Have you ever tried making your own soap?

[53' Stude]

The few times I did I had help from the Amish where I grew up. Kinda labor intensive. They added oatmeal, lavender and few other things to theirs. Mine had just wood ash, cans of red devil lye and bacon fat in it. Turned out ok. Anyone ever try making their own bar soap?

 

[DriveHard]

no

 

[kschachn]

Yes once in a freshman chemistry class. I remember it not turning out very well.

 

[Vil_Riker]

yes. I don't put any of that stuff

 

[walterjay]

My wife made some. Not worth the time and effort.

 

[2heeldrive]

Yes. I have been making soap for years. It's all I use and I give a lot of it away to friends and family who like it too. Homemade soap is naturally pure and moisturizing.

I use a lye soap recipe from my old Granny, with a few minor tweaks. The ingredients are: Water, fat, (90% Lard, 10% Coconut oil), and sodium hydroxide. I don't put in any fragrance or any color. The bars are almost pure white and smell like, well , soap.

I make soap in two pound batches using the "hot process" method in a crock pot. It takes about 2 1/2 hours to make a batch. The secret is using a very accurate scale. It should be accurate to +/- .2 oz.

Here's a link on the particulars if you are interested: https://www.theprairiehomestead.com/2015/05/hot-process-soap-recipe.html

 

[SeaJay]

I saw Granny did it on an old episode of the Beverly Hillbillies. Looks like fun cooking with lye and stuff.

 

[2005jettatdi]

I have been making our soap for about three years now. I use drain cleaner (100% lye), olive oil, coconut oil and whatever vegetable oil is cheapest and do it cold process, which is around 100 degrees. I usually do not add color but do add some fragrance to most bars. I tried plumeria oil, but turned out to be allergic to it. Lately, I have been using an unscented soap made of olive oil with 1/4 coconut oil. I think I like that one best. People I give soap to like it.

 

[53' Stude]

Yes. I have been making soap for years. It's all I use and I give a lot of it away to friends and family who like it too. Homemade soap is naturally pure and moisturizing.

I use a lye soap recipe from my old Granny, with a few minor tweaks. The ingredients are: Water, fat, (90% Lard, 10% Coconut oil), and sodium hydroxide. I don't put in any fragrance or any color. The bars are almost pure white and smell like, well , soap.

I make soap in two pound batches using the "hot process" method in a crock pot. It takes about 2 1/2 hours to make a batch. The secret is using a very accurate scale. It should be accurate to +/- .2 oz.

Here's a link on the particulars if you are interested: https://www.theprairiehomestead.com/2015/05/hot-process-soap-recipe.html

Thank You for the link

 

[AutoMechanic]

My sister makes soaps. She used to do it a lot more but she still does occasionally. She was really good at it. Never could get a strong scent though but I don’t think that was anything she did wrong. I could not tell you the first step lol. I swear all the things my sister does are magical lol.

 

[UG_Passat]

The few times I did I had help from the Amish where I grew up. Kinda labor intensive. They added oatmeal, lavender and few other things to theirs. Mine had just wood ash, cans of red devil lye and bacon fat in it. Turned out ok. Anyone ever try making their own bar soap?

The homebrew biodiesel people can make soap, as the byproduct of FAME-biodiesel is glycerin

 

[PF52]

We did it in science class back in about 6th Grade. I don't remember using any of the soap though.

 

[2heeldrive]

I can't figure out how to edit a post... so, please note that the scale should be accurate to +/- .02 oz. Not .2 oz. I use a Jennings Digital Scale model CJ4000.

It is really critical to get the sodium hydroxide (aka Lye) measurement correct. Too much and there will be some left in the soap making it very harsh (probably what gave lye soap a bad rap). Too little and the soap will have too much fat left over and won't lather up and may leave a film behind. There is a term called "Superfat" which is a way to describe the amount of fat that is not used up (i.e. "saponified") by the lye. I usually try to keep the Superfat level at 1%-2% which is pretty low. Most soaper's keep the Superfat around 4%. I like to get as much fat saponified as possible so I have "tuned" the process with accurate measurement and experience.

You should try your hand at making soap. It's fun!

 

[PandaBear]

I wonder if there is a recipe for liquid soap using potassium hydroxide

 

[Vil_Riker]

I wonder if there is a recipe for liquid soap using potassium hydroxide

I have seen them in the past but haven't attempted to make because the economics didn't appeal to me at the time - there are good options on the market for liquid soap. There are good options for regular soap as well but they are very pricey so making own becomes very cost effective.

 

[Vil_Riker]

I can't figure out how to edit a post... so, please note that the scale should be accurate to +/- .02 oz. Not .2 oz. I use a Jennings Digital Scale model CJ4000.

It is really critical to get the sodium hydroxide (aka Lye) measurement correct. Too much and there will be some left in the soap making it very harsh (probably what gave lye soap a bad rap). Too little and the soap will have too much fat left over and won't lather up and may leave a film behind. There is a term called "Superfat" which is a way to describe the amount of fat that is not used up (i.e. "saponified") by the lye. I usually try to keep the Superfat level at 1%-2% which is pretty low. Most soaper's keep the Superfat around 4%. I like to get as much fat saponified as possible so I have "tuned" the process with accurate measurement and experience.

You should try your hand at making soap. It's fun!

I intentionally superfat my soaps with shea butter - I add it near the end to make sure the lye has already reacted with the other fats.

 

[Vil_Riker]

Yes. I have been making soap for years. It's all I use and I give a lot of it away to friends and family who like it too. Homemade soap is naturally pure and moisturizing.

I use a lye soap recipe from my old Granny, with a few minor tweaks. The ingredients are: Water, fat, (90% Lard, 10% Coconut oil), and sodium hydroxide. I don't put in any fragrance or any color. The bars are almost pure white and smell like, well , soap.

I make soap in two pound batches using the "hot process" method in a crock pot. It takes about 2 1/2 hours to make a batch. The secret is using a very accurate scale. It should be accurate to +/- .2 oz.

Here's a link on the particulars if you are interested: https://www.theprairiehomestead.com/2015/05/hot-process-soap-recipe.html

Where do you get the lard?

 

[kschachn]

I wonder if there is a recipe for liquid soap using potassium hydroxide

For what reason? It’s more expensive than sodium hydroxide with no real benefit here. If you’re buying “lye” you’re likely getting some of the potassium salt anyway.

 

[aquariuscsm]

I've tried some of those all natural organic plant based soaps and they dry my skin out really bad.

 

[2heeldrive]

Where do you get the lard?

Walmart. It's next to the Crisco. Comes in 1lb and 4lb tubs.