How to make your own hand soap

Posted by Kevin Quinlan ADD COMMENTS

We use it everyday (well, you should… and more then once), so it is a great item to consider trying to do on your own. Making soap on your own is not very hard to do and once you get the basics down you can go in many directions with it as far as the various scents and styles soaps can come in.

To make your own soap you will need to have two pans: a dishpan around 10″ x 12″ and a glass two quart saucepan. You will also need one can of lye (twelve ounces), water, three pounds of lard and for safety, plastic gloves and protective eye gear.

Once you have all of your ingredients, get to work. Empty three cups of cold water into the two quart saucepan. Very carefully (I can not stress that enough) add the lye in with the water while stirring it with a wooden utensil. Lye is a dangerous thing, be sure no children are around and you slowly add it to the mix wearing your protective gear. Once the lye is mixed, leave it to cool for about an hour and take the lard out, place it in the 10″ x 12″ dishpan (the lard should be around room temperature).

Once the hour has passed, pour the lye/water combination in with the lard. When you do this, the lard will melt. Using a wooden utensil again mix the lard and lye together for around fifteen minutes. When you are done it should resemble pudding.

You want to spread the mixture out so it takes up the entire space of the dishpan and is relatively evenly distributed. Once you are there, leave it until the next day. Once you have let it set, cut the mixture into bar sized shapes and again leave it alone for two or three days. Over that time it will harden up and become solid bars of soap.

The only tricky part to making your own soap is the lye and making sure to use it safety. Otherwise, it is really a simple and straightforward process. If you feel comfortable, next time you run out, go make your own soap!