Endodog
Basic Soap Recipe
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There are a squillion variants on how to make soap. I have tried many of them, and have done what many others have done before me, that I have learnt from - I have developed a quick and easy way (notice I don't say mess free, coz it isn't!!) of making soap. The following recipe uses olive and castor oils and shea butter, but there are many many different oil combinations you can use.
The most useful link for me is the lye calculator at Majestic Mountain Sage
http://www.thesage.com/calcs/lyecalc2.php
This most helpful site allows you to design your own recipes and calculate the lye and liquids required.
Buttery Olive Soap
320g olive oil
40g castor oil
40g shea butter
50.9g sodium hydroxide
100g room temperature water
5-10ml essential oil or fragrant oil
colours or additives as desired
Assemble all ingredients, any colours and flavours you may want to use, as well as preparing your mold. With this recipe, you will made approximately 550g of soap, so you will need a mold of plastic (take away food containers work well), or the silicon muffin trays or icecube trays work well too.
Using strict safety controls such as wearing gloves (ALWAYS wear gloves), goggles, closed in shoes and long protective clothing, and a mask, measure out the water into a heat resistant container. I generally use glass or stainless steel, although you can use heavy plastics. Don't use wood, aluminium or teflon coated containers as the aluminium and teflon react badly with the caustic solution, and the wood may absorb it.
Using digital scales, measure the sodium hydroxide and add to the water.
Stir gently. The solution will get VERY hot, up to 80degrees C immediately, and will give off fumes for a very short time. You need to stir immediately up on adding the sodium hydroxide, or it will set like a rock in the bottle of the container.
Once the solution is clear, set it aside. It will no longer be fumey.
Blend oils in a different glass or stainless container, one that is large enough to hold the entire volume of liquids, so in this instance, greater than 550ml.
Add the hot lye solution to the oils, and stir until the shea butter is melted.
Keep stirring with a stainless, silicone or plastic spoon, or you can use a whisk (a bit quicker). this is like making custard really, except you can't eat it.
Once your mixture can hold the shape of the spoon or whisk on the surface, or you drizzle a small amount of liquid onto the surface and it stays there, you have reached what is known as "trace". This is when you add colours and flavours.
Use 1-2% essential or fragrant oils, remembering that essential oils do have medicinal properties so you need to wear gloves and be in a well ventilated place.
***** Some fragrant oils may cause what is known as SEIZE. This is when the soap mixture becomes very hot very quickly, and initially goes lumpy then sets hard like a rock. It will still be usable, and even may have a certain rugged charm, but if you want smooth soaps, then you have to be mindful of the possibility of seize and take your soap mix to a light trace only, maybe even let the lye solution cool a bit before adding it to the oils.*****
Once everything is mixed, then pour into your mold, cover with plastic wrap and wrap in a blanket. Keep the soap mix wrapped for about 24hrs, then as long as it is set, unmold and slice up with a sharp kitchen knife.
Allow the soap to cure for about 4 weeks. It will harden in that time, and the lye smell will disappear. You should be left with a lovely batch of soap bars that smell wonderful.
