Skip to Content

SIMPLE HOMEMADE SOAP RECIPE

This Homemade Soap is a recipe that can be made again and again to keep your family stocked up with soap. You can make it in case of emergency, or you can make it for those family members of yours whos skin may be too sensitive to use most store bought soaps. Some of which can have harmful ingredients in them.

This homemade soap recipe has all natural ingredients and is not harsh or rough on skin. I use it everyday and my skin is healthy as could be. My kids use this soap and they have never had any issues like they do with store bought soap.

Soap supplies? Check out Brambleberry!

For a messy recipe that will make you need some of this good homemade soap, try our Calabacitas Recipe!

Another that will most definitely get your hands just the right amount of greasy is some fresh caught Fried Bream!

When my wife first began making soap, she was quite intimidated. But after she tried it once she had no problem making enough soap for the year and plenty to give to our family members in just a day or two.

Just a few simple tools and some ingredients that are easy to acquire, and you can make all of the soap that you want. Lets just get right into it.

WHAT YOU WILL NEED:

EQUIPMENT:

  • Protective gloves
    • Some that cover your wrists and lower forearms are recommended
  • Safety glasses
  • Scale
    • Digital or mechanical scale that measures ounces
  • Thermometer
  • Soap mold
    • Many things work, even a cardboard box with plastic in the bottom
  • Immersion mixer
  • Soap cutter
    • A kitchen knife or piece of wire will work fine too
  • Mixing bowls
  • Liquid measuring cups

INGREDIENTS:

  • 16 oz lard
  • 9.5 oz coconut oil
  • 6.5 oz sunflower oil
  • 12.16 oz frozen liquid
    • Ice cubes, water, milk, herbal tea, or juice will work
  • 4.63 oz lye
  • 1 oz essential oils

1. Measure out your frozen liquids

What we like to do is to use an ice tray and make ice cubes out of whatever liquid you are going to use. We almost always use milk, but you can use whichever liquid you like or have available to you.

Measure out your frozen liquid into a glass or plastic bowl and place it in the refrigerator or freezer so that it does not thaw out. If it thaws a little bit that is ok. I will explain this process more a little farther down.

2. Melt your oils and fats together

Measure them and put them in a metal or glass bowl.

Get a double boiler ready, you are going to be melting your oil and fat together to make a homogenous liquid.

A double boiler is a pot with water in it, with a bowl placed on top of it. This makes it so your ingredients that you are heating up don’t exceed 212°F. This way you can ensure that they do not burn.

Heat up the oil and fat and melt it together. Stirring as needed to combine them into one consistent substance.

It should look like this when done!

3. Combine lye and frozen liquid

PUT ON GOGGLES AND GLOVES FOR THIS STEP!!

First measure out your lye. Place lye in a plastic, glass, or stainless steel container. Do not place lye in an aluminum container.

ALWAYS PUT LYE INTO LIQUID, NEVER PUT LIQUID INTO LYE!

This is very important! The proper way to mix the two together, is to sprinkle your lye into your water little by little, stirring in between each addition of lye. The resulting mixture will create a chemical reaction and will heat up.

This is normal so don’t worry. Just don’t add too much lye at one time or it could heat up too much and splatter hot lye water around and on you.

Safety tip 1: Mix your lye outside or in a well ventilated area. The fumes which come from mixing lye and water are harmful to inhale.

Safety tip 2: Keep a bottle of vinegar near you. Lye is a high PH base, is caustic, and could burn your skin. Vinegar is an acid, will neutralize the PH and will in turn neutralize the harmful properties of lye.

Add small amounts of lye to your frozen liquid and stir each time you add some lye.

Your ice will melt and the mixture will for a chemical reaction and will heat up. If you are using milk, you have the potential of burning your milk, so make sure you pay attention and mix them slowly.

If you burn your milk and it turns brown, that is not a problem. Your bars of soap will be a little bit darker but that will not effect your soap in a negative way.

4. Mix your oil mixture and lye mixture together

Before you mix them together, check them both with a thermometer. Both mixtures need to be 90°F-110°F.

If you need to cool one of them down quickly, you can place it over an ice bath to speed up the process.

To mix them together, use your immersion mixer.

Mix them together until you have trace.

THIS IS TRACE

What is trace?

Trace is when you can see peaks or ripples left over from where your mixer passed. If you dip a spoon into the mixture and take it out, you should be able to see where you dipped the spoon with an impression.

5. Add, powders, fragrances, colors

After you have trace, you can add your ingredients for smell and good looks.

Here we added lemongrass scent and turmeric powder.

What can you add to soap?

Well, any number of things are great in soap! You can add things like green tea powder, rose petals, oatmeal, even sand!

You can add scents ranging from simple to elegant and it is completely up to you! You can add flowery scents like rose, lilac, lavender, and rosemary. Outdoorsy scents like birch wood, sandalwood, and cedar. Or timeless scents like frankincense and myrrh.

6. Pour your soap into molds

After you have added your custom ingredients or used the ones we have, mix it all up just enough to combine it all.

Now pour it into your soap mold!

We had some soap left over from a different recipe so my wife decided to add some decorative dollops on top of this loaf of soap! It looks so cute when it is sliced.

6. Pour it into your molds and let it sit for 24 hours

After letting it sit for 24 hours, check to see if it has solidified enough to remove it from the mold. If it is soft or mushy at all, wait another 12 to 24 hours before removing it.

Cut your loaf of soap the same day you remove it from the mold.

7. Let the soap cure for 4 to 6 weeks before use

In this 4 to 6 weeks of curing time, the soap will harden and balance its PH.

The best way to do this is to lay it out on a rack or a table in a well ventilated place. Make sure they are not touching each other so that they can get air circulation. This way the bars will dry and cure at the same rate.

Yield: 10-12 Bars

HOMEMADE SOAP RECIPE

HOMEMADE SOAP RECIPE

This Homemade Soap is a recipe that can be made again and again to keep your family stocked up with soap. You can make it in case of emergency, or you can make it for those family members of yours whos skin may be too sensitive to use most store bought soaps. Some of which can have harmful ingredients in them.

Prep Time 1 hour
Additional Time 1 day
Total Time 1 day 1 hour
Estimated Cost $12-$15

Materials

  • 16 oz lard
  • 9.5 oz coconut oil
  • 6.5 oz sunflower oil
  • 12.16 oz some kind of frozen liquid - water, milk, herbal tea, or juice
  • 4.63 oz lye
  • 1 oz essential oil

Tools

  • Protective gloves
  • --Some that cover your wrists and lower forearms are recommended
  • Safety glasses
  • Scale
  • --Digital or mechanical scale that measures ounces
  • Thermometer
  • Soap mold
  • --Many things work, even a cardboard box with plastic in the bottom
  • Immersion mixer
  • Soap cutter
  • A kitchen knife or piece of wire will work fine too
  • Mixing bowls
  • Liquid measuring cups

Instructions

    1. Measure out your frozen liquids and put them in the freezer or refrigerator.

    2. Measure out your oils and fats and melt them together in a double boiler.

    3. Carefully combine your lye and frozen liquid together in a well ventilated area.

    4. Using an immersion mixer, blend the lye mixture with the oil and fat mixture. First making sure that both mixtures are between 90°F-110°F.

    5. Once you see trace, mix your scents, powders, or colors in. Mix until it is the same throughout and pour into your soap mold.

    6. Let the mixture sit for 24 hours and check if it is ready to come out of the mold. If it is soft, let it sit for another 12 to 24 hours.

    7. Once out of the mold, slice the bars of soap and let them sit, separate from each other in a well ventilated area or on a rack.

    8. Let them cure in the open air for 4 to 6 weeks.

Notes

  • It makes it easier to measure and work with your frozen liquids if you pour them into ice trays.
  • If your lye and fat mixtures are too far apart in temperature, you can use an ice bath to bring down the temperature of one faster. Also, you can use a double boiler to heat up one of them if it is too cold.
  • Trace is when you can see a "trace" left after you make a pass with the immersion mixer. When the mixture is thick enough to leave noticeable peaks.
  • You can add any scents, powders, or colors that you like.
  • You can use nearly anything for a soap mold. As an example, my wife used a cardboard box with bubble wrap placed in the bottom to make it look like honey comb. It turned out very nice!
  • You can use a kitchen knife or a piece of thin wire to cut your bars of soap. Although a soap cutter works best for us.
  • Latest posts by Eligh Miller-Polivka (see all)

    Homemade Cottage Cheese | The Good Old Way

    Monday 18th of July 2022

    […] these other homesteader recipes like Homemade Lard. For a challenging yet rewarding experience try Homemade Soap which is not as complicated as you might […]

    Skip to Instructions

    THE GOOD OLD WAY MAILING SUBSCRIPTION

    We will always have new things to teach and learn

    Thank you for joining! We have a long list of important things to show in the future. Glad you came around!