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I made a batch of soap last weekend. For me, soap making is one of those defining tasks of a simple life. Like bread making, it is a powerful reminder that the products needed in the home can be made better, and often more economically, than those bought at the supermarket. Those two tasks, more than any others, also connect me to my past. Making soap and bread would have been a normal part of our ancestors' lives. Now let me qualify what I just wrote. You can buy soap cheaper than you can make it, but that soap will contain almost no glycerin - the moisturising and nourishing part of soap, and it will contain a lot of chemicals to make it smell good, and to make it lather. When you make your own soap you need only three ingredients - fat, caustic soda/lye and water. So homemade soap is not cheaper than commercially produced soap like Palmolive, but it is cheaper than the "natural" soaps you buy in the organic shops. All soap, no matter what the label says, even the "natural" ones, have been made with caustic soda/lye. The process of soap making neutralises it and after having the soap sit on your shelf for a few weeks, you will have the finest soap money can buy. Caustic soda/lye is Sodium Hydroxide (NaOH).

I have written about this in the past and there seems to be a reluctance by some to take up soap making, mainly because of the safety issues. And you are well advised to be cautious of this process - you need to work with caustic soda / lye and that will burn your skin, your benches or floor if it falls from your container. It is wise to be cautious, particularly if you have children or pets around. So I thought that it might be helpful if I focused on the process rather than the recipe. Seeing it being done in steps, might help some of you work out a way you can make soap that you feel safe and confident with.

My soap is made with olive oil, rice bran oil, copha (solid coconut oil), water and caustic soda/lye. Here is my soap making tutorial. There is a soap calculator here. Basically, you find what you have in the cupboard, or buy your preferred oils, enter them in the calculator and it will estimate the amount of water and caustic soda/lye to add. Soap making safety, read this.

So now let's focus on some of the issues you might encounter when making soap.

Before you start, make sure there are no children or pets around. Put on your safety gear. Work in a well ventilated space. When you add water to the caustic soda/lye, it will emit fumes. Traditionally, soap making ingredients are measured as solids, not liquids. Get yourself a good scale and weigh your ingredients according to the recipe. Remember that as soon as moisture is added to the caustic soda/lye, and that might just be a bit of moisture on your hand, it will start to burn.

I use a Pyrex jug to mix my caustic soda/lye and water. As soon as you add water, it will start to heat up. You do not have to add heat, it heats up itself. I place my pyrex jug on a board so it doesn't damage the bench top. I use rain water from my tank. If you only have tap water, measure out a bit more that you need and let it sit in a bowl for 24 hours. That will allow the chlorine to evaporate off.

As soon as you add water, the reaction will start. You can see small bubbles in the water here as soon as the caustic soda/lye was added.

And less than a minute later, the solution has reached 90 C (180F).

This photo shows the combined oils before the caustic soda/lye was added. The mixture is clear. Basically, soap is made by mixing the caustic soda/lye with water and letting it cool down. While this is happening, you heat up the oils on the stove. The aim is to get both solutions at the same temperature. When that happens, you mix them together, then start mixing. It's really a simple process, made more difficult by the danger of burning.

When the caustic soda/lye is added, the mixture is opaque.

My bowl was very full, so I placed some tea towels around the mixer to prevent splash damage on the bench.

After mixing for about six or seven minutes, I reached trace. Trace is the stage of the process when ripples made on the surface of the mix, stay there. You can clearly see this in the photo above. When you reach trace, you stop mixing. If you want to add an essential oil, you add it when you reach trace. I then poured it into the moulds, covered them with a few towels and left them over night. You don't want it to cool too fast.

The next day the mix was solid, so I took it out and cut it.

I like to cut my soap into long bars instead of square or thin bars. I like a solid piece of soap that will last a while. You can cut the soap any way you like or you can use various moulds to shape the soap. Leave the soap on a rack to cure for a few weeks. This also hardens the soap so that it will last much longer.

So I have made 20 good bars of soap at a cost of about A$17.40 or 87 cent a bar.

When the soap is cured, wrap it in greaseproof paper and store in the cupboard until it's used.

For those of you who kill your own animals or poultry for food, Carla Emery has some fine recipes for soap making using tallow - page 615 (updated edition 9). Her soap making section contains a lot of good information, including info on water and fats and how to make your own lye. It starts on page 610.

If you are new to soap making and are still apprehensive about it, I encourage you to go to your library and get Carla's book. The ability to make your own soap is a fine skill to have. When you get over the first soap making session you'll realise it's quite a simple process that, when combined with prudent safety precautions, produces soap that is much better than what you buy at the supermarket.

I had a question from a reader the other day regarding cleaning soap making utensils and equipment. She wanted to know if it was okay to wash the soap making equipment and use it for other kitchen tasks that involve food. If you thoroughly wash all your utensils and equipment it is fine to use it all for other food making tasks. However, if you use a wooden spoon for soap making, you should dedicate that spoon to that task and store it with your soap making ingredients, rather than keep it in the kitchen. Wooden spoons are porous and might absorb some of the caustic elements of the soap making process and, if left to sit in a pot of stew, might contaminate the stew. I didn't read that anywhere, I thought of it myself.

So when you go to wash your plastic, glass and metal utensils, use your common sense, think about all the cracks and crevices that might hide soap. Soak them in the sink for a while then get a brush and scrub all the areas that might hold soap, or put it all in the dishwasher. When they're thoroughly clean, they're ready for your kitchen tasks. I know there is advice out there that says have a separate set of everything for soap making, but why?

We used to be a society that followed in the footprints of our parents. We had mothers and fathers who set the rules, were role models for their children and who taught by example. Sadly, that is not so common now. Often young people have to ask these questions because they have never seen, first hand, a lot of the things they want to do, like soap making, and they don't trust their own judgement to think it thorough themselves.

Common sense has a role to play in almost everything we do on a daily basis and yet many people don't trust themselves to make safe and sensible decisions. I have often wondered about that and I think it's because many decisions aren't ours to make any more. We are over protected. We have governments and local councils who make rules and regulations about such a wide variety of things, and corporations whose products line our shelves, that we don't really have to think about our own circumstances; we know there is a rule for it or a product we can buy.

I guess that is fine if you want to live a sheltered life, but I don't. I have decided to step outside what is "normal" for my class and age and I want to rely on myself more and others less. Now let me first say that I am not advocating anarchy or even civil disobedience, I am merely saying that I make my own decisions and, if there are any consequences for a wrong decision, I suffer that, and make sure I don't make the same mistake again. I am horrified when I see councils and governments setting regulations and making laws about all manner of things. You can't legislate against stupidity, they should have public awareness campaigns about taking responsibility for ourselves and reviving common sense.

One of the problems is that often we don't even know we are making a decision. For instance, if you buy those antiseptic kitchen wipes, and you haven't thought of the consequences of that, you will be wiping out the normal yeasts and bacteria that should be in your home. Yes, you will get rid of the bad bacteria, but those wipes don't discriminate, they wipe everything out, and then you wonder why you can't make ginger beer, sauerkraut or sour dough. Soap and water, or even a few drops of tea tree oil if you have a bad problem, will get rid of most bugs - the wipes used on a daily basis are overkill.

There are many examples I could come up with but let me just say that your life is the sum total of all the decisions you make, allowing someone else to make too many of those decisions for you will result in a one size fits all society that I don't want to be a part of. All the young mums out there pregnant with their first baby. I know you want to do the best for your child, but the best doesn't necessarily involve buying all the products you see out there. Think about the consequences of those buying decisions, both for yourself and your baby. Making more and buying less will not only put you in a better financial position it will also give your baby a greener future. Instead of being guided by advertising, be guided by your mother or your local mothers' group.

I love variety, change and difference and that is not a bad thing - you have seen how I live, I am not a radical, I am just advocating that you question, be sceptical, and decide for yourself. And even these words I'm offering to you now, you should question what I say, make sure it suits you and if it doesn't, keep doing what you're doing. But if you question, use your common sense and make decisions based on self reflection, consideration of consequences and how you want to live, you will make a life unlike any other.

I mean no disrespect highlighting this soap making question. I actually do understand why it was asked - skills are not being passed on, and being multi-skilled develops self confidence. But I hope to use the opportunity to highlight what I see as an underlying problem of mass dependence on needing, and sometimes wanting, others to think for us. There is a lot to be said for taking responsibility for one's self, questioning the way things are done and making your own way. My way might not be the right way for everyone else, but it suits me fine and it is like that because I think about my decisions, ignore rules that don't make sense to me and use my common sense. And that, my friends, has made all the difference.

Next Tuesday I'll be starting the first of two workshops on soap making at my local Neighbourhood Centre. The classes are booked out, twice. Last weekend, I decided to make a batch of soap so that those participants on the first day will have a bar of soap to take home with them. I also wanted to go through the procedure and focus on the important parts of the process. I decided to change my recipe. I have found that coconut oil has been harder to come by recently, and it's expensive, so I made this batch using 250 grams/one cup of Copha, which is the solidified coconut oil you can usually buy quite easily at the supermarket. To make up for the reduced amount coconut oil, I added more olive oil, so I got more of a castile-type soap that should be very good for the skin.

Another change was new moulds. I asked Hanno to keep his eyes open for some soap moulds, I rarely go to the shops now, and he came home with some excellent choices. I made four roses, 4 long bars, and 12 small rounds. I stamped all of the bars the following day before they became too hard to impress and I'm very happy with all of them. BTW, these moulds are silicon cake moulds.

I use ordinary rubber stamps to impress my soap.

Making soap and other general cleaners, will stop you buying all those expensive, harsh chemical cleaners you find in that long stinky aisle in the supermarket. Add that to the bread you bake at home which is cheaper than the expensive bakery-style breads, the yoghurts, ginger beer, jams, sauces, fresh cheese and all those meals cooked from scratch and you're beginning to see real savings at the supermarket whenever you shop. There is no doubt about it, putting the time in a home to make much of what you use will save you money, make you more self reliant, will reduce the number of harsh chemicals, preservatives and colourings you have to deal with, and will enrich your life in the learning and supporting of those old skills.

This is the new recipe I used. Please note, ALL the ingredients were weighed accurately:

Lye 204 grams
Rain water 540 mls
Olive oil 750 mls
Rice Bran Oil 500 mls
Copha 250 mls Copha comes in a block that is melted when you heat the oils.

Here is a liquid conversion calculator to convert those metric amounts to fluid oz.

Here is my soap making tutorial. I used the same method to make my soap.

The various oils used in soap making are chosen for their specific qualities. For instance, olive oil and rice bran oil are used for the creamy soap they make as well as being very good on the skin. Coconut oil hardens the bars of soap as well as giving a good lather. I choose to make a simple soap. I don't like adding colours or fragrance, I like plain, plain, plain. I want soap that is good for my skin and cleans well, if it looks like the good French bars of soap, that's a bonus. However, it is certainly possible to add colour and fragrance to this soap, and you can find out how, here.

I'm looking forward to my soap making classes. They will bring more people closer to self reliance, they will help maintain and add to the knowledge base of traditional soap making and they will help build my community. I already know that some of those people who attend won't have met each other, but through these workshops, they may forge friendships that last a lifetime. Bringing like-minded souls together is a powerful thing. I hope you're making soap and your home supplies of bread, jams, sauces, laundry powder and all those other things that are easily done at home. If not, maybe this soap is a good way of starting.

ADDITION: Annie Jones in the US has sent in the information that is very helpful. Thanks Annie:
"Copha is not readily available here, but I have found a fairly inexpensive coconut oil at many Wal-Mart stores. It's LouAna brand, located in the cooking oil section, in a white plastic cannister with either a brown or a green lid.

It's not organic, but it only costs about $5 or $6 dollars for 31.5 ounces. It's about half the price of what I had been paying for coconut oil at the health food store. I use it for both soap making and for cooking."

I made soap again yesterday and it has given me a chance to reply to an email inquiry I had about a month ago. Jenine asked: "I was just wondering if maybe you could post or even just advise me on clean up after making the soap. I was a bit paranoid of making some chemical reaction from putting the bowl that had the lye in it, in the washing up water, or if there will be any reaction from washing the mixing bowl that I mixed the solution in with any other crockery or cutlery. I just washed everything in hot soapy water? I would appreciate any advise you could give me."

Firstly, as you're making the soap, when you pour the caustic/lye water into the oils, take 30 seconds to rinse out the measuring jug. You don't want to leave a jug that has traces of caustic soda/lye in it. Just a quick rinse will fix that. Also, before you start making soap, pour some cleaning vinegar onto a rag and leave it handy. If you spill or splash any caustic soda/lye, or any raw soap, just wipe it up with the vinegar rag.

When you're filling the soap moulds, make sure you use a spatula and scrape all the soap out of your mixing pot or bowl. Scrape off the mixer, spoons and jugs too. In fact anything that has been used in the soap making process should be scraped or wiped clean before washing so not too much raw soap goes down the drain.

Clean up straight away before the soap goes hard. If you need to use a cloth to clean up, such as around the blades of the mixer, use a rag. Let the rag sit for 24 hours to make sure the soap on it has cured a bit, and add it to the washing machine in your normal wash. When it's clean and dry, it can be used again just like any other rag.

I wash up by hand, so I scrape off everything I can, then fill the sink with hot water and add a good squirt of dishwashing liquid. The raw soap is fairly greasy at this point so you'll need to use a bit more than your usual amount of dishwashing liquid to cut through the grease. Add ½ cup of cleaning vinegar to the water to help neutralise the caustic soda/lye in the raw soap. There won't be much if you've been careful along the way but the vinegar will also help the water drain away well through the drain pipes. Clean everything thoroughly, carefully removing all traces of soap and rinse well. Then let it all dry on the dish drainer.

If you use a dishwasher, scrape and wipe off all the bowls, jugs and utensils, and place them in the dishwasher on a normal cycle.

One of the ways in which we can simplify our lives is to refuse to be sucked into buying new bits and pieces. Soap making is no exception. There is no need to buy a set of mixing bowls or a new mixer just for soap making. If you thoroughly clean every thing afterwards, whatever you use in your kitchen can be used for soap making too. You're cleaning raw soap off the bowls and mixer, not anything more sinister. Stainless steel and glass don't absorb anything. A good clean is all it needs and if you're unsure about the caustic soda/lye, add vinegar to your cleaning routine to neutralise it.

The baby chicks are due to hatch today! I didn't candle the eggs half way through so I'm not sure what to expect. I will be waiting with camera ready.

This is the soap made last week using calendula-infused oil.

I love making soap. It's another piece of the self-reliance puzzle and it makes sense to me to put time into this very old craft. Hanno and I both have dry, sensitive skin so we make sure we use soap that nourishes our skin. The soap I usually make has four ingredients, commercial soap contains many more than that. Shower gel is no better. The trouble with most commercial soaps is that they use man-made ingredients instead of natural ones and they remove most of the glycerin from the soap. Glycerin is the moisturising part of soap but it's removed in the commercial soap making process and then added back in much smaller amounts. Glycerin is more expensive than soap is so it's often sold as a separate product to make a greater profit. What's in your soap? A list of soaps and their ingredients. This list is from the USA but it would be very similar in Australia and Europe.

Your skin is your body's largest organ. What you put on your skin has the potential to heal or harm. I want to use products that at the very least, don't hurt me, and at their best, provide nourishing care for my skin and make me feel clean and cared for.

I hope I can encourage you to make your first batch of soap. But I have to start off with a warning. It can be dangerous because the caustic soda/lye you use will burn if you spill it. If you make soap when you're alone, with no children or animals around, you'll be able to focus all your attention on it and if you have the capabilities and intelligence of the hundreds of thousands of people who made soap before you did, you'll be fine. The danger point is mixing water with the caustic soda - the combination of those two elements will cause the mixture to heat up, even though it's not on the stove. Fumes will come off the mix so you must carry out that stage with doors and windows open. When the caustic soda/lye is mixed with the oils, the danger period is over, although the soap mix will still be slightly caustic. It sounds like something to be wary of but if we were together in your kitchen making soap, I'd simply say to you to be careful and I'd watch to make sure you were. Before and after that mixing of the caustic soda/lye, it's simply a matter of measuring and mixing.

Those who know me well know that once I happen upon something that works well for me, I almost never change it. Well, I'm not exactly changing my tried and tested soap recipe, but I am adding one ingredient to it. It's something I grow in my back yard - organic calendula petals. I add them in the forum of calendula infused olive oil. I am making a couple of batches of it because I like to use the fresh petals. I'll store that oil in the fridge to be used when I make soap again. I have no doubt that I'll dry some petals too, probably when it gets closer to the end of their season, so I'll have my own petals on hand and don't have to buy them.

Making calendula infused oil is quite simple. Early in the morning, after the dew has dried on the petals and after the bees have visited, but before the sun is high, pick the flower heads. This is when the oils in the flowers are at their best. Picking calendula flowers stimulates the plant to produce more so you can repeat the picking process every week until you have enough petals. Healing properties of calendula.

This is my new soap recipe:

450 mls/15.2 liquid oz of rain water, spring water or distilled water *

172 grams/6.06 oz caustic soda/lye

750 grams/26.5 oz olive oil
250 grams/8.8 oz calendula infused olive oil

250 grams/8.8oz copha or coconut oil

* If you don't have rain, spring or distilled water, collect enough tap water the day before you make the soap and leave it on the bench to sit. That will allow the chlorine in the water to evaporate off.

All the instructions and equipment you'll need to make soap is listed in this post. Please read the entire post before going ahead, then come back here for the new recipe. Or if you have no infused oil, use the old recipe until you have time to make infused oil.

When the soap mixture progresses from being liquid to a thicker consistency which holds a shape on the surface, the soap is ready to go into the moulds. This stage is called trace.

When the soap is made and poured into moulds, it needs to be kept warm for as long as possible. This (above) is how I do that. I place the moulds on a large board and cover the tops with plastic wrap, then cover that with a towel and wrap the entire thing in a woollen blanket. It sits on top of my freezer until the following day when I take the soap out of the moulds.

This soap can also be used for washing your hair and you don't need to use hair conditioner with it. I've used it for years and it's always made my hair shiny and healthy. Homemade soap is also a great gift. A bar of soap and two hand knitted face cloths is a beautiful gift that most people would love to receive. But I think the biggest benefits to making your own soap is knowing how few ingredients go into is and experiencing the nourishing qualities of the soap on a daily basis. And if you doubt that is a benefit, have a look at the list of ingredients on any supermarket soap.

I hope you take some time to learn the skill of soap making. Buying commercial supermarket soap will give you a lot more chemicals than it should and buying natural soap is expensive. Making your own from scratch is a natural progression in your simple life journey, so when you're ready to take that next step, I encourage you to dive right in.

I have tried to make this process and the explanation of it as simple as I can, but you must be aware that soap making is not cooking, it is chemistry. Rules apply and when they're not followed, that is when you have failures. I have never had a failed batch of soap and I'm sure that's because I researched, read AND UNDERSTOOD what I read and what I had to do. If you are going to make soap, research and read and make sure you understand what you're doing. Hopefully this post will help with that understanding.

There are two things I want to highlight:

No matter what you read or what people tell you, there is no way to make soap without caustic soda/lye.
You HAVE to weigh your oils - you will notice that the oil measurements are in grams and the water is in millilitres. This is because water has a specific gravity of 1 and therefore a weighed litre/quart of water will be the same as a measured litre/quart of water. Oil is not the same. Oil is lighter and therefore a measured litre/quart of oil is different to a weighed litre/quart of oil. If you don't understand that, maybe soap making is not for you.

WHY YOU HAVE TO WEIGH YOUR OILS

Water and oil do not weight the same - oil is lighter, which is why oil floats on water. If you pour one litre of water into a jug and one litre of oil into a similar jug, the oil would weigh less than the water. Therefore if you pour one litre of oil into a one litre jug and think it's the same as 1000 grams, it's not. You must weigh your oil to get exactly the 1000 grams needed in this recipe.

MOULDS

I use silicon moulds that were probably made for small cakes. I can't tell you what moulds to use because I have only used these and you probably wouldn't be able to buy them where you are. Suffice to say you'll need either a large mould - and cut the soap when it's set, or you can use smaller shapes similar to mine. The pink ones I use are from Kmart but I don't think they stock them anymore.

GREASING MOULDS

I have found that the silicon moulds don't need greasing. If you do need to grease your moulds, use a cooking oil spray.

COCONUT OIL

Coconut oil is getting to be quite expensive and sometimes it's hard to find. If that is the case and you're in Australia, you can use copha, which is available at the supermarket in the butter section. Enough copha to make this soap recipe will currently cost you around $2.66. Coconut oil solidifies when the temperature is 24c/76F. It's fine to use it either way; if it has solidified, just melt it with the other oil.

SOAP MAKING OILS

Each oil used is soap is used for a certain quality it has. For instance, coconut oil help soap lather well; olive oil is a good oil to base the soap on as it will nourish the skin and make a beautiful mild soap. Low grade olive oil is the best olive oil to use, not extra virgin. Take the time to learn a bit about the different qualities of soap oils here. Once you know what you want and the oils that will give it to you, find out what's available in your neighbourhood and go from there. When you decide on the oils you would like to use, and know they're available to you, go to this soap calculator, put in your oils and the calculator will tell you how much water and caustic soda/lye to use.

ESSENTIAL OILS AND COLOURS

I never use these so I can't advise you about their use.

RECIPES FOR SOAP

The recipe may change every time you make soap but the method of making it remains the same.

EQUIPMENT
You can use your kitchen equipment for soap making. Make sure you clean it thoroughly when you finished.

Stainless steel saucepan
Spatula
Scales - oils and caustic soda/lye are measured by weight, not volume
Jug - for holding oils
Measuring jug - for measuring water. It's ok to measure the water by volume
Thermometer - you can use either a milk or candy thermometer
Stick blender, optional but it's the easiest way to stir
Newspaper to cover your work area
Moulds

DON'T use aluminium pots, bowls or spoons.

SOAP RECIPE

My new recipe for a good cold pressed soap is:

450 mls * rain water, spring water or distilled water
172 grams caustic soda/lye
1000 grams olive oil
250 grams copha or coconut oil

If you don't operate in mls and grams, there is an online conversion calculator for liquid here and for weight here.

WARNING

If you are new to soap making, be warned, it should never be attempted when children or animals are around. The lye (caustic soda) you will use, burns, and if you spill it on skin you need to wash it off immediately under running water or vinegar. If you drop it on the floor or bench top, wipe it up straight away as it will burn a hole. When you mix the lye with water, even though it's not on the stove, it will heat up considerably and burn if you drop any on yourself or splash it in your eyes. There are also fumes. When you mix the lye with the water, fumes will come off it. Make sure you mix your lye in a well ventilated room. If you're asthmatic, be very careful.

Many soap makers wear latex gloves, goggles and a mask. Please use these safeguards while you're learning to make soap. When you're experienced, you might be able to dispense with them.

Are you still with me after that warning? Soap making is a simple process that is made difficult by using lye (caustic soda). There is absolutely NO WAY to make soap from scratch without using caustic soda/ lye. If you make sure you're alone when making soap, if you have all your ingredients measured out and have a clean and clear work area, you shouldn't have any problems. The entire process should take about 30 minutes. BTW, the process of soapmaking - saponification - neutralises the lye and by the time the soap is cured, no lye remains in the soap.

IN A NUTSHELL

Basically when you make soap, you mix the water and caustic soda/lye together and they will heat up without you doing anything to them. That is the first chemical reaction. Then you combine the oils and heat them on the stove. Now you wait till the lye and water solution cools to around 50c and the oils heat up to 50c. You need them to both be at the same temperature and when they are you mix them together and start stirring. When you reach "trace" and that is explained below, you pour the soap into moulds and wait for it to set.

HERE'S HOW TO DO IT IN DETAIL:

METHOD

Lay out the newspaper over your work area.
Grease your moulds.
Put on your safety gear.
Open the windows for good ventilation.
Measure out the water into your measuring jug.
Measure out the caustic soda/lye into a small bowl.
Carefully pour the caustic soda/lye into the measured water.
Stir the water with a spoon until the caustic soda/lye is completely dissolved - about one minute.

Caustic soda/lye and water - mixed together.

Weigh your oils and place them in a saucepan.
Clip the thermometer onto the side of the saucepan and place on low heat on the stove. Slowly heat the oils to 50 degrees Celsius (122 F).

Copha and oils heating up.

Wait until you have the oil heated to 50C and the caustic soda/lye cooled down to 50C (122F). When they're the same temperature, carefully pour the lye water into the oils and avoid splashing it.
Start mixing. You can either use a spoon and stir for about 20 minutes or use a stick blender and mix for about 5 minutes, making sure your blender doesn't overheat. Don't use a hand beater and it splashes too much and the soap is still caustic at this stage.

TRACE

Trace is the sign you look for that the soap has become stable and is ready to be poured into a mould. Before you reach trace, the surface of the mixture will be smooth, like pouring cream. When you reach trace, slight ripples will form on the surface and remain there, like thick custard. The mix should be thick, but pourable.

This is what the mix looks like when you've reached trace. Notice how there are ripple staying on the surface.

Once the soap is in the moulds, lay a sheet of parchment or grease-proof paper over the top and cover with a two towels so it cools down slowly.
The next morning, or about 15 hours later, release the soap from the mould. If it's a large mould, cut it into whatever shape you desire.
Place the cakes of soap on a drying rack in an area they can stay in for a couple of weeks. Turn the soap over every day to allow it to dry out evenly. I cure my soaps for about six weeks before using them. The drier they are when you use them, the longer they last. You could use your soap after a week or so, but when it gets wet it will go soft and won't last long. It's better to cure them for a few weeks. This batch made 12 hefty blocks of soap.

TROUBLE POINTS

You will have trouble with your soap:

if you don't weigh your oils
if you don't measure your water
if you don't weigh your caustic soda/lye
if you don't have both mixtures at the same temperature
if you don't stir long enough

Remember, soap isn't just a solid bar. It must lather well, clean and nourish your skin.

Phew! That is the last post about soap I'll do for a while. I do want you to make your own soap but if you're not prepared to read, understand and follow the process exactly, then maybe this simple living task is not for you. If you get past the first soap making session and it results in good soap, I'm sure you'll go on to make it many more times. This is good soap, it's worth a bit of time, planning and effort. Good luck!

I've noticed quite a few new soap makers at the forum lately, and have had emails from some of you with soap questions, so I thought it would be timely to give a few thoughts, not so much about how to make soap but about those things that are associated with it. Please remember I'm not an expert soaper. I make my own soap - one that is plain, unscented and not coloured. So I don't know much about essential oils or colourings but I know about what I do and am happy to share what works for me.

Some soap drying in the open air, and a new batch under covers in the middle.

You don't need the best oil for soap making, in fact courser oils are better.

If you can't find coconut oil and you live in Australia, use copha instead. You'll find it in the dairy aisle at the supermarket. It's solidified coconut oil.

You have to be careful with palm oil. That's often found in the dairy aisle too but many palm trees are being cut down to supply palm oil and that is not sustainable. Palm oil itself is not a problem but it becomes a problem depending on where it is harvested and how it is processed. Go here to download a very good file (and click on the Panda) that shows what various countries and companies are doing. If you don't know the source of your palm oil, buy a different oil, like coconut or sunflower.

Don't make too much soap. The oils can go rancid and additives like oatmeal can go mouldy, so if you make about three months supply at a time, you'll be able to get through your batch and have a new one waiting while only making soap once every 10 weeks or so.

When you finish making a batch of soap, store it on an open shelf on a rack that allows air circulation all around. Turn the soaps every day or so to facilitate the drying. You could keep the soap on this rack for six weeks if you wanted too but if you need to use the shelf, you could put the soap in a box for long term storage. Don't store your soap in plastic because it will make it sweat. Find an old shoe box, or a few of them, or a larger cardboard box and punch some air holes in the side walls for air circulation. Line the box with some brown paper and place a layer of brown paper or paper towel in between the layer of soaps. Don't add too much soap to the box, you need to have air circulating around it, maybe two layers would do nicely. If you're in a humid climate store the box in a cool space in your home.

If saponification takes place correctly, your soap could be used a couple of days after it's made. Generally though, we store our soap on wire racks to dry out for 4- 6 weeks. This allows the water in the soap to dry out. The drier the soap is when you start using it, the longer it will last.

If you want to test that your soap is okay to use, buy litmus paper from the chemist to test it. A reading of pH 7 is neutral but your soap will be slightly alkaline. You're looking for a reading somewhere between 7 and 9 and you'll be on the right track. Don't use any soap over pH 10. To test with litmus, wet the soap and lather it in your hands. Then wet the litmus paper with the lather and compare the strip of litmus paper with the little chart that comes with it. If your soap is too alkaline, let it sit for another week and re-test it. If your soap stays over 10 over the course of a few weeks, you could re-batch it or use it as laundry soap.

This is my tray in the bathroom. The soaps at the front at those kindly sent to me by readers of the blog.

I usually make about 20 bars in one batch. I let them dry out for a month or so and then I usually store them soap in an open tray in the bathroom. If this humidity goes on too much longer, I will store these in a paper lined box.

I hope you're having fun with your soap making. When you "get it" soap making could take you on to many wonderful types of soap or even a little business you could run from home.

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I forgot to tell you but yesterday I was on NSW ABC radio on the afternoon program. Apparently it aired state-wide except Sydney and Newcastle. I'll be on next week too. Tomorrow I'll be interviewed on Radio National's Life Matters - 8.45am Queensland time and 9.45am AEDT. That should be available on podcast later in the day too.

I made a new batch of soap on the weekend. It's the olive, rice bran, coconut oils mix I usually make but soap may be made with many different oil blends so be guided by a soap making book, if you have one, or any number of the excellent soap making sites on the web. Once you find a blend that works well for you, stick with it; I am sure that soap will serve you well for many years.

Bowl of measured caustic soda granules.

One thing I always find when I write about soap is that while many people know how to make good soap, there are always a large number who want to, but hesitate, saying the danger or caustic soda is their stumbling block. On Friday, Helen said that after googling caustic soda she found it is used as paint stripper so she doesn't want to use it. Let me say this plainly: ALL soap, even the 'natural' soaps you might buy for five dollars a bar are made using lye or caustic soda. You cannot make cold pressed soap without using lye or caustic soda. Lye and caustic soda are the same thing and when they go through the process of saponification, they are neutralised and turn into soap. I use Sodium hydroxide (NaOH) to make bar soap and Potassium Hydroxide (KOH) to make liquid soap - both substances are caustic. I will write more about the small danger associated with making soap tomorrow, but for now, let's concentrate on the process. The recipe I used and the process are the same as that in my tutorial, which is here.

Pour the caustic soda into the water, not the other way around.

I have broken soap making down into a few different parts:

Preparation
Getting the temperature right
Mixing
Moulding

Preparation

You need to prepare the area you'll work in. Caustic soda can burn you, your bench tops or anything else it comes in contact with when it's wet. The granules of caustic soda are fine until you add water, even a moist hand will start a burning reaction. Please follow these steps:

Open the windows to allow good ventilation. There is a short period after you mix the caustic soda and water together when you will smell fumes. Good ventilation is essential.
Make sure there are no children or animals around.
Make sure you have a clean and clear area to work in.
You'll need measuring jugs, a stainless steel, plastic or wooden spoon, candy or milk thermometer, saucepan, accurate scale for measuring your amounts, mixer or stab blender and your mould.
Have everything ready and measured before you start.

Getting the temperature right

To make soap you add water to a jug and add caustic soda to the water - not the other way around, it splashes too much. As soon as you mix the caustic soda and water together they will start to heat up. You don't have to add heat, the water and caustic soda alone create their own heat. This mixture will heat up to about 80C/170F and after you mix it well so it's dissolved, you'll have to wait for it to cool down again. Mix the caustic soda and water first. You want the caustic soda and water to cool down to around 50C/125F.
You also have to mix your oils together and heat them up on the stove. Heat to around 50C/125F - you need the caustic soda and the oil to be around about the same temperature. When they are, mix them together. Pour the oil into your mixing bowl first, then add the caustic soda.

Have everything measured and ready before you start.

Mixing

Mix until you reach trace. Trace is when the soap has thickened and when you drizzle the soap from the mixer onto the top of your mix, it will leave traces that don't disappear into the mix..
Mix gently at first until the oil and caustic have blended, then increase your speed. Yesterday, my soap took about 10 minutes to reach trace. The time will be different each time because it depends on the temperature and the oils used.

This is what trace looks like - instead of a smooth top, the ripples stay on the top.

Moulding

After you reach trace, pour the mixture into a suitable mould. It can be a plastic resin cake tin, such as the one I use, or small moulds for individual soaps, or a clean milk carton. Don't use aluminium. At this point, try to retain the heat in the soap by wrapping it up in towels. It should be ready to unmould the following day and then you can cut the soap into the size bar you would like.

Wrap up the soap in towels to retain the heat.

Soap making is a very useful skill that I encourage you all to develop. Even though it has elements that might be dangerous, with care and concentration, you will be able to do it. When you've made one batch, you'll understand the dangers and realise it's straight forward and easy, as long as you prepare well and follow the steps. Tomorrow I'll be writing about how we have been removed from old homemaking skills and scared into believing we have to rely on commercial enterprises to 'save' us. It's an important topic so I hope you'll come back to read it.

I'm sure many of you are wondering: "Why make soap when I can buy it cheaply at the supermarket?" My cold process soap is made with vegetable oils and when it is made and cured, it contains no harsh chemicals or dyes. Often commercial soap is made with tallow (animal fat) and contains synthetic fragrance and dye and retains almost no glycerin. Glycerin is a natural emollient that helps with the lather and moisturises the skin. The makers of commercial soaps extract the glycerin and sell it as a separate product as it's more valuable than the soap. Then they add chemicals to make the soap lather. Crazy.

Making your own soap allows you to add whatever you want to add. If you want a plain and pure soap, as I do, you can have that, or you can start with the plain soap and add colour, herbs and fragrance. The choice is yours.

I want to add a little about animal and bird fat. I know Kirsty makes her soap with duck fat and I think that's great. I think that if you're living true to your simple living values, and you're a meat eater, then you should be using every part of that animal or bird. Soap making helps you to do that. So if you raise beef, pigs or ducks, I'm pretty sure there are a lot of good soap recipes for you to use your animal fats. I will, however, be concentrating my post on what I make - vegetable-based soap.

EQUIPMENT

Stainless steel saucepan
Wooden or plastic spoon
Scales - most soap ingredients are measured by weight, not volume
Jug - for holding oils
Measuring jug - for measuring water. It's ok to measure the water by volume
Thermometer - you can use either a milk or candy thermometer
Stick blender (optional)
Newspaper to cover your work area

DON'T use any aluminium pots or spoons. You may use stainless steel or cast iron and your spoon may be of steel, wood or plastic.

RECIPE The recipe may change every time you make soap but the method of making it remains the same. This is the recipe I use now:

450 mls rain water, spring water or distilled water
172 grams caustic soda/lye
1000 grams olive oil
250 grams copha or coconut oil

Temperature conversion calculator http://www.onlineconversion.com/temperature.htm

WARNING

Many soap makers wear latex gloves, goggles and a mask. I don't as I know what I'm doing and I'm very careful. Please use these safeguards while you're learning to make soap. When you're experienced, you might be able to dispense with them. Are you still with me after that warning? Soap making is a simple process that is made difficult by using lye (caustic soda). There is absolutely NO WAY to make soap from scratch without using lye. If you make sure you're alone when making soap, if you have all your ingredients measured out and have a clean and clear work area, you shouldn't have any problems. The entire process should take about 30 minutes. BTW, the process of soapmaking - saponification - neutralises the lye and by the time the soap is cured, no lye remains in the soap.

METHOD

Lay out the newspaper over your work area.

Grease your moulds.

Put on your safety gear.

Measure and weigh all your ingredients.

Weigh all your oils and place them in a saucepan.

Measure out the water and leave it in your measuring jug.

Measure out the lye into a small bowl.

Clip the thermometer onto the side of the saucepan and place on low heat on the stove. Slowly heat the oils to 50 degrees Celsius (122 F).

With the water already in the jug, carefully pour in the lye and stir gently until fully dissolved. Stand back a bit as there will be fumes coming up from this mix and it will heat up.

Now you need to have the oil at 50C and the lye at 50C (122F). When they're the same temperature, carefully pour the lye water into the oils and avoid splashing it.

Start mixing. You can either use a spoon and stir for about 20 minutes or use a stick blender and mix for about 5 - 10 minutes, making sure your blender doesn't overheat. I use an old Mixmaster (KitchenAid) as it has a very low setting that doesn't splatter. It gently stirs and reaches trace within 5 or 6 minutes. Don't use a hand beater and it splashes too much and the soap is still caustic at this stage.

TRACE

Trace is the sign you look for that the soap has become stable and is ready to be poured into a mould. Before you reach trace, the surface of the mixture will be smooth. When you reach trace, slight ripples will form on the surface and remain there. The mix should be thick, but pourable.

This is what the mix looks like when you've reached trace. Notice how there are ripple staying on the surface.

If you're going to add fragrance, add it when you reach trace and give it a good mix. Then pour the mixture into the greased mould. I use a resin cake form that I bought for $2 at the dollar shop. You can also use plastic ice block trays, milk cartons or any plastic shape. Make sure you grease it - I use cooking spray, and if you're using a milk carton, make sure it's absolutely clean.

If you want to colour your soap you should research this yourself as I've never coloured my soap. Food colouring is unstable and not considered suitable, you'll need to buy soap dye or use natural powders like turmeric, cinnamon or cocoa.

Once the soap is in the mould, cover it with a towel so it cools down slowly.

The next morning, or about 15 hours later, release the soap from the mould and cut it into whatever shape you desire.

I add nothing to my soaps, but I do stamp them with a plain old rubber stamp. And I don't fiddle with the shape, I just cut them into blocks with a sharp knife. I like my soap to look handmade, but many soap makers fashion their soaps to look very professional and store bought. You do what you want to do.

Place the cakes of soap on a drying rack in an area they can stay in for a couple of weeks. Turn the soap over every day to allow it to dry out evenly. I cure my soaps for about six weeks before using them. The drier they are when you use them, the longer they last. You could use your soap after a week or so, but when it gets wet it will go soft and won't last long. It's better to cure them for a few weeks. This batch made 12 hefty blocks of soap.

You can also use your soap to pour into loofahs that have been cut into disks. Just wrap the bottom of the loofah in a small piece of plastic wrap so the hot soap doesn't run through.

The next morning, or when it's set, just tidy up the top with a sharp knife and allow the loofah soaps to cure for a few weeks.

ADDITION: I forgot to add something about soap calculators. When you want to try a new recipe with different oils, you'll need to run the recipe through a soap calculator to give you the correct ratios of oils, water and lye. This is the one I use: http://www.snowdriftfarm.com/soapcalculator.htm Just fill in the weight of the oil you'll use and it will calculate your lye and water for you (for the recipe above we used 1.5 litres). This will give you the exact amount of lye and water you need to add. Then make the soap as above.