Making Soap

We're getting low on our soap supply, so it's time to make some more!  Wanna watch?  This will be a BRIEF description of how it is done... if you are serious about wanting to try this yourself, feel free to contact me and I would be happy to give you more information and even some tricks of the trade.

Step 1:
Line the mold with freezer paper.  My wonderful dad built this mold for me and it has served me very well.  You can use other things for molds - like plastic bins and such - but in my personal experience, those don't work as well as this.

Step 2:
Measure out the oils.   Start with 1 lb. 8 oz. of coconut oil and then 2 lb. 6 oz. of Crisco. 

 Put both of these in a big metal pot on the stove and turn the heat to low for the oils to melt.  Below, you will see that these oils are almost all melted.

Step 3:
While waiting for the oils to melt, measure out 2 lbs. (just over 3 cups) of cold water into a large glass bowl. 

At this point, rubber gloves are necessary because this next step is caustic.  CAREFULLY measure out 12 oz. of powdered lye into a separate glass container.

Take the water and the lye OUTSIDE.  Stirring constantly, and keeping your face out of the way of the fumes, slowly pour the lye into the water. 

Continue stirring until all the lye is dissolved.  Hang a thermometer on the side of the bowl in order to continually monitor the temperature... it gets very hot.

Step 4:
Back at the stove, when the oils in the pot have melted, turn off the heat and add 1 lb. 8 oz. of olive oil (sorry, no picture).

Step 5: 
Wait.  ...and wait.  This is the boring part, but you have to wait until both liquids (the lye/water outside and the oils in the pot) are each at about 98 degrees.  This may require turning the heat back on low if the oils have cooled too quickly, or a cold water bath if they aren't cooling fast enough.  The temperature of the lye/water is what drives this process - hard to heat that back up. 

Step 6:
When both of the liquids have reached between 98 and 100 degrees, slowly pour the lye/water into the oils.

Stir constantly for while the saponification process takes place.  This only takes a few minutes.  You are watching for the "trace point"... this is where you can see the lines on the surface of the soap when you dribble it off of the spoon (or whatever you're mixing with). 

Notice that I switched my immersion whisk with an immersion blade... I do this because the blade makes my soap reach trace way too fast... I like to be sure things are mixed up well with the whisk before I switch to the blade.  Also notice how the mixture got lighter in color.  The consistency becomes similar to pudding.  (Note:  just before trace occurs is when essential oils or colorants would be added, but I never add anything.  I prefer my soap as natural as possible.)

Step 7:
When trace occurs, immediately pour the soap into the prepared mold.

Below, you can see what I mean by trace... the dribbles stay on the surface.
 

Step 8:
Place the filled mold in a warm place and cover with towels or blankets.  This prevents the mixture from cooling down too quickly, which will ruin the soap.  It will stay like this for 18 hours. (Mine goes down in the utility room - the warmest room in the house - and I put a couple more towels on top of this one).

Step 9:
After 18 hours, remove the blankets and let the soap sit uncovered for another 8-10 hours.

Step 10:
Remove the soap from the mold and slice into bars.  My wonderful dad also built this slicer for me - isn't he the best?!

 

And here they are... 36 bars of wonderful, natural soap!  They will need to cure for at least 3 weeks before using, otherwise, they are too soft and won't last long in the shower.

That's it!  Not too hard, eh?