Making Soap at Home

Soap making is a really nice pastime and makes a great gift to prepare for friends or family members.

Every batch you make can be just a little different - improving on your new talent, and there are a wide variety of recipes, ingredients and soap molds that you can use to make your soap truly unique.

One of my favorite traits of homemade soap is that it last about 4 times as long as any bar soap I pick up at the drug or grocery store. And a number of my friends swear that the goat's milk soap I made them cleared up their eczema and winter worn dry skin.

The fact that you can personalize your batches of soap make this a truly fascinating craft and an equally special gift. Not to mention the fact that this homemade labor of love is known to involve time and work - which they're sure to appreciate.

The Art of Making Soap

The art of making soap may seem old-fashioned to some of my readers, but this truly is becoming a craft of it's own as more raw ingredients become readily available, specialty books and molds are becoming wildly available on the topic and making your own soap is also enjoyable.

As with anything home made, you'll know exactly what's in that product you're smearing all over your skin, and you'll quickly learn how to take a basic soap making recipe and adapt it to your household's needs. Soap for babies or tender skin require more oils, laundry soap requires more lye - for just a few examples.

When making your own soaps you can add all kinds of ingredients to your recipe - such as coloring, scents, healing/antibacterial or sloughing agents. As stated earlier specialty soap molds can also be purchased relatively cheaply and come in all shapes - including custom logos.

Basic Soap Making Ingredients

Although the recipes may differ from one type of soap to another, the basic ingredients in every batch is pretty much the same:

water – rain water, distilled or de-mineralized water.
lye – this is caustic and should be stored, and handled with care - especially if there are young children about. Never pour water into lye when making soap and if you happen to get some lye on your skin don't try to rinse it off (use vinegar to flush it off your skin)
fats and oils – makes your soaps pliable, smooth and rich in lathering quality
lye-resistant molds – use food grade plastic or specialty molds
lye-resistant utensils - for stirring

Considerations to Keep in Mind When Making Soap

There are two major traits to homemade soap that you should always have in mind, everything else is purely cosmetic or preference sake.

skin care – soap isn't just meant to cleanse skin, but to help balance and protect it (from harsh elements, pollution, sun). A pH balanced soap with adequate moisturizing levels is what you're after when making soap used on the skin.
germ/bacteria removal - the main purpose of soap is to wash away impurities (seen or microscopic)

The cosmetic side of soap - the size, color, shape, and lathering ability can be altered on a personal basis by you, the soap maker! Once you have made a few batches of your own soap you can improve any recipe to be better at washing away oils or germs, balances your pH level, matches the colors in your bathroom, or is scented with your favorite fragrance. (My personal favorites are pear and linden.)

That's just about all I need to tell you about this fun hobby or old time country craft. If you're not sold on making your own soap by the time you've read everything here this probably isn't the right craft for your tastes. However I do urge you to try it, at least once. I think you'll be pleasantly surprised by the feeling of satisfaction - not to mention creative boost - soap making gives you.

Soap Making Craft for Kids

Soap making is a craft activity that kids can do as well - just make sure there is one adult for every child - especially the first time that the children make their own soap. You simply need to mix up one generic batch, give each child their own soap mold and let them choose their own favorite ingredients and scents to add. You can do this outside in most weather so clean up is extra easy and the kids will love it!

If you are shopping for discount soap-making supplies including cute, cheap molds and helpful books, you'll find them in our Soap Making aisle of the Country Store.