How To Start Making Soap At Home?
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What do you need to know about handmade soap?
Once you start making soap at home, you will never go back to commercial soaps.
Soap is a necessity for people since ancient times. Few items are considered as vital as soap. It is part of our daily lives and let's be honest - we can't really go without it. Many people would prefer to use other means for cleaning when they are outside, for example cosmetic wet wipes or antibacterial gels, but there is nothing that can substitute the "good, old" soap in terms of cleaning properties.
How did people make soap in the past?
Early soap production dates back to when soaps were rather a luxurious product. Their making was considered craftsmanship and a secret that was passed on from one generation to another - from masters to apprentices. One of the first known and written soap recipes is from the 12th century and was found in a compilation of various crafts' secrets. At that time, soap recipes were developed in a trial-and-error approach and the end product was used in the clothing industry rather than being a hygiene item.
Due to the scarcity of products available for soap making, the transportation fees for importing goods and the fact that the process was kept a secret, soap was a luxurious product, which was only readily available to the rich people.
Nowadays, with the advancement of technology, availability to travel and transport low-taxed goods, as well as the open knowledge sharing, the world of soap making has opened to the public. And while it seems to be a complicated, chemical process, with the right guidance and preparation, anyone can start making soap at home.
How to start making soap at home?
Now, the most important thing to bear in mind is to not underestimate the process. When making soap at home, we must be extra careful with handling the ingredients and the chemical process occurring when mixing a lye solution. In order to start making soap at home, please prepare yourself first - read about the items you will need, plan ahead the recipe you would like to try, buy the right amount of ingredients and make sure the room you will be making soap at, is well ventilated, has enough space to move, with no kids or pets around.
What equipment do you need when you start making soap at home?
We can categorize the equipment you will need for starting making soap at home in three categories:
Pots & Containers
The basic set of containers you will need is the following:
You will need a melting pot and a regular pot made of stainless steel. This is where you will melt the solid butters and oils. You can use what you already have at your disposal at home, as the oils you will be working with are natural and often odorless, so you don’t need to worry about buying extra cooking equipment. However, if you choose to dedicate more time and space to soapmaking, make sure to buy a stainless steel sauce pan (or two) that will be used exclusively for your craft.
You will need at least two bowls (not glass, as glass tends to break when exposed to the high temperatures the lye solution is going to reach) for mixing your oils and making the soap batter. Make sure these bowls are marked PP 5 (polypropylene).
You will need a measurement cup which you can measure your oils, water/liquids with. You can also use pipettes or measuring spoons for measuring essential oils, but this is not obligatory. For measuring scented oils or butters, please use separate containers than what you normally use in your kitchen. The scents tend to “connect” with the plastic, meaning if you measure flour or milk with the same cups when baking, your cake will end up being scented and you don’t want that.
Technical equipment
A must-have when you start making soap at home, is of course, having an immersion blender (or blender stick, as we like to call it) for mixing your oils with the lye solution. You can do that by hand as well, with a regular whisker (that you use only for soapmaking), but if you use oils that are slow to trace, such as olive or sunflower oil, you will need at least three hours of whisking before you reach a trace. Please, also use a different immersion blender than the one you normally use when you are cooking. This will prevent unwanted aromas going in your food.
Another thing you need, is an electric scale. Soaps are made with great precision and every gram makes a difference in the end result. So always use a scale when measuring your ingredients.
Last but not least, you will need an electric thermometer. Because temperatures go high very fast, you need to cool down your lye solution before you start mixing it with your oils. On the other hand, you have probably heated some oils and butters in order to melt them and they need to cool down.
When making soap at home, it is important to keep the temperatures of the two mixes (lye solution and oils) within 10-12 degrees Celsius. Also, it is important to have a certain temperature of each that will allow you to work with the batter and prevent speeding up the saponification process that will leave you with either a super thick mix that is difficult to pour, or overheating that causes your soap to “explode”. Thus, always measure your temperatures before starting mixing. And always keep track of them with an electric thermometer.
Ingredients List
What you can’t go without (in cold process soap making) is an alkali base. This can be either NaOH for a soap bar or a KOH for a liquid soap. The natrium hydrogen is usually sold in bulk and looks like small white pearls. You need also distilled water in order to make your lye solution.
The second part of your recipe are the oils and butters that will give the nice nourishing properties of your soap. Read more about what are the most common oils used in soapmaking. And if you are feeling fancy, you can also add essential oils, fragrance oils, colorants or sometimes, even food products, such as milk, honey, coffee, herbs, etc.
Make sure to plan the recipes you want to make in advance, so you can buy all ingredients you need at once. Thus, you will save a lot on shipping costs and fees.
Useful resources when you start making soap at home
When we started making soap at home, we had to read tons of articles, watch various video tutorials, ask experienced soapmakers stupid questions and re-read our Chemistry books from high school, in order to be fully prepared for anything that we will experience in the process. If you are thinking about starting making soap at home, please consider getting high-quality information from trusted sources.
There are many e-Books out there, which don't really teach you the small yet important things of soap making. A few of the sources we would recommend if you are a beginner soapmaker, are SoapQueen, Lovely-Greens, Elly's Everyday. These are our favourite sources of inspiration and our guides when starting out this soap journey, so we believe they will help you learn a lot as well!
