Soap Making: The Basics

Soap making can be very simple or you can make it as complicated as you like.

First, the beauty of making your own is that you can make it with the ingredients that you choose and the fragrances that you like. And adjustments aren’t hard but do take some practice. Further, most homemade soap recipes use ounces or grams and ingredients must be weighed to get good results. But I’ve found a way to simplify the process by converting the ingredients to cups and portions of cups. Consequently, it’s much easier and you get the same results time after time.

Lye in Homemade Soap

The one thing in homemade soap you can’t substitute is lye. You should always use 100% sodium hydroxide, or lye in crystal form. Don’t substitute liquid lye or drain cleaners such as Drano. These may cause inaccurate measurements or have bits of metal in them. You don’t want either.

Lye is caustic. It can eat holes in fabric and cause burns on your skin. Always be extra careful when using lye. Use gloves and eye protection and a mask if desired. When you mix the lye with water, it will heat up and fume for about 30 seconds to a minute. It may cause a choking sensation in your throat. Don’t worry, it’s not permanent and will go away after a few minutes. Always add lye to water (not water to lye), and start stirring right away. If allowed to clump on the bottom, it could heat up all at once and cause an explosion.

No Lye in Finished Soap

Even though lye is caustic and dangerous to work with, after it reacts with the oils in your soap (through a process called saponification), no lye will remain in the finished product.

The lye reacts with the oils, turning what starts out as a liquid into blocks of soap. When made properly, no lye remains in the finished product.[1]

(For more information, read our article: Can You Make Soap Without Lye?)

Homemade Soap Making Equipment

When learning how to make soap, remember to use equipment that will not be used for cooking. While you could clean everything really well, it’s best not to take a chance.

Stainless steel, tempered glass, and enamel are all good choices for mixing bowls. Don’t use copper or aluminum, they will react with the lye. Some plastics may melt, so don’t use plastic bowls.

For spoons, use styrene plastic or silicone. For molds, you can get soap molds at your local craft store or online here, or use silicone baking pans (like this). These are great because you can peel the mold right off. Other things you want to have are a pint and a quart canning jar, newspaper, a stainless steel thermometer that reads between 90° and 200° (find it here), an old towel, and any additions you want to add to the soap.

How to Make Soap: The Additives

There are as many variations of soap as there are colors in the rainbow. You can literally do almost anything. Here are the basics of additives:

Herbs

All herbal material must be dried. Lavender is popular, as well as chamomile. I love lemongrass and oakmoss, though not together. Use about ¼ cup of dried plant material per batch of this size. (Find high quality dried herbs here.)

Essential Oils

Essential oils are from plants. They come from the roots, stems, flowers or seeds. Fragrance oils can be blends of essential oils or they can be artificially produced. Be sure you know what you have. Most oils can be used at the rate of 15-20 drops or around a teaspoon per batch of this size. (Find 100% pure essential oils here.)

Colors

Natural colors are easy. Use cinnamon or cocoa powder for a brown soap, powdered chlorophyll for green, turmeric for yellow and beetroot for orange. However, sometimes things change colors, like magenta beet powder turning yellowish orange. I would avoid food colors since they don’t hold up well in soap. Check out our article, 44 Ways to Color Homemade Soap Naturally, for even more ideas.

Other Items

This would include aloe vera gel, oatmeal, dry milk powder, clays, cornmeal, ground coffee, salt and anything else you may want to use.

Instructions Soap Making.pdf