Soap: How to

Castile Soap How to:

Includes pictures and videos.

Step 1: The Goods and Where to get them

The List:

1. Rubber Gloves
2. 1g Resolution scale (Amazon )
3. .01g Resolution scale (Amazon )
4. safety glasses  
5. Molds (Milkyway molds) 
6.Soap recipe  (Lye Calculator )
7. Glass Measuring cup (Thrift Store )
8. Glass picture (Thrift Store)
9. small measuring cup plastic or glass (Thrift Store)
10. Stick Blender (Amazon )
11. Cloth towel (Thrift Store)
12. Stainless Steel Pot (Thrift Store) No Aluminum
13. Plastic or stainless mixing stick (No Aluminum )
14. Water
15. NaOH Lye (Amazon)
16. Olive Oil 

Comments

[thinkathena]

Thanks for the recipe. Will be making my first batch when my lye arrives. Also, thanks for posting links to all the products you mentioned :)

[ladiebuggg888]

where can you get the lye locally instead of through amazon? also the scales???

[shortw]

You did not mention how dangerous it is to handle Lye.

This should had been the first thing in warnings folks especially for those folks that never used or handle lye before.

Wearing rubber cloves and a long sleeved shirt or coat is a must!

Lye will burn your skin, from minor red skin or  in the worst case your skin could peel of your flesh, since lye could dissolve the fatty tissue right below your skin that holds your skin to the flesh.

Wearing goggles is a must!

One drop of Lye could burn your eye that you could be blind for the rest of your live.

Fumes that is created while mixing lye, water and oil has to be vented to the outside, or do your work outside.

Fumes can attack your kidneys, lungs, eyes or your nervous system and under worst cases could even kill you.

[shortw]

I forgot to mention,
If you handle lye keep some lemon juice ready, just in case you get some lye mix on you. Pouring lemon juice over the lye mix that you may have spilled on you will neutralize some of the lye until you run to the bathroom to take a long shower.

[ilike2make]

Or if you are worried about spilling, don't do it at all.

[tacamaral]

So, just to help out those of us who use centigrades, 90-115 F would be 32-46 C. : )

Nice instructable - my girlfriend is dying to try it.

[star folder]

The longer you let the soap dry, called saponification, the longer the soap will remain as you use it. This also works with purchased bar soap, remove the labels, and just let it air dry. The longer the better.

[toddsleeman]

This is true, however, very safe to use in one week. Keep in mind soap bar is also harder with age.

[treynolds57]

Great Instructable! I learned to make soap from my grandparents and was once part of a soapmaking group on AOL. Been saving my grease, so I guess it's time to get busy! - Tony

[toddsleeman]

Thanks for the comment Tony. Send a note with a success story if you make the soap. Thanks.

[jiaojiao]

oh, I once used NAHCO3 to make soaps but failed; now I know where the problem is ~

[toddsleeman]

lol, That is hilarious.

[mikolynn]

90 to 115 degrees? I supose you are talking about Centigrades? Or Farenheit?
Thanks!

[toddsleeman]

Fahrenheit, I will add to text.

Note: Temperature is in Fahrenheit.

[joen]

Your Instructable brings back some good memories about when I was making soap at home. I used fat from the meat section at the super market and lye. However I didn't have any molds to work with so I just waited for the soap mass to thicken until I could knead it like stiff dough. Then I would form it into a brick about the width and depth of a regular bar of soap and then sliced off the finished bars about an inch thick. A couple of weeks later they were ready to use. For those that haven't tried making soap, it is a lot more fun then you might think and this instructable is as easy as it gets!
Here's a "Good Job!" for you.

P. S. All the soap recipes I have seen say you need to use distilled or pure rain water. It is not mentioned in your Instructable, I have never used anything but distilled water. Is that important?

[toddsleeman]

So So, Consistency is very important. By using filtered, distilled or rain water you will be reducing variables. You will still have great soap with tap water. However it is best practice to use a consistent source for all things that go in your soap. I will put note in Instructable.

Note: Minerals in tap water can make water heavy which will reduce bubbles.

Thank you! Good idea to put that in there.

[treynolds57]

Another note: I have always noted that, with my soap at least, I don't get fully cured soap for 3-4 weeks, versus the one week noted in the directions...

[joen]

You're right. When I said "a couple of weeks" I should have been a bit more specific. I always made a new batch far enough ahead so that I didn't need to get to that first bar for a couple of months at least so that was not a problem. Time wise, more IS better!

[sunshiine]

I enjoyed your ible! The soap is so pretty! Voted! Is that a lavendar field? Where is the video link? It is great that you listed where to buy the goods.

[toddsleeman]

Thank you! The Skagit Valley Tulip Festival is a tourist destination in Northwest Washington State in the city of Arlington. I will put the video in this weekend.

[toddsleeman]

Please comment I will make improvements as requested. Thanks. Good Jobs are welcome too

[toddsleeman]

Scrub-a-dub-dub, vote for me before you get in the tube.

Voting for me is clean and transparent "Vote".

ok enough of that!