Summary: Now there is an alternative to harmful chemicals that manufacturers include in so many of our personal products and natural soap makers have found it! Plant-based ingredients, not chemicals, are their recipe for success for making naturally fragrant handmade soaps.

Pencil and paper, class. We are here to learn how to make soap. Grab some fat, a little alkaloid, and throw in some water for a bubbly masterpiece. Yes, students, it is that simple. But alas….the big guys need to make it cheap and fast so enter stage left the new leading character – chemicals. Who cares if they use carcinogens like artificial dye to make my soap pale blue? We want suds so please go crazy with your irritating laurel sulfate. And you better be sure to throw in some shelf life-extending chemicals, artificial fragrance and petroleum based moisturizer to boot! Finally, don’t forget to line up some innocent animals to test those chemicals on.

Good grief, all this to keep our body’s clean! What’s a body to do?

Natural Soap, Handmade Soap - the best choice, naturally

Now there is an alternative and natural soap makers have found it. Plant-based ingredients, not chemicals, are their recipe for success. How does coconut, palm and olive oil sound as the fat additive? Hemp oil, shea butter, and aloe vera serve as scrumptious moisturizers. Fragrant scents like peppermint, rose or even lavender will infuse the soap with pure essential oils. And rosemary oil is frequently used as a natural preservative. So be gone, nasty chemicals! We want to bathe as nature intended. And, by the way, don’t worry about animal testing – natural soap makers wouldn’t think of it!

So next time you need to buy more soap, make a wise choice…forget the chemicals and go natural and select handmade soap. You’’ll smell great, it will be better for you, and you’ll even be helping out the environment to boot.

A Recipe for Natural Soap

One of the ways to make natural soaps is by using the Cold Process technique. Cold Process soaps are soaps created from scratch using a basic combination of a water, lye, and oils. Lye, you say? Isn’t that dangerous? Actually no, not when soap is made correctly. In a finished soap, all the oils are saponified and no longer contain any lye. The finished handmade soaps are cured for 2-3 weeks after being poured into the molds. You see, after curing there is no free lye remaining in the final soap bar, because it is used up in the chemical reaction. Instead the finished handmade soap contains natural glycerin and is much gentler to the skin than your commercial detergent based soaps.

Basic Cold Process Natural Soap Recipe
(provided by WikiHow)

Ingredients

Oils:

• 24 ounces olive oil (not extra virgin)
  
• 24 ounces coconut oil
  
• 38 ounces vegetable shortening

Alkaline Solution:

• 12 ounces sodium hydroxide (lye)
  
• 32 ounces spring or distilled water

Fragrance or Essential Oil

• 4 ounces of your favorite fragrance
  
• dried ground herbs (optional)

Directions

1. Put on your rubber gloves and goggles.
   
2. Weigh out 12 ounces of lye (sodium hydroxide) into the two-cup measuring cup.
   
3. Weigh 32 ounces (2 pounds) of cold water in glass container.
   
4. Slowly add lye to water (best done outside) stirring gently. **It is very important to add the Lye to the water and not the other way round!!! Otherwise the reaction is too quick and it is dangerous!!** The lye will heat the water and release fumes. The fumes dissipate quickly, but turn your face away so as not to inhale the fumes.
   
5. Set aside and allow the lye to cool.
   
6. Weigh out 24 ounces of coconut oil and 38 ounces of vegetable shortening into the metal kettle. Melt these oils over low heat and stir frequently. Remove from heat after the oils have melted and add the 24 ounces of olive oil.
   
7. When your lye has reached a range of 95-98 degrees Fahrenheit (35-36 degrees Celsius) and your oils are at the same temperature, add the lye in a slow steady stream to the oils. Use the metal whisk to stir the mixture. After about ten minutes you will notice a change in your mixture. This is called saponification.
   
8. The mixture will appear like thin cream. This is called tracing. Tracing occurs when droplets of soap will stand up on the surface. When this happens, add your fragrance and stir well. Be ready to pour natural soap in your mold.
   
9. Cover your shoe box with the two towels and set aside undisturbed for eighteen hours. The soap will go through a gel stage and a heat process. At the end of this period uncover the soap and allow to sit for another 12 hours.
   
10. If you measured accurately and followed the directions, there should be no problems. But if your soap has a deep oily film on top the natural soap cannot be used because it has separated. It is disappointing if this happens. This will occur if your measurements were not accurate.
    
11. Unmold your natural soap. Turn the box over and allow the soap to fall on a towel or clean surface. Cut your soap into bars. Allow the natural soap to cure in a cool dry place for approximately four to six weeks before using.

You will need several hours of time to make your soap.

Warning

• Caution! Put on your rubber gloves and goggles when working with lye. Do not leave lye in reach of children and animals. Always add lye to water, not water to lye!

Supplies You'll Need

• Safety Goggles
  
• Rubber Gloves
  
• Scale to weigh the ingredients
  
• A one gallon stainless steel or enamel kettle, not aluminum
  
• Glass or plastic wide mouth pitcher to hold water and lye
  
• A two cup plastic or glass measuring cup
  
• Wooden spoons
  
• Stainless steel wire whisk
  
• One accurate glass thermometer that registers between 80-100 degrees F.
  
• Plastic shoe box for your soap mold. Spray with vegetable spray so soap will release easily.
  
• 2 towels to cover your soap
  
• One jar of vinegar in case you splash lye on your skin. Vinegar will neutralize the lye.