Technically speaking, soap is a combination of oil/fat, liquid, and lye. Here’s the thing… lye is a highly caustic alkaline solution, which can cause severe burns on your skin. If you choose to make soap (from scratch) you’ll need to use caution and wear proper protection. So… can you make soap without lye? Well… yes and no. While lye is required to make soap, you can buy melt and pour soap bases which have already combined the oil, liquid, and lye for you so you don’t have to work with lye directly. This method is super easy and requires just a few minutes of your time. So, let’s get started… here’s how to make soap without lye.
I am always drawn to pretty homemade hand soaps at craft fairs and farmer’s markets. They look so pretty with their little specks of vanilla bean, lemon peel or coffee beans. I pick them up and breath in their aroma… then I look at the price tag and quietly set them back down. I just can’t justify spending so much on a bar of soap. But then I got to thinking, could I just make my own soap? I could add in a few essential oils and my own “add-ins” (like the coffee beans or lemon peels). Ready to get started?
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The following recipe makes 8-10 small bars of soap
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Some soap bases come scored, and others require you to cut them. In either case you’ll need about eight 1″ squares of soap base. Start by placing your cubes into a microwave-safe glass measuring cup.
Place it into the microwave and heat, on high, for approximately 30 seconds. Stir with a wooden craft stick, and continue to microwave, on high, in 10 second increments; stirring in between. This stuff melts pretty quickly, so don’t overdo it. (For reference, mine took a total of 40 seconds: the initial 30 seconds + another 10 seconds.)
Once your soap base has melted, mix in your “add-ins” (in my case, ground lavender buds and oats*) and stir it in with a craft stick.
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*For reference, I placed 1/2 Tablespoon lavender buds and 1/2 Tablespoon oats into a coffee grinder and ground down to desired size.
Once your “add-ins” are mixed in, add 20-30 drops of essential oil, giving it one last stir. The soap begins to harden right away, so you need to move quickly.
With everything thoroughly mixed, pour the mixture into your soap mold.
Allow the soap to cool and harden at room temperature. Once hardened (which takes about 30-60 minutes depending on how big your soaps are), you can pop the soap out of the molds and it’s ready to use.
Making soap from scratch requires proper weighing of ingredients, handling lye (which is a big “no thank you” from me), and a lot of time (days for the soap to harden and a several weeks for the soap to cure). Melt and pour soap bases allow you to skip this process because it’s already been done for you. No need to get precise measurements, no handling lye, and no waiting! Also, the “from scratch version” should not be used if you are involving children in the process, as the use of lye should only be done by a responsible adult with proper protection.
If you’d like to make soap from scratch, here’s some detailed instructions I found.
Yes… and no. Lye is required in soap-making, however, the lye is chemically converted during the saponification process, so while lye is used to make the soap base, no lye remains in the soap base after the saponification process. Make sense?
While the recipe above creates a lavender & oat hand soap, there are so many combinations you could try. Here are just a few I came up with…
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Goat’s Milk Soap Base30 drops Peppermint Essential Oil1 Tablespoon Fresh Coffee Grounds
Any Soap Base20-25 drops Lemon Essential Oil* and 5-10 drops Rosemary Essential Oil 1/2 Tablespoon Dried Rosemary and 1/2 Tablespoon Dried Lemon Peel
Any Soap Base20-25 drops Orange Essential Oil* and 5-10 drops Clove Essential Oil1 Tablespoon Dried Orange Peel with a sprinkle of Ground Cloves
I made a Homemade Foot Soak using Tea and the scent is absolutely delightful with its warm spicy notes. For soap:
Any Soap Base6 drops Lemongrass, 6 drops Cinnamon Bark, 4 drops Peppermint, 2 drops Ginger, and 6 drops Orange*.Sweet & Spicy Tea (just cut a bag open and pour the loose tea into the mix)
Any Soap Base10-15 drops Lavender Essential Oil and 10-15 drops Peppermint Essential Oil1 Tablespoon Poppy Seeds
*Citrus essential oils are very mild in scent and may not hold up in the soap base. I have read that you can use a 5-fold citrus essential oil (5x stronger) for soap-making, which should hold up in the soap base. Honestly, I haven’t found a trusted brand that makes a 5x citrus oil, so if you know of one, let me know!
If you’d rather try a foaming hand soap, this is one of my favorite recipes! DIY Foaming Hand Soap
Source: https://gardencourte.com
Categories: Recipe
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