Q&A for How to Make Your Own Soap

You could try using Melt-and-Pour soap. It is generally less expensive, and all you have to do is melt the material and pour it into your own mold. There should be more instructions on the actual container.

This is the reaction where a triglyceride undergoes a nucleophilic substitution reaction with a hydroxide to create three soap molecules and a glycerol.

White vinegar can be used to neutralize the lye in the soap, and soap makers usually keep a large bottle of it at hand while making the soap to neutralize any lye spills too.

A well-made soap - that is a soap that is made with fresh, long-lasting oils of good quality, and most importantly, a low "superFat" percentage, can last many, many months or even years in storage. In contrast, a soap made with old, expired or poor quality oils, and/or a high "superfat" percentage, may turn rancid/"go off" after a few months, to even a few weeks after it is made.

It depends how much soap you want to make. Compare the volume of the shoe box by the soap mix volume.

Generally, all soaps take a minimum 4 weeks for a "basic cure". Some soapmakers prefer to let their soaps cure for several months, even up to a year for soap such as Castile soap bars (100% Olive Oil soap with just lye and water). It is up to you, really.

Coconut oil runs between $10 to $20, lye costs between $8 and $28, olive oil is anywhere between $3 and $15, shortening is from 97 cents to $5, and essential oils varies depending on the scent and quantity.

No, you need it because it is the main ingredient. It is one of the most important things in making your own soap, because you need it to produce the soap reaction.

You might want to reconsider using more than a couple of oils in a batch, because the scents will mix and result in a rather overwhelming and vague fragrance. You also may not want to use fruit puree, as the curation time is already about a month in a warm, moist covered box, which allows for faster and easier spoilage. If you do intend to use fruit puree, you will need to use preservative or fruit concentration.

Yes and no. The majority of the reaction will complete by the time the soap hardens. However, due to the kinetics of the reaction, it takes the full month for all the oils and lye to react. If you use it within five days, just beware that you may get some caustic burns due to the strength of the remaining lye.

Just like SLS, mineral oil is widely avoided for homemade soaps, as it is a likely carcinogen (cancer causer), especially if it is not of good quality and can be contaminated by harmful chemicals used in the manufacturing process.

Yes.

For soap that will be ready in 48 hours or less, you must use either the "hot process" of soap making, or use a melt and pour soap base.

The main function of essential oils in soapmaking is for the scent. Their use is completely optional, though if using essential oils or fragrance oils, ensure they are of good quality. Otherwise, they can cause the soap batch to "seize."

Using a melt and pour soap base really has no strict recipe - the soap has already been made with the caustic soda and oils already combined. Melt and pour usually just allows you to re-color, add fragrances, color swirl designs, use interesting molds, and even exfoliants (e.g. poppy, sand, oatmeal) to your soap.

Yes, try adding some food coloring.

No, it is not available in a drug store. Lye can be found in the plumbing section of most hardware stores, or purchased online. Make sure the package says it is 100% sodium hydroxide.

Yes! There are lots of soap recipes that use milk. You can find them through a simple Google search for "soap recipes with milk."

Of course! Why would you make your own soap if you aren't going to use it or sell it to someone else to use?

Yes, so long as it has a known SAP value, you can use virtually any vegetable oil in soap making.

You could wrap it in parchment paper and tie a string of twine into a ribbon around it to give it a little more pizzazz.

No, you do not. All you have to do is melt it, add essential oils, and pour it into your moulds.

Lye is sodium hydroxide, which is necessary to cause a reaction in the soap. You can find it in the plumbing section of most hardware stores or online. (Just make sure it’s 100% sodium hydroxide.)

You will get 3118.45 grams.

Certainly; however, the bare minimum is lye, water, and oil/fat.

It completely depends on which mold you use (and how large the bars are).

No, the soap cannot be used after two weeks because you have to cure it for a month first.

Not really - it would be unwise to add in any food/perishable ingredients as they are likely to go off in your soap over time. You can always give it a go in very small amounts and monitor the results, but this likely wouldn't be suitable for selling.

Generally all home made is "considered to be more gentle on the skin", however, we can't really say as everyone's skin is different. Try it out to see how you go!

Usually this would be a good idea, but when it comes to soap making, this would be not ideal as the critical ingredient - lye - is calculated on a percentage value basis, which is based off the SAP values of the oils and fats you are using. Simply put, this means the less soap you make, the more precise you have to be. For example, in a 2kg (4.4lb) batch, the lye tolerance is typically around 10 - 20 grams (0.35 - 0.70 ounces) - any more lye than this gives a harsh soap, any less gives a greasy soap prone to rancidity. Making a smaller batch would make these already small tolerances even smaller, which would be difficult for even experienced soap makers.