Besides being a practical skill to know, making your own soap from scratch is a fun way to express yourself creatively while producing something that's useful and great for your skin. By following this simple recipe, you can make basic unscented bars of soap, or customize them by adding organic herbs, flowers, essential oils, and other skin-loving ingredients.
In times past, our foremothers made their own soap using animal fat and a wood ash solution deemed ready when it was caustic enough to dissolve a chicken feather. These days, the modern soap maker uses a standardized lye, called sodium hydroxide, to ensure consistent and reliable results.
You may wonder, as I did too, how a strong substance such as lye can produce soaps gentle enough to use on even the most sensitive skin types.
While it doesn’t seem to make sense at first thought, from a chemistry standpoint it’s absolutely necessary. You must use a highly alkaline solution, such as sodium hydroxide, in order to transform oils into soap. In the presence of heat and water, the fatty acids and glycerol in oils bond with the sodium and hydroxide portions of lye to form brand new substances—soap, plus glycerin—which are great for your skin. No lye remains in the final soap.
Important: Don’t use aluminum or non-stick equipment since those substances react negatively with lye.
Makes around 2.5 pounds of soap, or about 7 to 8 bars when using a loaf mold.
Ingredients
Directions
If you’re a new to soap making, be sure to review the tips and tricks below before you get started.
There are several ways to incorporate herbs, flowers, and other nourishing ingredients into soap recipes. While some herbal constituents won’t survive the soap making process, others are surprisingly resistant to the alkaline conditions and heat.
Instead of plain distilled water, try using a chilled herbal tea in its place. It can be as simple as chamomile tea, or a complex blend of your favorite herbs. Take note that a strong, dark tea will often yield soap with a brown hue, while some herbs, such as organic chlorella and wheatgrass, act as natural colorants.
Another way to enrich your soaps is to infuse all or part of the oils with skin soothing herbs, including organic calendula, organic chamomile, or organic plantain. Some herbs and flowers will add a subtle hint of color to your soap as well.
A third way to incorporate ingredients such as oatmeal, honey, essential oils, clay, or organic herbal powders is to blend them into the soap batter when you reach trace.
The following examples show how easy it is to create unique variations using the same simple soap recipe above, with the addition of just a few additives.
Make the soap as directed, adding 1 1/2 tsp. organic chamomile flower powder and 1 1/2 tsp. honey at trace.
Tip: Dilute the honey with an equal amount of warm water first to help it mix into the soap batter more readily.
Make the soap as directed, adding 1 Tbsp. french green clay and 24 grams organic peppermint essential oil at trace.
Tip: Dilute clay with 2 to 3 times the amount of water first to make sure it blends into the soap evenly.
Make the soap as directed, adding 1 1/2 tsp. organic chickweed powder and 1 Tbsp. ground oatmeal at trace.
Tip: Process rolled oats from the grocery store in a coffee grinder to form a fine oatmeal powder that’s perfect for soap making. Avoid using larger pieces as they can mold.
Making your own soap from scratch is an enjoyable pastime that will reward you with lovely bars of soap containing ingredients that you can feel good about using. Once you make that first successful batch, you’re likely to be hooked. There’s a world of ingredient options to explore and virtually unlimited ways to combine them!
You may also be interested in:
Topics: Natural Body Care, Recipes
Jan Berry is the soapmaker and herbalist behind the website, The Nerdy Farm Wife. She’s also the author of "The Big Book of Homemade Products", "Simple & Natural Soapmaking", and "Easy Homemade Melt & Pour Soaps". Jan lives on a small farm in the Blue Ridge Mountains with her husband and two kids, where she enjoys gardening, crafting pretty herbal concoctions, and caring for a menagerie of animals.
Besides being a practical skill to know, making your own soap from scratch is a fun way to express yourself creatively while producing something that's useful and great for your skin. By following this simple recipe, you can make basic unscented bars of soap, or customize them by adding organic herbs, flowers, essential oils, and other skin-loving ingredients.
In times past, our foremothers made their own soap using animal fat and a wood ash solution deemed ready when it was caustic enough to dissolve a chicken feather. These days, the modern soap maker uses a standardized lye, called sodium hydroxide, to ensure consistent and reliable results.
You may wonder, as I did too, how a strong substance such as lye can produce soaps gentle enough to use on even the most sensitive skin types.
While it doesn’t seem to make sense at first thought, from a chemistry standpoint it’s absolutely necessary. You must use a highly alkaline solution, such as sodium hydroxide, in order to transform oils into soap. In the presence of heat and water, the fatty acids and glycerol in oils bond with the sodium and hydroxide portions of lye to form brand new substances—soap, plus glycerin—which are great for your skin. No lye remains in the final soap.
Important: Don’t use aluminum or non-stick equipment since those substances react negatively with lye.
Makes around 2.5 pounds of soap, or about 7 to 8 bars when using a loaf mold.
Ingredients
Directions
If you’re a new to soap making, be sure to review the tips and tricks below before you get started.
There are several ways to incorporate herbs, flowers, and other nourishing ingredients into soap recipes. While some herbal constituents won’t survive the soap making process, others are surprisingly resistant to the alkaline conditions and heat.
Instead of plain distilled water, try using a chilled herbal tea in its place. It can be as simple as chamomile tea, or a complex blend of your favorite herbs. Take note that a strong, dark tea will often yield soap with a brown hue, while some herbs, such as organic chlorella and wheatgrass, act as natural colorants.
Another way to enrich your soaps is to infuse all or part of the oils with skin soothing herbs, including organic calendula, organic chamomile, or organic plantain. Some herbs and flowers will add a subtle hint of color to your soap as well.
A third way to incorporate ingredients such as oatmeal, honey, essential oils, clay, or organic herbal powders is to blend them into the soap batter when you reach trace.
The following examples show how easy it is to create unique variations using the same simple soap recipe above, with the addition of just a few additives.
Make the soap as directed, adding 1 1/2 tsp. organic chamomile flower powder and 1 1/2 tsp. honey at trace.
Tip: Dilute the honey with an equal amount of warm water first to help it mix into the soap batter more readily.
Make the soap as directed, adding 1 Tbsp. french green clay and 24 grams organic peppermint essential oil at trace.
Tip: Dilute clay with 2 to 3 times the amount of water first to make sure it blends into the soap evenly.
Make the soap as directed, adding 1 1/2 tsp. organic chickweed powder and 1 Tbsp. ground oatmeal at trace.
Tip: Process rolled oats from the grocery store in a coffee grinder to form a fine oatmeal powder that’s perfect for soap making. Avoid using larger pieces as they can mold.
Making your own soap from scratch is an enjoyable pastime that will reward you with lovely bars of soap containing ingredients that you can feel good about using. Once you make that first successful batch, you’re likely to be hooked. There’s a world of ingredient options to explore and virtually unlimited ways to combine them!
You may also be interested in:
Topics: Natural Body Care, Recipes
Jan Berry is the soapmaker and herbalist behind the website, The Nerdy Farm Wife. She’s also the author of "The Big Book of Homemade Products", "Simple & Natural Soapmaking", and "Easy Homemade Melt & Pour Soaps". Jan lives on a small farm in the Blue Ridge Mountains with her husband and two kids, where she enjoys gardening, crafting pretty herbal concoctions, and caring for a menagerie of animals.
