Soap Making Instructions

Making your own soap can be fun (getting it to come out just the right color you have chosen isn't) and is very easy to do.

There are many different methods and recipes for soap making, and the ones described here should not be considered the only or best method. It's like building a wall with 10 carpenters. Each one will have a different way to build the same wall.

It should also be said that since you will be using and handling lye, at no time are the instructions to be considered safe from the hazards of such and you do so at your own risk.

OK lets get started
First off are the tools needed to start making your own cold process soap

Stainless steel pot. - It MUST NOT have a clad aluminum bottom.
No aluminum utensils should be used for any of the soap making as it will react with the lye that is used and place unwanted trace minerals within your soap.

Stick blender - available at Wal-Mart, K Mart (if they are still open in your area)
Glass measuring cup - 4 cup size
Plastic spoon
Glass thermometer
Safety goggles for the eyes!!
Rubber gloves!!
Digital scale

So what is each item used for?
The safety goggles are to protect your eyes in case the lye water mix or the raw soap should slash up at you. It does not matter how careful you may be, it does happen from time to time. - Unexpected sneeze will do it every time!

The rubber gloves are for the protection of your hands from the same lye water mix and raw soap. As you are mixing the lye into the water, it will heat up very rapidly and start to steam. This steam or cloud WILL burn your skin, without the glove for cover as you stir.

This cloud or steam will also burn and destroy your lungs, so it's best done with an exhaust fan running above it, or outside as some do. I prefer to use the exhaust fan over my stove, since I do not want to carry the mix back in when ready and risk dropping it, and don't have to worry about the wind changing direction back at me.
The glass measuring cup is for mixing your lye into your cold water. Plastic can also be used so long as it is not too thin of a material.
The stainless steel pot is used first for melting your oils and then mixing of the oils with your lye water mixture.

A 6 quart pot will hold up to a 5lb batch recipe with room to spare for safely mixing.

The plastic spoon is used to start the mixing of your water and oils as you add the water in.
The stick blender is used for mixing your oils and water to bring them to trace a lot faster than if you used only the plastic spoon. (depending on the recipe, you could be stirring by hand for days)
The thermometer is used to check the temps of your oils and lye water mix.

The digital scale is used to weigh all of the ingredients. All given weights are actual weight and not liquid volume. i.e.: 24oz of Olive oil is not 24 fluid oz's. I place my steel pot on the digital scale and zero out the weight of the pan and then add the olive oil until it reads 1lb 8oz which is 24oz's.

I will then zero out that weight before another oil is added and continue with that same procedure until all oils for a given recipe have been added.
The only liquid that is the same in liquid volume and in weight is the water. 18 liquid oz's of water will actually weigh 18oz's.

Now for some of the needed ingredients

Lye - Sodium Hydroxide: This is available at most supermarkets and a lot of hardware stores (or at least used to be) for about $3.99+ per 18oz bottle, as Red Devil Lye. DO NOT use Drano.
Water: Distilled water is used for soap making since it has most all of minerals removed from it.

The basic oils used for soap making:

Avocado Oil
Bees Wax
Canola Oil
Castor Oil
Coconut Oil*
Cocoa Butter
Jojoba Oil
Lanolin
Mango Butter
Mink Oil
Olive Oil
Palm Oil
Palm Kernel Flakes
Safflower Oil
Shea Butter*
Soybean Oil
Sweet Almond Oil

*Coconut oil should not be more than 25% of the total oils max. Coconut oil is great for your skin in it pure form, but in soap it is very drying to the skin at rates over 25%. The Fisherman's soap I make is 100% coconut oil so that it removes all of the human oils from the skin. If you should decide to make a soap that is all coconut oil, I would suggest using individual molds since the soap will harden (rock hard) very quickly, even before it cools down to the touch, and unless you have a chain saw, it is very difficult to cut!

*Shea Butter will accelerate trace.
Not all of the above listed items are needed for every recipe.
If you are making an all vegetable oil soap, you would not use any of the Lard or Beef Tallow

All measurements are done by weight not liquid volume. Starting
First gather all the item's you will be using for a given recipe including your pot, stick blender, plastic spoon, rubber gloves, eye protection and glass measuring cup.

Measure out the given amount of cold water for the recipe that you have selected.
Place the glass measuring cup of water in the spot that you have selected for mixing in the lye.

Put on your rubber gloves and eye protection ( don't worry about feeling like or looking like a dork with these on. They are really needed in case something should go wrong ) and weigh out your lye in a separate glass or plastic container to the specified amount for the recipe.
SLOWLY add the lye into the cold water while carefully stirring all the time. I use an everyday stainless steel tablespoon for this procedure.

You will notice that it is now starting to heat up and give off the fumes that look like steam. Do not ever place you head or face over the water while you are adding the lye and it is giving off the fumes. This will dissipate as the lye water mixture cools down.

While waiting for your water to cool down, you can now weigh out all of your oils as required for your recipe.
Gloves and goggles are not needed for this part.
Once that has been done, place your pot of oils on the stove and begin heating to melt all of them together.

About 130 degrees is all that is needed, and stirring during the heating process will help melt any of the solid oils faster.

Now you will need to wait until the oil temp and the lye water temps are at the prescribed temp. for the given recipe. If no set temps are given, you can use 100 degrees to 115 degrees as a good mixing temp. With experience, you will learn which recipes will work at what temps and that some work fine at just room temp. or slightly above.

Once the oil and water temps are correct, put the gloves and goggles back on and carefully pour the water into your pot of oils, stirring with the plastic spoon as you are adding the water.

Once that is done I will place the glass measuring cup in the sink and let fill with cold water to overflow and continue to let overflow and flush as I go back to mixing my oils.

Not recommended if you have a septic tank. The lye will kill the necessary bacteria that are present and needed to break down the you know what. Kill the bacteria and you could end up in deep pile of .... Rid X can be added to help if you accidentally get any in the system.

After the oils have been completely mixed with the spoon start mixing with the stick blender.
Use 5 to 10 second bursts at a time so as not to burn out your blender.

Continue mixing until you reach what is known as trace. This will be when you lift out the stick blender and the oils leave a trail on top of the mix, kind of like tracing a design.

It is at this point that your Fragrance Oils or Essential Oils and coloring can be added, but depending on the fragrance and type of recipe working time can be short. Some fragrances can speed up trace and make getting the soap into your mold or molds difficult.

I would suggest that if this is your first time making soap with this method that it be done without fragrance just to get acquainted with the entire process.
Now the raw soap can be poured into your mold or molds.

If you are using the plastic sheet molds, instead of the wooden log molds, it may be a lot easier to use a soup type ladle to fill the individual molds.

The wooden molds do not need to be insulated. They do need to be lined with plastic to keep the soap from soaking into the wood and getting stuck in the mold unless you are using our Liquid Mold Liner. Place the top on and let sit for at least 24 hours.

The plastic sheet molds will need to be insulated in order to keep in the heat generated as the soap goes through its chemical process, if you want to send them into the gel stage. This can be done by placing two towels under the molds and two separate ones over the top. Place plastic sheeting over the raw soap before covering with towels.

I have found that the gel stage is not really necessary and don't insulate mine any more. Saran wrap or generic store brand will do.
Let stand also for 24 hours.

Your mixing pot will also have to stand for 24 hours before it can be washed out if you have a septic tank as explained above. The left over soap that is still in it, is raw, meaning that the lye is very active, and should not be washed down the drain.

After your soap is placed into the molds it will continue to produce heat and most likely go through what is called a gel stage.

If you were to lift off the top after about 4 or 5 hours you will notice that it has changed color and seems to be transparent and jelly like. That is the gel stage, which is not always needed, depending on your preference.

Now for removing your soap from the mold.
There is not much chance that it will come out until it has completely cooled. It will also vary in time to wait depending on the recipe selected. The softer ones will need to sit a bit longer.

You can check your soap by touching it to see if it is completely cooled and that the lye is no longer active after the 24 hour wait. If the soap makes your fingers tingle or burn, the lye is still active and needs to sit for a longer time. If it is completely cooled and the lye is no longer active, this is how I remove my soap from the plastic molds. I place the entire mold into the freezer for about 1 - 2 hours.

Once the soap is frozen, it will be a lot easier to be removed from the mold. Remove the mold from the freezer and let stand for about 2 - 3 minutes . Turn the molds upside down and the soap should now come out. Sometimes a slight bang on the table may be needed to start the release. If you have used a log type mold, just pull up on the liner or turn over and it should come out. If not freezing these will also help. The soap will need to be cut into single bars. Wait another 24 hours to slice.

There are many commercial soap cutters on the market. You can also use one of the plastic bread slicing products available at most kitchenware stores. Using a bread slicing knife, just slide it down in the slots and slice off each bar. Each bar may now be ready to use, but will still be quite soft. Make sure that the lye is indeed no longer active by washing your hands with it. If they turn red or tingle, the soap is not ready for use.

Most bars will still need to cure for a time to completely harden.
Depending on the recipe used it will take from 3 - 8 weeks to completely cure and harden.

If you want to use natural coloring products, instead if artificial colorants, try these plants & spices:

Alfalfa: green
Alkanet Root: different shades of purple
Annatto Seed ground: yellow or orange
Beet Root: shades of pink to red (careful, since some people can have very bad reactions to this)
Calendula Petals: yellow
Carrots: shredded and dried orange shades to yellow
Chamomile: yellow
Cinnamon: tan to brown
Cocoa powder: brown
Coffee, finely ground: brown to black
Corn meal: can give shades through blue to yellow
Curry powder: yellow
Dill Weed: green
Grass: from your lawn, green from the chlorophyll
Green Tea: decent to ugly green
Indigo root: dark blues shades
Kaolin Clay: white
Kelp: green
Madder root: red to purple
Paprika: salmon like peach color
Poppy Seeds: ground, gray to bluish shades
Rosehip seeds: ground, brown to tan
Safflower Petals: yellow to orange shades
Saffron: yellow shades
Seaweed: yellow to green shades, depending on the type
Spinach: a light green
Turmeric: amber yellowish shade
And then there are the clays. Whatever color the clay should be the color of the soap.
If you want to design your own recipe, I have included a saponification chart to help with the figuring.