Soap tutorial and recipe for absolute beginners (you can do it!)

Hello everyone, I’m so excited to share this with you!

I created this cold process soap making tutorial and beginner recipe with simplicity and flexibility in mind for newcomers to soap making. If that resonates with you, you’ve come to the right place!

Please view the video tutorial first, then look below that for the written recipe with all the information you’ll need to make this beautiful handmade soap at home.

If you want to take a deeper dive into soap making safety before you start, check out this video.

To read my general introduction to soap making, you’ll find that here.

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Thanks, and have fun!

The Recipe

INGREDIENTS

• 175g water
  Use filtered tap water, or any other clean, drinking quality water

• 96g sodium hydroxide
  Also known as caustic soda - this should be 98% pure with no other ingredients - check the label

• 70g shea butter, cocoa butter or mango butter
  You can also use tallow, lard or palm oil if butters aren’t available (not coconut oil)

• 140g coconut oil
  Use regular, unfractionated coconut oil. Either virgin or refined (RBO) are fine.

• 490g olive oil/combination liquid plant oils (mono or polyunsaturated fats)
  For this portion of the oils, you can use half olive oil and any combination of canola, sunflower, soybean, sesame, peanut, almond, apricot kernel or rice bran oils.

  • For the video I used (total 490g):
    166g olive oil + 162g rice bran oil + 162g sunflower oil

• OPTIONAL: 20g skin safe essential oils
  For the video I used 14g lemongrass + 3g amyris + 3g peppermint
  Some other essential oils you could use: Lavender, eucalyptus, palmarosa, litsea cubea, tea tree, rosemary.

  • OR: 7-10g soap and skin safe fragrance oil
    I rarely use synthetic fragrance oils in my soap recipes, but you can if you want to! Just make sure your FO’s are suitable for soap making and are skin safe. I recommend always following the manufacturer or supplier’s directions and usage rates.
    

EQUIPMENT

• Safety glasses/goggles

• Kitchen gloves

• Apron or old clothing
  Some soap makers like to have vinegar on hand to neutralise lye if there are any splashes or spills, however the material safety data sheet for sodium hydroxide recommends skin/surfaces be rinsed with lots of fresh water.

• Plastic tablecloth or sheeting to cover work surface

• Digital kitchen scale with tare function

• 2 x polypropylene plastic jugs (no.5 type plastic)

  • one at least 2 litre/2 quart capacity

  • one at least 500ml/1 pint capacity
    (stainless steel is ok too)

• Small plastic container with lid for weighing sodium hydroxide

• Immersion blender (I call them stick blenders) or a whisk
  You can use anything except aluminum utensils to stir your soap batter, but expect to stir it for a VERY long time if you are not using a blender!

• 1 litre or 1 quart tetra pack milk carton (plastic lined, rinsed well) or a silicone loaf mould with 1 litre, 1 quart or 2 pounds capacity.

• Spoons or silicone spatulas

• Microwave or stove and saucepan to melt saturated fats

• Warm blanket and/or insulated box

• Drying rack

METHOD

1. Watch the video demonstration of this recipe on YouTube

2. Find a well ventilated, clear space near a sink and fresh water to make your soap

3. Cover work surface with protective sheeting

4. Prepare soap mould

5. Prepare lye solution:

   • Wearing gloves and eye protection, weigh sodium hydroxide into a small container with a lid and set aside.

   • Weigh water into a medium sized jug (at least 500ml capacity).

   • Slowly and carefully, pour sodium hydroxide into the water (never the other way around!) and stir gently until dissolved. Stand clear of fumes and set the jug aside somewhere safe until ready to use.

6. Prepare oils mixture:

   • Weigh the butter/hard fats and coconut oil into a large microwave safe jug (no. 5 PP type) or stainless steel saucepan, taring the scale in between each ingredient.

   • Gently melt hard fats on the stove or in a microwave on low power, until the mixture is translucent and fully melted.

   • Weigh olive oil/other liquid oils into the jug with the melted hard fats and stir to combine. We want the fats/oils mixture to be just warm, definitely not hot!

7. If using, weigh essential oils into a small cup or jar. This soap is also lovely made fragrance free!

8. When you are ready, it’s time to mix the soap!

   • Carefully pour the lye water solution into the oils and begin to stir gently.

   • Using an immersion blender, blend the soap mixture in brief bursts, stirring in between, until the batter lightens in colour and looks evenly mixed.

   • If using, add essential oils and stir through thoroughly.

   • Continue stirring until the soap batter starts to thicken slightly, then pour the soap carefully into the mould.

9. Allow the soap batter to thicken in the mould for a few more minutes before covering with a cloth or paper towel, and storing somewhere warm/insulated for the initial cure period.

10. Leave the raw soap undisturbed for about 18 hours then remove it from the mould and cut into bars. Use gloves to handle fresh soap if it has not yet fully saponified.

11. Place the cut soap on a drying rack and cure in a dry and airy place (out of direct sunlight) for 4-6 weeks before using.

12. Test your soap for safety after 1-2 weeks cure time, with either of these methods: pH test strips or the zap test.

13. Enjoy your very first batch of handmade soap, you’re going to love it! (and well done, you did it 🙌).

Good luck everyone, and have fun!

Please leave any comments and questions in the section below and I’ll get back to you asap.

Elly 🌸

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