Soap Making

Soap making has been around since time out of mind, but the art of making soap is still going strong. The ingredients vary with the type of soap being made, but all soap making begins with two basic ingredients...lye, and either an oil or tallow base. Depending in the oil or tallow used to make the soap, your soap will either be poured into a pan to harden and age, or it will stay in a liquid state. Here are some basic soap making instructions.

First obtain some lye. You can do this in one of two ways. You can do it the easy way and get your lye buy buying from a shop specializing in soap making supplies. Sometimes soap making items can be found in places that also sell candle-making supplies. Or, you can do it the old fashioned, "colonial" way if you use a wood burning stove or fireplace. As the wood ash builds, collect it and put it in a "drip". A drip is usually a wood contrivance that looks something like a small manger that is tilted at an angle with a small hole in one end. Line your "drip" with corn shucks, or some cloth, and fill up the drip with the wood ash until it is completely full. Pour clean, clear, water slowly through the wood ash and let the resultant liquid drip out of the hole into a plastic container. This liquid will be the lye. CAUTION! Lye is a caustic chemical that can cause skin burns, so use with care!

The oils used in soap making are many, and each produces a different type of soap. The use of castor oil in soap making is very common as it produces a very mild soap. Other types of oils used are olive oil, coconut oil, and some people will use tallow, or animal fat, to make their soap. Also used is sodium hydroxide in bar soap to saponify the oils in bar soap make the soap lather.

Once you get the basic soap blocks poured, cut, and have allowed them to age, you can take the basic soap and make other types of soap out of it. Add colorants, fragranced oils ad they can smell like your favorite perfume, such as Eternity, or pine tar resin, which is used for skin ailments such as psoriasis.

Making liquid soaps, or shampoos, is a bit different in that liquid soap can be used immediately once made because the process for making it is a bit different. This type of soap is made by the hot process and uses potassium hydroxide to maintain the liquid state.

All one need do is look for soap making instructions on the internet for making any soap that you can find commercially, but with the ingredients you choose to best suit your needs. Soap making can be a fun and rewarding experience, and custom, homemade soaps and shampoos make great gifts for friends and family alike. Have fun with your adventures in soap making.