Make Your Own Soap without Lye

Supplies Needed

– Natural Soap Base
– Molds
– Herbs, flowers, or fruit (like lavender flowers), rose petals; blueberries, blackberries, orange peels, lemon peels, even apple skins (fresh)
– Essential Oils
– Parchment Paper (depending on what mold you use)
– Molds (I love molds, circular molds, or simple bar molds, literally anything can be used for a mold, using the imagination that’s what makes homemade soap so special especially when making it for a gift to that special someone)
– Something to grate (a cheese grater, salad shooter, or food processor are good choices)
– Liquid

1. Natural soap

Look for soap that is free of chemicals and fragrances. The simpler the better when it comes to hand milling. White or cream colored work best.

You can use many kinds of soap. Here are some good choices:

• Cocoa Butter Soap Base
• Glycerin Soap Base
• Goat's Milk Soap Base
• Shea Butter Soap Base

2. Molds

A simple bread loaf pan will work depending on how much soap you're melting. Line the mold with parchment paper for easy removal. Silicone molds work well too. These come in fun shapes and sizes like this flower mold. You will need parchment paper if you choose to use the common bread mold pan as the mold of your choice.

3.  Herbs/Plants

Do you love lavender? Dried lavender or even fresh lavender makes a perfect addition. Roses? Dried rose petals or even fresh rose petals work beautifully. Plant powders will double as natural colorants.

If you plan on using fruit, make sure that the fruit is fresh for the best results. Blackberry and Blueberry makes a lovely light blue and even purple color, oranges with added sea salt and a spot of turmeric will make a very deep orange color, add cinnamon to lemons for a great looking swirled light/dark lemon color, add a pinch of sugar and a drop or 2 of vanilla extract to set the lemon smell (I use ¼ Tsp. and 4 drops of vanilla extract per bar).

Turmeric, for example, turns the soap a light orange while adding skin nourishing qualities. Spirulina powder makes a deep green. Ground oatmeal offers a nice exfoliating quality. Himalayan pink salt adds a nice pink hue.

4. Essential oils

Forgo the petroleum based fragrances and add scent using 100% natural essential oils. Essential oils carry through the hand milling process quite well – so pick a scent you enjoy and have fun!

Herb/essential oil combinations that work well include:

- Lemon Oil with Cinnamon powder

- Pine Oil with Turmeric powder
- Peppermint Oil with activated charcoal for a deep cleansing experience.

- Plumeria Oil with dried lavender

- Thyme Oil with turmeric powder

5. Liquid

You'll need to add a slight amount of liquid to keep the soap from burning during the melting process.  While normal water works fine, possible liquids include beer, coconut milk, coffee, green tea, kombucha, infused herbs, floral hydrosol, fruit juice and even wine.

Instructions

1.  Grate 8 ounces of soap. (Two regular size bars.) A cheese grater works well, as does a salad shooter. A food processor also works.

2.  Sprinkle 1-2 ounces water or other liquid over the grated soap.

3.  Heat on low setting in a double boiler or crock pot. You can also place in oven-safe pot and heat in the oven at the lowest setting.
Make sure to stir frequently to avoid burning. This can take anywhere from 15 minutes to an hour. When soap is liquefied, remove from heat. It will be somewhat lumpy and translucent. In order to make is ready to receive the next part, vigorously stir this liquid until it is creams and without lumps.

4.  Add desired ingredients. Experimentation is necessary to get the results that you like, as no one recipe can even come close to pleasing all the people all the time.

5.  Now, gentle stir to desired consistency. Pour (or spoon) soap mixture into molds.  I placed some dried rose petals on the bottom of the flower molds.

6.  Cool the soap and remove from mold (place mold into freezer for up to 1 hour to make this easier). Cut into desired sizes and shapes using a soap cutter or a food scraper/shovel.

7.  Allow soap to dry for several days or more. The more liquid you use the longer it will take to cure.

8.  Once you begin using your soap, be sure to dry it thoroughly between uses to extend its life.

And That's it!  These would make a fabulous gift for almost any occasion.

As always, stay safe and enjoy life to its fullest!

-Bird

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