RECIPE FOR SOAP

White odorless soap - Simple recipe for beginners

Ingredients

oils

930 g coconut oil

294 g cocoa butter

86 g of ground beeswax (protects the skin and makes a hard soap)

170 g sesame oil

1275 g olive oil (not virgin)

water & sodium hydroxide

425 g NaOH

1142 g distilled water

additives

56 g almond oil

56 g apricot oil

60 g Essential oil 

The amounts I give are for several bars of soap, divide all amounts by 3 to make 1/3 of the amount

1. Prepare the water*-sodium NaOH caustic soda mixture.

We take all safety precautions (gloves, long shirt, mask and don't breathe in the vapors!). We measure the quantities exactly. Put the distilled water in a plastic basin that can withstand high heat and add the sodium hydroxide, little by little, stirring with a plastic or wooden spoon. Never pour water into the caustic potash and never use hot water!!! As you stir the water temperature will rise and the water will become clear.

Allow the solution to cool and come to room temperature.

*In case our recipe uses juice or any other liquid, substitute the water with the other liquid. The procedure with a liquid other than water is different (read each recipe carefully) and is not used by beginners.

*If using water, use distilled water which is very soft and has no minerals. Mineral or tap water are excluded.

*If we want our soap to be harder we can add a little salt to the mixture of water and caustic soda after mixing them, not before. Say 2 to 4 tablespoons in my recipes. The salt will not only make the soap harder, but it will save us from extra beating with the hand blender.

*The water and caustic soda mixture can be made in the evening and left overnight, so I believe the soap will be better.

2. Prepare the oil mixture.

In a large pot, put the oils and put it on a very low heat so that the oils mix perfectly.

3. Check the temperature of oil mixture and water-NaOH mixture.

It is important that the two mixtures are at the same temperature from 28 to 43 degrees Celsius. We usually prefer 28 degrees Celsius to avoid losing the oil components from the high temperature. We put a thermometer on each mixture and depending on whether the temperature needs to go up or down, we put it in a basin of hot water or cold water.  This way we will eventually get the temperature to be the same in both mixtures to mix them.

4. Combine the oils with the water-NaOH (gloves-mask are worn until the end of the process).

Slowly pour the water-NaOH into the oils (without splashing) and stir gently with a spoon. Stir continuously. You can continue stirring for about an hour or so. But if we get a hand blender we will mix for about 10 minutes. We will stop mixing when the mixture starts to thicken and change color and when we take a little bit with the ladle and pour it over the mixture a line should form which will be slow to erase, this means that our soap is leaving traces. At this step the mixture is 80% soaped.

5. Add the additives

When we see that our soap is leaving "traces", we can add the additives and mix well with a ladle and not with a blender because our mixture will quickly thicken and we won't be able to put it into the molds.

Additives are herbs, scrapings, oats, essential oils and others that are sensitive to high temperatures and are always added at the end.

6. Pour the mixture into the moulds

In the moulds beforehand we need to put petroleum jelly (so that the soap comes out easily when it's done). Pour it into the moulds with a deep ladle. Be careful it is still caustic!!! (If you use pvc tubes on the bottom put rap and tie some rubber band).

7. Cover the soap and let it sit for 24-48 hours.

When the molds are full I wrap them very well with lots of warm cloth. And I don't shake them again for 24 to 48 hours until the soap is done.

8. I take the soap out of the molds.

After 24 or 48 hours the soap will still be warm. Try taking it out of the mold if it doesn't come out leave it in the freezer for a while.

9. Let the soap set for 1 to 2 months.

Let the pieces of soap air harden. As time goes on it gets whiter and a white powder builds up on it. The longer it stands the better it gets.

*This powder will probably not appear at all in soaps that we have made with a high overfill and used a small amount of sodium hydroxide. 

10. PH control.

You can check the PH of your soap with some special PH papers. A good soap should have 7-9 Ph. Initially soaps have 9 to 10 Ph, but with time they drop to 7 to 8.