| Liquid / Gel Soap
- 2 cups soap flakes or grated bar soap
- 1/2 gallon water
- 2 tbsp glycerin
Mix ingredients together in a large pot or dutch oven. Set over low heat, stirring occasionally until the soap has dissolved. Transfer to a jar and cover tightly. For a less thick gel soap, use 1 gallon of water.
Vanilla and Almond Soap
This soap is great for removing dirt and oil from the skin without drying. Vanilla gives it a delicious fragrance and the ground almonds provide a beautifully textured soap. (Makes one bar.)
- 1/3 cup whole almonds
- 1 4-ounce bar Castile soap
- 1/4 cup distilled water
- 1 tablespoon almond oil
- 1/8 teaspoon vanilla fragrance oil
Grind the almonds to a fine powder in a food processor or coffee grinder and set aside. Shred the soap and set aside. In a heavy saucepan bring the water to a boil; then reduce heat to a simmer; Remove the pan from the heat and add the almond powder, almond oil, and vanilla fragrance oil, stirring
until well blended. Spoon the soap into a mold and let set for five hours or until hardened..
Coconut & Olive Soap This recipe has been revised by Christin Ocasio, Owner,
Wyndham Soapworks. See her notes in sidebar.
- 1 cup olive oil
- 1 cup coconut oil
- 1 cup melted tallow (animal fat)
- 2 tbsp lye (heaping) (*NOTE)
- 1/2 cup cold soft water
has been changed to:
- 8 oz weight olive oil
- 8 oz weight coconut oil
- 8 oz weight rendered tallow
- 3.49 oz weight sodium hydroxide (pure lye) Red Devil brand 100% lye (*NOTE)
- 9 fluid oz water
While wearing safety goggles and neoprene gloves, combine solid lye and liquid, stir well. Set aside and allow to cool (100° F to 125° F). This is best done outside while you are standing upwind.
Combine oils and heat gently. Once the fats and oils are melted allow the temperature to drop to 100° F to 125° F.
Combine lye solution and melted oils. Be careful not to splash while combining the mixtures. Stir until the mixture traces. If tracing takes more than 15 minutes, which it often does, stir for the first 15 minutes, then stir for 5 minutes at 15 minute intervals. Tracing looks like a slightly
thickened custard, not instant pudding but a cooked custard. It will support a drop, or your stir marks for several seconds. Once tracing occur s...
Pour raw soap into your prepared molds. After a few days the soap can be turned out of the mold. If the soap is very soft, allow it to cure for a few days to firm the outside.
Cut soap into bars and set the bars out to cure and dry. This will allow the bar to firm and finish saponification. Place the bars on something that will allow them to breathe.
Note: If you don't want to mess with tallow and lye, you can substitute shavings from any white unscented soap.
Peaches And Cream Bath Bar Makes One Bar 1 4-ounce bar
- Castile soap (or pure white unscented.. like ivory)
- 1/4 cup distilled water
- 1/4 cup powdered milk
- 1 tablespoon sweet almond oil
- 1/8 teaspoon peach fragrance oil
- 1 drop orange food coloring {optional}
Shred the Castile soap and set aside. Heat the water in a heavy saucepan over low heat. Stir in the shredded soap until it forms a sticky mass. Remove the pan from the heat and add the powdered milk, Sweet almond oil, Peach fragrance oil, food coloring; stir until well-blended. Spoon the soap
into its mold and let set for four hours or until hardened.
From Soaps, Shampoos & Other Suds: Make Beautiful Gifts to Give (Or Keep)
(Gifts from the Home) by Kelly Reno
Cinnamon Soap
- unscented glycerin soap
- 10 drops cinnamon oil
- 1 drop red food coloring {optional}
In a heavy saucepan, melt the glycerin soap over low heat until liquefied. Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the cinnamon oil and coloring until well mixed. Pour the soap into a mold and let set for three hours or until hardened. Makes One Bar 1 4-ounce bar.
From Soaps, Shampoos & Other Suds: Make Beautiful Gifts to Give (Or Keep)
(Gifts from the Home) by Kelly Reno
Mechanic's Hand Cleanser Grind up a bar or two of your so ap...
- 1 c. borax
- 1-2 t. pure turpentine
- 1 t. sweet orange essential oil
- 1 c. ground soap
With very clean hands, work the turpentine and essential oil into the borax until there are no lumps left, then work into the soap. Keep it in a wide-mouthed jar or tin that's easy for him to open when his hands are greasy, and which you won't mind getting black on the outside. Don't forget to put
a nail brush and pumice stone out with the hand cleanser. |
