How to make soap at home – tips for beginners

Soap making at home is a fascinating and useful business. This is an individual approach to skin care, an original gift, a type of income. Handmade soap contains natural ingredients, combines cleansing procedures with skin care.

Making soap with your own hands is not difficult, however, as with everything, there are subtleties here. In order to avoid disappointment, a novice soap maker should delve into some of the nuances of the process in advance, explore different options for preparing a detergent.

Materials for self-soap making

The first step for a beginner soap maker is to become familiar with the ingredients used to make soap. Proper selection of ingredients will produce a quality product. Here is its composition:

• soap base;
• colorants;
• fragrances and essential oils;
• additives;
• base oils;
• alcohol;
• forms.

Depending on what kind of soap you want to get, the necessary elements are used. For work you will need plastic spoons, wooden sticks, rubber gloves.

soap bases

A ready-made soap base is a semi-finished product with which you can create an exclusive soap without much effort. It contains alkali, vegetable oils and a little water. The factory basis cannot be called a 100% natural product, because additives are present in it, but in much smaller quantities than in a store product.

Trade offers creamy, white and transparent bases. White in consistency is dense, quickly hardens and muffles colors. In a transparent base, the colors are bright. Creamy is used to make scrub soap, cream soap, soap in the form of cakes.

The basis for self-made soap can be made from scratch, and it will be a completely natural product. Beginning soap makers can use baby soap instead of the base, but in this case, you need to understand that the final product will always be matte.

Food colors

Dyes are divided into 3 types: natural, food, pigments. Natural include coffee, sea buckthorn oil, vegetable and fruit juices.

Food colorings do not cloud the base, but are able to migrate – to move into neighboring layers. Dry food colorings are concentrated and should be diluted in water first.

Cosmetic pigments are represented by a huge palette of colors, but they cloud the base. They are liquid and dry. Pearlescent pigments are injected into the soap and used for outdoor decoration.

Flavours

Aromatization of soap is carried out with the help of essential oils, fragrances (ready flavors), food flavors.

Essential oils have a positive effect not only on the skin, but also on the whole body as a whole. However, they should be used with caution – some of them can cause allergic reactions.

Essential oils are volatile compounds. In this regard, you must be prepared for the fact that after a few weeks the aroma will disappear. Sealed packaging will help slow down the process.

High temperature increases the volatility of oils, so it is advisable to add this type of flavoring to the soap mass at the end of the process.

Cosmetic fragrances please with a wealth of choice, give the finished product a lasting aroma. Floral, fruity, compositional, feminine and masculine – everyone will find their own scent.

One feature should be taken into account – the presence of a certain percentage of vanilla in the selected aroma is fraught with a change in the color of the finished product. To prevent such a nuisance, a special stabilizer (preservative) is used.

Food flavorings are less persistent than fragrances, but they are less expensive.

supplements

Additives greatly improve the quality of the soap. Depending on their type, the product acquires the care direction necessary for a particular skin, saturates it with minerals and vitamins, and has a scrub effect. Additives give the soap an interesting texture, serve as a decoration.

The list of additives is impressive: chocolate, oatmeal, herbs, vegetable and fruit juices, spices, cocoa, mumiyo, egg yolks, dairy products.

Base oils

It can be sunflower oil, olive, sea buckthorn or coconut oil. Oil is added to soap to achieve a certain effect – moisturizing, nourishing or softening. The amount per 100 g of the base is 1-2 teaspoons.

Alcohol

Alcohol 96⁰ is used to treat molds before pouring, bond layers and remove bubbles that form on the surface of the soap mass.

Glycerol

Glycerin is a substance with pronounced moisturizing and softening properties.

Forms

Forms are wooden, plastic, silicone. Wooden durable, have smooth edges. Plastic – they cannot boast of strength, but they will please with a low price.

Silicone are convenient in all respects, varied in shape, but their cost is high. An alternative to them are baking dishes.

Before you start the process of soap making, you need to acquire the necessary equipment, these are:

• Scales accurate to tenths of a gram – for weighing alkali.
• Capacity for weighing alkali. Disposable glasses will do.
• Submersible blender.
• Liquid thermometer.
• Heat-resistant pan for dissolving alkali and cooking soap.
• Glass rods and mixing spoon.
• Personal protective equipment: respirator, goggles, rubber gloves.

The equipment must not be used for other purposes.

There are a wide variety of homemade soap formulations, but beginners should start with the simplest ones without the use of additives.

Handmade soap on a ready-made basis: a basic recipe

To get 100 g of soap you will need:

• base – 100 g;
• oil – 3 tsp;
• fragrance – 3 drops;
• glycerin – 1 tsp;
• dye – 2 drops;
• some water.

Before use, the soap base must be melted. This can be done both in a water bath and in a microwave oven (microwave). First, the base must be crushed – cut into small cubes.

The base should not boil. To avoid this, the substance must be stirred during heating. In the microwave, 100 g dissolves in about 30 seconds. With a larger volume of the base, processing is carried out in several stages – until complete dissolution.

Algorithm for making handmade soap

1. Dissolve base.
2. Heat oil and glycerin in a water bath.
3. Combine compositions 1 and 2, add water. The mass should have the consistency of sour cream.
4. Introduce dye and fragrance.
5. Pour into molds, spray with alcohol.
6. After cooling, remove from the molds and send to dry for 2 days.

Soap from remnants

Remnants can be used as a base. They are ideal for the first experiments in soap making at home.

Grind the remaining soap on a coarse grater. Add a little water, dissolve, avoiding boiling, in a water bath. Pour into moulds, let dry.

Soap from scratch at home

Soap at home can be prepared in two ways: hot and cold. When cold, the soap ingredients are not boiled, but kneaded. The kneading process is fast, but the ripening period lasts about a month.

With the hot method, the manufacturing process is longer, but it will be possible to use the finished product much earlier. Such soap is washed off faster than when it is made in a cold way.

The first step to a great result is writing a recipe. The main ingredients are vegetable oils, alkali and liquid – water or herbal decoctions. Soap qualities such as foaming, hardness, and shelf life depend on the composition of the oils.

Alkali is used in two types: potassium hydroxide and sodium hydroxide. Sodium alkali is used for the production of classic soap, and potassium alkali is used for liquid soap, being the basis for shampoos and scrubs.

The final result in soap making depends on the correct proportions of the main components. Each oil has its own saponification number, which means the amount of alkali needed to turn the oil into soap. This data is embedded in soap calculators that can be found on the Internet; their use is simple and straightforward.

Overfat – the amount of oil that did not have enough alkali for the saponification reaction. It will not become soap, but will perform skin care. With the cold method, the “excess” oil is put into the calculator for calculation. The hot method involves adding excess fat to the soap mass before it is laid out in a mold.

Soap making safety

Often, beginners in soap making are afraid to work with alkali, but without it, the saponification reaction will not occur and soap will not work.

When working with alkali, safety precautions must be strictly observed.

You will need long-sleeved clothing, protective equipment. It is necessary to work with the window open or the hood turned on, without the presence of unauthorized persons. It makes sense to keep an open bottle with a solution of vinegar on the table – to wash the possible place where the alkali comes into contact with the skin or clothes.

Castile soap from scratch

Castile soap is considered an ideal option for a beginner due to the small amount of ingredients. The classic recipe for a unique product:

• olive oil of the first cold pressing – 500 g;
• water – 165 g;
• NAOH – 63,89 г;
• overfat – 5%.

Cold process for making castile soap

1. Heat the oil in a water bath.
2. Measure the right amount of water and alkali.
3. An alkaline solution is prepared by adding small portions of alkali to water (not vice versa!). The reaction is accompanied by the release of a significant amount of heat.
4. To reduce the temperature, it is advisable to freeze some of the water in advance, place the mixing container in a sink with cold water. If the alkali crystals have not completely dissolved, the solution will have to be filtered through a sieve.
5. Cooled to the same temperature, mix the oil and alkaline solutions with a spoon, and then with an immersion blender (a mixer is not suitable!) To a trace state. This is the consistency of the mass, at which the flowing soap remains on the surface in the form of tubercles. The duration of mixing depends on the composition of the oils, it takes from 2 to 20 minutes.
6. gel stage. The soap laid out in forms should be wrapped in a dense cloth, left for several hours in a warm place. It can be an oven preheated to 70⁰С and turned off or a warm battery. The gel stage makes the mass transparent, and the maturation period of the soap is reduced by 2 weeks.
7. After cooling, remove the soap from the mold, cut into pieces. Let ripen for 4 weeks in a cool, ventilated area.

The product has no expiration date: the longer it is stored, the better it becomes. It is gentle on the skin but cleans well.

hot castile soap

The first 4 points are similar to the actions in the cold method.

1. Cover the soap mass brought to the trace and place in the oven for 3 hours at a temperature of 60 ° C.
2. Add overfat and mix, arrange in forms.
3. After cooling, cut into pieces.

The soap prepared in this way is ready for use immediately, but it is better to give it a week to dry. Store finished products wrapped in foil – to avoid overdrying.

Scrub soap at home

Scrub soap well removes not only dirt, but also removes the dead layer of the epidermis. To make it at home yourself, prepare the following ingredients:

• 100 g soap base;
• 1 st. l. finely ground coffee;
• 5 g of coconut oil;
• 3-5 drops of chocolate flavor.

Procedure:

1. brew coffee and select coffee grounds;
2. grind the base and melt it in a water bath;
3. add coconut oil;
4. let the base thicken a little and put the coffee grounds into it;
5. add fragrance to the mass and mix;
6. we shift the resulting soap into forms;
7. after hardening soap scrub can be used.

If you add water, then the consistency will be a creamy mass.

Preparing clear soap

To make clear soap, prepare the following ingredients:

• Coconut oil – 150 g;
• Castor oil – 120 g;
• Glycerin – 210 g;
• Water – 90 g;
• Alkali – 45,7 g;
• Pork fat – 30 g.

It is prepared like this:

1. Add lye to cold water.
2. Melt coconut oil with fat, and then add castor oil.
3. When everything cools down, add an alkaline solution to the mass.
4. Mix the ingredients with a blender until smooth.
5. Put the resulting mass in a water bath, where to simmer for 2 hours, stirring occasionally.
6. At the end of 2 hours, add glycerin and continue to simmer until smooth.
7. At the end, pour the mass into molds and leave to harden.

Do not put the molds in the refrigerator or in a very cold place, otherwise it will become cloudy.

Useful tips for making soap

1. Essential oils evaporate quickly and therefore should not be added to a hot base. Better to wait until it cools down.
2. It is better to mix the dye with the base oil before adding it to the soap, then it will be possible to avoid the formation of lumps.
3. Mix the ingredients carefully, otherwise bubbles will form.
4. Using colored clay instead of dyes: red, yellow, the soap will turn out not only colored, but also useful for the skin.
5. To prevent pieces of fruit, flowers or grass from getting moldy inside the soap, dry them well.
6. Using several essential oils when making soap, check their compatibility according to the table.
   

7. To cut the soap into bars, after preparation in a large form, it is best to use a miter box. Then the pieces will be the same in thickness and width.
8. Soap from several layers looks very beautiful. When making each layer, spray with alcohol.

Where to get soap ingredients

All the necessary components for self-made soap can be found in specialized stores, but in small towns there are hardly any. Of course, everything can be purchased separately. Dyes are sold in grocery stores, fragrances in perfume shops, and soap base in household stores. Alternatively, instead of a base, you can use baby soap, but in this case you will not be able to get a transparent product.

In the absence of the opportunity to buy a base for soap, it can be purchased in online stores, as well as everything else – flavors, dyes. It is more practical to order a complete set of soap making. It will contain all the necessary elements for making soap from scratch.

Сonclusion

A beginner soap maker should not be afraid of possible failures and mistakes – skill comes with experience. And then boundless horizons of fascinating creativity will open. There will be self-confidence, original recipes, skill and the ability to monetize a hobby. And this is one of the components of happiness – to earn what you love.