Web1. Suit up in safety goggles, gloves and long sleeves. 2. Add the lye to the water. Stir well taking precautions to not breathe in the fumes. Set the mixture to the side …
Preview
See Also: Tea RecipesShow details
The first thing you need for making cold pressed soap is lye flakes, a strong base used to saponify (turn into soap) the oil and butter. The next essential ingredient is oil, which can be either a mix of different oils or all one type of oil.
If you strip soap down to the basics, a homemade batch of soap requires just three main ingredients: lye + distilled water + oils/fats. If you want to get creative with your soap once you’ve made a basic cold process soap recipe first, you can add essential oils, colorants, and other additives such as dried botanicals.
Place the soap-making pot with the solid oils on the stove over medium-low heat. Slowly melt the oils while stirring gently. Monitor the temperature with a thermometer. Turn off the heat when the oils get to about 110 degrees Fahrenheit. Keep stirring until all the solid oils are melted.
The lye will have saponified the oils in the recipe, leaving you with oodles and oodles of natural, skin nourishing glycerin. Glycerin is a natural byproduct of any basic cold process soap recipe. Most commercially produced soaps remove glycerin and replace it with synthetic detergents and cleansers.