Making Soap Naturally

You can make your own antibacterial soap with this complete all-points-covered recipe.  Those antibacterial brand name soaps contain a chemical called “triclosan”.  this is a nasty chemical developed to kill germs and bacteria on contact.  I did not realize how rampant this chemical was being used, without our knowledge or permission, onto and into our everyday products and lives.  Not impressed!  Now this recipe is: anti-septic, anti-viral, anti-bacterial, and anti-fungal! A lot of soap makers make an anti-bacterial soap, but containing only Tea Tree, whereas this covers all germ variants.

make your own antibacterial soap recipe: Continue reading →

This Anti-Garlic or Kitchen soap bar recipe is known by other names as Fisherman’s Bar, Odor Remover, Coffee Soap, Coffee Scrub Bar, or Odor Eliminator Bar. What they all have in common is ground coffee beans and a scent, both known to remove odors from hands or all over. I first came up with this bar when I was attending a Garlic Festival and they wanted something ‘garlic’. Yes, there was someone there with an actual garlic soap, yuck, but I went with an anti-garlic soap which became the best-selling bar at that event.

L-R: Egyptian Musk, Anit-Garlic, Mocha Latte, and Sandalwood

The odor-eating Anti-Garlic or Kitchen soap bar recipe: Continue reading →

I tried a lot of soap-making recipes and decided to keep it simple with one main basic soap-making recipe. Sometimes I need a backup soap recipe depending on the oils on hand, resulting in 5 basic recipes. These recipes will make about 24 – 4 oz bars, you can cut the recipe in half, or double it, just keep the proportions the same, and use the lye calculator when changing things up 

If you run out of a specific oil you may need a different base recipe – it’s always good to have backup recipes

To keep your basic soap-making recipe nice and easy, Canola oil and Olive oil have the same saponification values. This means that the lye will interact with either oil in the same manner, whereas other oils may need more or less lye to saponify. Don’t exceed 75% Canola oil or your soap will develop small brown spots, this is due to the natural proteins found in Canola oil. It’s harmless yet can blemish your pretty soap. When recipes state lye crystals, it refers to sodium hydroxide, NOT potassium hydroxide. Sometimes lye crystals are also referred to as ‘caustic soda beads’.

Below are the 6 base recipes that I use, and the first 3 recipes are the ones I use most

This is a picture of soap at trace, with no scent or color

Basic #1 with Olive, Coconut, & Palm Oil:  (more details here)
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Usually simpler is better, and an olive and coconut soap recipe, no palm, is an option. At the beginning of making soap, I started with an Olive, coconut, and palm oil soap recipe, which worked very well. Over the years and depending on supply deliveries, supplies on hand, environmentalism, and ingredient costs, I came up with 6 very tried and true soap recipes.

Soap logs ready for cutting into bars

The only oil to not use in over 50% of total oils, is canola oil. Although canola oil is the oil of every single restaurant on the planet, it isn’t the best for soap, but only because of the reaction to the lye and the oxidation of the oils. This means that a canola oil-based soap will start getting brown discolored spots on the soap bars. This is too bad really, because the cheaper cost of the canola helps keep the price of your final product lower. More about the type of oils and the pros and cons of each can be found on this basic soap-making recipe page.

The following recipe is one-fifth of what a batch was in my store. Yet it could be too large for starters, so if you like, you can divide this recipe any way you like. This makes about 25 4-ounce bars, so dividing it in half to make test batches would work well.

olive and coconut soap recipe, no palm:

Continue reading →

In the beginning of making soap, I started with an Olive, coconut, and palm oil soap recipe, which worked very well. Over the years and depending on supply deliveries, supplies on hand, environmentalism, and ingredient costs, I came up with 6 very tried and true soap recipes.

Soap logs out of the molds before cutting into bars

The only oil to not use in over 50% of total oils, is canola oil. Although canola oil is the oil of every single restaurant on the planet, it isn’t the best for soap, but only because of the reaction to the lye and the oxidation of the oils. This means that a canola oil-based soap will start getting brown discolored spots on the soap bars. This is too bad really, because the cheaper cost of the canola helps keep the price of your final product lower.

small electronic scale to measure your oils

This makes about 25 4-ounce bars, so dividing it in half to make test batches would work well. Continue reading →

In the beginning of making soap, I started with an Olive, coconut, and palm kernel soap recipe, which worked very well. Over the years and depending on supply deliveries, supplies on hand, environmentalism, and ingredient costs, we came up with 6 very tried and true soap recipes.

5 nice-looking soaps from the mold!

The only oil to not use in over 50% of total oils, is canola oil. Although canola oil is the oil of every single restaurant on the planet, it isn’t the best for soap, but only because of the reaction to the lye and the oxidation of the oils. This means that a canola oil-based soap will start getting brown discolored spots on the soap bars. This is too bad really, because the cheaper cost of the canola helps keep the price of your final product lower. more about the type of oils and the pros and cons of each can be found on this basic soap-making recipe page.

This makes about 25 4-ounce bars, so dividing it in half to make test batches would work well.

Olive, Coconut, and Palm Kernel soap recipe:

Continue reading →

This particular olive, coconut, palm & less water recipe came about because of the Blackberry and Orange soap recipe. The finished bars were a little soft – usable,  but a little softer compared to the other bars. It was concluded this was because of the huge amount of orange essential oil needed to obtain and decent lasting scent. The solution was to add a palm or palm kernel oil PLUS add a little less water, but not too much. The palm oils help to make a harder bar and the less water due to the more liquid of the orange essential oil. And this worked perfectly!

a nice assortment of natural soap logs

The only oil to not use in over 50% of total oils, is canola oil. Although canola oil is the oil of every single restaurant on the planet, it isn’t the best for soap, but only because of the reaction to the lye and the oxidation of the oils. This means that a canola oil-based soap will start getting brown discolored spots on the soap bars. This is too bad really, because the cheaper cost of the canola helps keep the price of your final product lower. more about the type of oils and the pros and cons of each can be found on this basic soap-making recipe page.

This makes about 25 4-ounce bars, so dividing it in half to make test batches would work well. Continue reading →