LewmanNation : Easy Homemade Soap Recipe

My husband and i have been wanting the try our hands at making Homemade Soap. This fall we attended a Mother Earth News Fair in PA. There we a went to a seminar on soap making and they made soap right in front of us. Helping us realize how easy it was. I did research on what oils and fats I wanted to use. See here and here. And then found a recipe that used the fats and oils that had on hand (I like this combo because I already had olive oil and coconut oil, so all i needed to buy was lye and palm oil on amazon) with the skin benefits that I desired. Recipe I used can be found found here. I dont think that we will go back to store bought soap again.

Ingredients

6 oz sodium hydroxide (lye)*
14 oz distilled water
12 oz coconut oil
16 oz palm oil
20 oz olive oil

70 drops of Doterra essential oils (50 drops cedarwood and 20 drops geranium essential oils) Click on to see the benefits of each.**

*Handle the lye with great care. Lye is extremely corrosive to your skin, eyes and other materials. It will stain wood counters. Spills feel slippery. Have vinegar and running water available to neutralize any spill and flush the area.*If a spill happens, take care or your skin first. Rinse the area with cool water for no less than 5 continuous minutes. Then apply vinegar to the area and rinse again.There should never be any splashes into your eyes because you were wearing your eye protection! Lye splashing into your eye is very very serious - you could be blinded. Rinse the area continuously with water for 10-15 minutes. If the burn is severe, call for emergency medical help and continue rinsing until help arrives. Do not attempt to pour vinegar into your eye to neutralize it. Even if the eye feels okay - continue rinsing. Seek medical attention for any lye spill that had entered your eye.

** check out my Doterra Website here or check out my Essential oils page on this blog.

Equipment

Large stainless steel pot (must be stainless steel)

Kitchen scale (measure in ounces)

Half gallon size mason jar (or any glass container with thick walls)

Safety glasses or goggles

Rubber gloves

Plastic Apron

2 - 3 silicone spatulas

Soap mold (wooden box or dishwasher safe plastic container)

Heavy Duty freezer paper (if using a wooded mold)

Hand- held immersion blender

2 instant read thermometers (I use a instant read and candy thermometers)

Cover for soap mold and blankets to insulate

Directions

Step 1: Remove distractions. We did this during nap time.

Step 2: Line wooden molds with freezer paper. We found a sushi roll box, a random wooden box, and a pampered chef measuring device and lined each with the freezer paper.

Step 3: Put on safety equipment; gloves, apron, and glasses. Weigh out your lye crystals in a glass jar and set them aside in a safe spill-proof place.

Step 4: Weigh water and place into heat-proof glass container (preferably with a cover). I used a mason jar.

Step 5: Place the weight water (in its heat-proof container) in sink or heat proof area and add the lye until all the lye is completely added. Stir the lye carefully until the lye solution temperature reduces to approximately 95°F.

I forgot to take a picture with the candy thermometer in the mason jar. We used this one so we could just leave it in and watch the temperature.

Step 6: While waiting for the lye to get cooler. Weigh out all the solid oils. Weigh out all the liquid oils. Basically the rest of ingredients weight out.

Step 7: Decide on the essential oils you wish to use. I let my husband choose and we loved it. Cedarwood and Geranium. We pick them for the smell combination and skin benefits.

Step 8: Heat your solid fats until completely melted, then remove from the heat and add liquid oils.
Step 9: Stir the oil mixture and the lye solution separately until each is about 80°F. Heat the oils if necessary. Use gentle warm water baths to control temperatures if necessary. Use separate stirrers.
Step 10: When both the oil and lye are the correct temperatures, start pouring the lye into oil. Add the lye slowly and carefully into the oil, avoid splashing. Stir the lye into the oil gently until incorporated. Once this is done you may use your immersion blender.If you are using a blender your soap will trace within 5-10 minutes. If you are stirring by hand, it may take 15-60 minutes to trace.

Close to 5 minutes of stirring and add essential oils.

After 10 minutes and its done.

Step 11: Once a light trace takes place about five minutes, add you essential oils, botanicals, super fatting oils and additives. Continue blending until a hard trace takes place another five minutes.
Step 12: Pour into mold and then cover and insulate with a blanket. Place in a warm area. Remove your safety equipment. Do not disturb the soap for 24 hours.

Step 13: After 24 hours, uncover and let sit another 24 hours, cut as needed. Then turn out onto a surface protected by brown paper bags, I used sushi rolling mats. Let air dry 4-6 weeks.