Making Handmade Cold-Process Soap - Complete with Recipe and Pictures

Today we made our 3^rd (and 4^th) batch of handmade cold-process soap!  Soap making is new hobby of ours and we love making it.  Our first two batches came out great and we were ready for some variety so we decided to make another two batches.  We made a soap scented with energy scent (uplifting and fresh) and an unscented goat’s milk soap.  Our camera died so I am only able to show the energy soap recipe.  This recipe would work for any scent!  I don’t list the supplies we use but if you are interested, you can ask us.  You want to make sure you use stainless steel or glass pans/pots/measuring cups. 

EASY RECIPE TO MAKE ABOUT 4.5 LBS OF HOMEMADE SOAP

Ingredients

16 oz. Coconut Oil

16 oz. Palm Oil

16 oz. Canola Oil

6.9 oz. Lye (this makes it 5% superfatted)

15.8 oz. Distilled Water

OPTIONAL - 3.2 oz. Energy fragrance oil from Brambleberry

1)     Measure out the proper lye, water, and oils and set aside. Make sure all supplies are set out, your molds are lined, newspaper is down, kids are safely away, and your safety gear is on (safety gear should be put on prior to even opening up your lye container – it is very dangerous!). 

2) Using your premeasured water, CAREFULLY add your premeasured lye to the water.  Do this slowly and carefully.  Do not add water to lye, you must add the lye to the water!  Also, make sure your area is well ventilated (we have the door and window opened and we wear masks). 

3)  Stir the lye and water mixture very well (it is super hot).  Once the lye is melted, put aside to cool.  You want the lye to be between 95 and 110 degrees (we did 110 degrees). 

4) While the lye is cooling, add all your premeasured oils together in a pot and heat to 110 degrees (or within 5 degrees of your lye).

5) Once your lye and oils are 110 degrees (or between 95-110 degrees and no more than 5 degrees difference between them), CAREFULLY pour the lye water mixture into the melted oils. 

6) Now is time to mix like crazy!  We use a hand blender and do one minute on and one minute hand stirring (we do this because the first day soaping we ruined a blender by doing 3 minutes at a time).  You just keep stirring until you hit trace.  Trace will look like a thin pudding.  For this recipe, it took us less than 10 minutes to hit trace (the goat’s milk recipe took over 30 to trace though). 

7)  At trace, add your additives.  This time we just added the energy fragrance.  We used 3.2 oz of the fragrance oil.  If you are doing an unscented bar and not adding anything, don’t worry about this step. Mix your colors, scents, or additives well.  This will thicken up your recipe but make sure it doesn’t get too thick (keep it at trace and mix just enough to properly mix in your additives).

8) Carefully pour your mixture into your chosen mold (or molds).  We use handmade wood molds but you can use milk cartons, cardboard milk containers, plastic totes, etc.  Look online for great creative ideas for cold-process soap molds.  Gently press plastic wrap on the mixture to help prevent soda ash (it’s not harmful but it isn’t super pretty either).  Then cover your mold with a towel or blanket and put it somewhere safe and away from everyone. 

9) In 3-5 days you can take your soap out of the mold and cut it.  Then put it in a safe place and let it air dry (we use wire racks and rotate the soap every few days).  In 4-6 weeks it will be ready to use!  We also test the Ph using Phenolphthalein to make sure the Ph is between 7-10.   You don’t need to test but it is recommended to make sure nothing went wrong with your soap and it is not lye heavy and dangerous.  Some people tongue test and see if they get a zap.  Whatever works best for you.   

Come check back with us later for more pictures and information as we show the whole soaping process from cutting the soap, testing Ph, and the finished product.  

* We got all of the ingredients from Brambleberry.  I highly recommend them.