How To Make Natural Soap

 

Learning how to make natural soap takes just the barest of instruction. After all, adding lye to water and mixing it in oils can't be that difficult. And after all, that's really all soap is, just a mixture of lye with oils. But oh the complications that get added on to that simple plan. Here are a few tips to keep you on the right trail.

Simple Natural Soap Recipes Work

There really is little need for a whole host of odd ingredients to make great soap. It doesn't take sugar, any kind of stearate. It doesn't require any kind of oil you've never heard of. All those exotic ingredients offer subtle advantages if they offer any advantages at all. Look for recipes to start with just a few simple ingredients. It's hard to beat a mix that just includes coconut, palm and olive oils. What's more, outlets wholesale soap supplies make it simple to get your hands on these.

If you can't make great soap from simple ingredients, something is probably wrong with your recipes or your methods. More study is required.

Not Enough Lye Makes For Slime

One key factor in soap recipes is that proportion of lye. It's included in the term lye discount. Basically that means using less lye than would be required to turn all your oils to soap. And you really probably don't want to turn all the oils to soap. You likely want a tiny bit of oil still unreacted to impart that luxury feel.

Some folks use "no" lye discount realizing that some of the soap becomes glycerin and that's all the moisturizing needed. Many soap recipes take that trail. A bit risky, in my book, since if you get measurements a little wrong, you have no margin for error. What you get with too much lye is lye left in the soap. That soap might be used to tan hides, yours included!!!

On the other side, too little lye makes for oily soap that feels slimy, because it is, and what's more, it won't bubble much either.

Lavender Fragrances And More

The perfumers art can be part of how you make natural soaps. All lavenders are not alike. A typical French lavender essential oil actually makes for a standard smell. All 40/42 French Lavender is made to smell alike. It's a very herbal odor not entirely pleasant but quite popular. Venture from the standard lavender and the world opens. Particular favorites here include Bulgarian lavender which makes a more floral trail as opposed to heavy herbal.

Fragrances, whether synthetic or organic, make for real fun with soap making. Scents are a great way to be creative and make soap that smells like luxury as well as working that way too.

Use Plenty Of Fragrances

Many soap recipes when made into soap will be unscented even though you put exactly what was called for in the recipe you have. A shame, since that means you wasted the cost of the scent and still got nothing to show for it.

For essential oils in cold process soap, you'll need about 0.7 ounces of essential oil per pound of soap. That will be less for mint and spice oils and more for citrus oils. And most citrus oils won't work very well anyway.

Use too much scent oil and it will remain free in the soap. Too little won't smell at all.

Sorry About the Orange Soap

Citrus oils mostly won't make it through the soap making process. You can try, but it won't work.

Tangerine in a blend works a little bit as does grapefruit.

Litsea survives somewhat. Lemongrass, smells a bit of citrus and lasts quite well.

Lemon and orange? Forget it in cold process soap but worth a shot in melt and pour.

It is quite simple to learn how to make natural soap from soap making books and trial and error. Really the basics are quite simple. Moving beyond the basics to build soap to market through a soap business or to experience spa quality soap means more study and experience.

Getting the volume of sales depends on how well you market which we cover in our material about starting a soap business.