANAL SOAP
Ingredients:
15.2 oz of Water
5.49 oz of Lye
8 oz of Organic Coconut Oil
6 oz of Shea Butter
6 oz of Sunflower Oil
14 oz of Olive Oil
6 oz of Lard (Pig Tallow Manteca)
.75 oz of Lavender EO
.75 oz of Lemon EO
Directions:
- Combine and melt the olive oil, sunflower oil, coconut oil, lard and shea butter in the slow cooker.
- Place the water in a heatproof container. Slowly add the lye to prepare the lye solution. Please do not add water to the lye, you must add lye to the water. Heat the oils and let the lye solution cool until they are both about 110°. Pour the lye solution into the oils, slowly and carefully. Stir to trace.
- Cook in the slow cooker, approximately 3 hours on low setting. Check for consistency every 30 minutes. Check pH to see if it's neutral. Once its reached neutrality you may let it cool before adding fragrance. Do not add EO's if the batter is hot, it will not retain the scent.
- Add essential oils to the mixture and mix it with a silicone spoon.
- Pack into molds, let cool, and set for approximately 8 hours. Then untold, cut into bars and enjoy!
WATCH THE TUTORIAL BELOW TO SEE THE SOAPMAKING PROCESS
I'm linking here a few of the tools and ingredients we used, you can purchase them off of Amazon and Public Goods website:
Essential Oils from Public Goods (Use code "MASALINS" for 25% off your entire purchase).
Thank you so much for visiting my page, if you have any questions or suggestions, please drop them in the comments section below.
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Have a great day!
xx
Bru Masalin
