Soap is not hard to make as long as you get yourself very organised before you begin. It only takes a couple of hours to make a decent batch of soap. I used lye, lard, coconut oil and water, then added lavender for fragrance. After reading all the sites you sent me to, this weekend I began the practical research in making Lavender Soap for Charlotte.
First I made a Cold Process soap. I added the lye to the water and stirred it then added this to the fats and stirred that with the stick blender, it came to trace very quickly (Trace is when your stirring stick leaves a trace in the pudding like mixture) so I poured it into the mold and wondered why it had been so easy. After reading a number of other recipes I realised I had done piles of stuff wrong. I had forgotton to take the temperature of the lye. I added lye to unmelted lard. I had forgotton to cool the lye first. I had forgotton to cover the soap afterwards so that it stayed hot to cure (though I quickly rectified this once I realised).
(Surprisingly the next morning the soap had forgiven me and it was hard enough to cut into slices) Much to my amazement I had made soap.
There are two ways of making soap, both begin the same but end differently: Cold Process Soap and Hot Process Soap. I had elected to start with the Cold Process as it looked simpler. Making Hot Process Soap means that after adding the lye water to the lard and stirring it to the trace stage, you then cook it, so with my second batch I did this in the slow cooker.
And once again I made soap. I got the recipe for this one from chickens in the road.
I chose to add lavender instead of vanilla and cinnamon (we all know how I feel about cinnamon) and it came out beautifully as well.
So either soap making is really not as hard as I thought or I have used up all my beginners luck.
Just be careful not to inhale the lye water, and mix the lye into the water not the other way around. And have everything measured and in order before you begin.
I used shoe boxes lined with white plastic bags for molds.
As I have no plastic jugs and bowls, glass and stainless steel is fine. Everything washed up beautifully in the dishwasher.
Make sure to cover the soap in its mold straight away with a piece of cardboard then with old sweatshirts and towels. The first stage of the curing is a hot one and it needs to stay warm as long as you can.
The bars of soap are now resting in the cellar to cure. I have about forty creamy lightly scented bars. For the Cold Process the curing may take up to 6 weeks. For the Hot Process the soap will be ready to use after only a few weeks (though some people use them straight away) as the heat from the cooking escalates the curing process. I am instructed to turn these every few days so they cure evenly.
I was so focused on my soap making ventures that I did not notice Boo the Bad very quietly creeping into my reading chair for a quick recharge.
Now that I know the basics I am going to make more soap. Designing a soap for each of my children and their families as their Christmas presents. There is excema in our family and lard soap is supposed to be very good for the dry skin.
After the soap I spent the rest of the weekend making bread and ice cream and tomato sauce and the usual things.
But I am as proud of making this soap as I am of growing my own apples.
Have a lovely day.
Your friend on the farm, celi
ps This is bread, not soap. No mixing the two up!! Good morning!
pss, (later in the morning) just found this link with some really good soap making info: 4 steps to making soap. Worth a look.
The Kitchen's Garden 
96 responses to “Making soap for the first time”
I’m sure I’d regret it if I did, but those bars of soap look so smooth and creamy, I’d like to take a bite out of one of them!
They do look delicious don’t they! .. c
.it would be too much like my dad washing my mouth out to try 🙂
That’s what’s known as foaming at the mouth!
That soap looks good enough to eat !!
Smells good too, as it cures it gets an even soapier smell so i am told! c
my goodness you are a lady of many talents..how on earth do you find the time to go into competition with Proctor & Gamble..?
I find it difficult in the supermarket trying to decide what flavour hubby would like or how do I want him to smell.
personally I have not used soap for many many years…and I am not sure why..possibly all the chemicals that go into it…I would be useless at making it myself !
It is very easy to make actually, i am sure you could make it.. c
My sister has a picture of our great grandfather making soap in a big kettle in their backyard over some burning firewood. It was said the soap was used for everything from cleaning bodies to laundry. Morning miss c…t
What a shot, and in those days he would have made his own lye AND rendered the lard, so much harder than now.. c
Yep! Recall being told how the lye and lard was made. Made me go ick as a child..t
Marvelous, C! So glad you had such good luck!
(We won’t discuss last year’s Lye Soap Adventure, eh?)
Have a great day!
Nope. Making my own lye was a hopeless adventure. Buying it seems to have been the most sensible option! (And fastest) You have a good memory, I had forgotton I tried to make lye. c
Wow!
It looks fabulous.
Did you make it inside (or outside)? Did you have to use rubber gloves or anything?
I vaguely remember reading 20+ yrs ago that lye burns and it’s safer to make it out in the open air?
Or am I thinking of something else I read many years ago?
I think hand made soap (or handmade anything) is a wonderful idea for Christmas presents.
Yes you are right. Lye is a nasty acid. I had all the doors and windows open and worked inside. I did not want to work outside with acid in case the dogs bumped me and it spilled on them. And yes I was a good girl and wore my rubber gloves and when using the stick blender I put on my safety (sun) glasses! c
Beautiful! Love this post, it’s amazing to have created that from scratch! My dream is to find a soap recipe which does not involve chemicals but I don’t think it exist as I have been researching for years, ironically I can buy it in any nature shop 🙂
Well, Lye is made from dripping water through ash. You could make it yourself. The lard is from pigs fat and of course the water is chemical free. So if you made your own lye (which I failed to be able to do so bought it instead) it really would be chemical free. c
Wow! Thanks! I’m going to write down your recipe 🙂
I tried to make lye, but failed, (I bought this lot) maybe you can find a better description of the process on the internet.. let me know how you do.. we have lots of wood ash!! c
Look at Boo with that little half opened eye – so knows it’s a cheeky thing to be on the chair!
Great looking soap. I’ve just cleaned out the shed so maybe I should try something a little crafty as well – thanks for the links Celi.
Cleaning out the shed is such satisfying thing to do, maybe i will clean out a corner of mine! c
It’s one of the jobs I dread to start but then it’s not so bad once you get stuck in. Nice to find that most of the ‘junk’ taking up space were old clothes of my daughters (she’d snuck back home and put them in the shed) – so I can find a new home for them …
Awesome Celi – well done! Oh I bet your soap smells lovely. I didn’t realise you had to cure soap – never too old to learn.
Little Boo looks so very comfy/
Have a lovely farmy day.
🙂 Mandy xo
Curing allows the last of the acid to be rendered harmless by the lard, and the bars will harden so I am told. Then the soap lasts longer.c
You did such a great job and I don’t think it was beginners luck at all. I think it is just because almost everything you touch is so blessed it just naturally does what it is supposed to do. Can’t blame Boo for that transgression—-it looks like the perfect spot.
I did read everything I could and made notes (that i forgot to look at) .. I love research! But I followed the recipes to the gram. I am not at the stage of experimenting yet. c
Wow Celi!! These bars look marvelous! What a priceless photo of Boo too! Your talents with the camera really draw me in. That soap looks wonderful, and you’ve got me thinking I might attempt this craft during the fall/winter months! Have a lovely day, my talented friend!
I know huh? She has me interested too! What great gifts they would make! 😀
Morning Sundog. I see why they made soap in the fall, as that is when you get your lard. I have another large tub of lard that I will freeze so that I too can make some more in the winter. It would be a prefect project for a cold wintry day inside. Speaking of cold it really is quite chilly here this morning, I almost had to look out my gloves.. c
Celi that is incredible! You did it!!! I am so impressed! I have never made soap, but I am willing to try. North Dakota winters are very very very dry….my skin begins to feel like it belongs on an alligator or at the very least a gila monster! Eeeeewwwww…..ah hate it!
I go through so much lotion I should buy stock in Andalou Naturals! I love this company! I use their shampoos and conditioners too! Their passion fruit body butter, citrus verbena body lotion, and lavender & biotin shampoo and conditioner are my favorites. The butter on my poor sad little
hands! Even with gloves they take a lot of abuse on the farm. Lotion on my legs! Soooo nice and soothing! And the mosquitoes don’t seem to care for it! 😀
Your soap looks great! I can’t wait til you begin to use it and let us all know how you like it! I have dried lavender flowers and I’ll bet they would look lovely in the soap!!!! Thanks for the link!
I wish I had more hours in my day!!!! Today I am making more elderberry jelly and then have to clean up my gardens. I like to leave the flowers there and clean them up in the spring. Kevin hates this…but it is good cover and protects! The veggie gardens have to be cleaned up or I will have an interesting garden of volunteers! LOL As it is I am always pulling baby trees from all over the gardens!
Had my breakfast and waiting for Kevin to come to get me. Have to clean the barn too. Fresh straw for my fur babies! I used to use kitty litter but it freezes solid in the winter and it is useless. They have a heated house in the barn and they like the loft where it is very cozy and gets heat from the winter shop.
Boo is so darn cute!!! Bad Boo! LOL He has the sweetest little fuzzy face!!! And he looks very comfy cozy!!! (((Boo))) Feel the hugs Boo! 😀
Have a great day Celi! Everyone else here too! I love to check in and see what you are up to! Success! A soap maker on top of everything else! Oh yeah…definitely impressed!
Oh i know about those little trees, all the maples I transplant but most of them are the doomed dutch elm, and they have mean tap roots too, I have started finishing out the gardens, but it is getting cold out there today. Funny that you leave the flower gardens, I do exactly the same and watch the birds pecking at the dried flower heads all winter long. I agree about the ground cover too. have a lovely day.. c
I have missed you! My internet is down, and your blog is my favorite way to start the day!
I hate internet problems, though i did take yesterday off so you did not miss much! take care darling girl.. c
Will wear goggles! Yikes! LOL
yes, splashes would be bad.. c
Well done Celi! And the photos are spectacular. Love that little bad Boo. Must have made you smile to see that sweet little guy, even if you could never tell him that, (kind of like when my middle child had the party of the century at home while I was away for the weekend, hired her brother’s big beefy friends as bouncers, rocked the neighbourhood and then completely cleaned up to spotless before I got home…kind of like that.) 🙂
What an excellent child. She certainly has a bright future! Class! c