How to make Homemade Lye Soap

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Until the 1850's when general stores actually started stocking provisions for the home, people had to rely on their own home made products to enjoy some of the luxuries we take for granted today. Amongst these were homemade lye soap, which is even today a popular product amongst the masses. Despite the artistic indulgence of creating your very own lye soap, there is ofcourse also the natural skin care benefits.

Homemade lye soap contains more glycerin than the brand name soaps you buy at the shops. The reason for this is that big soap making companies extract the glycerin created during the soap making process to add as an ingredient to their more expensive products because the glycerin is a natural moisture magnet. Creating your very own lye soap is thus a great way to get the quality of top market beauty products combined with the personal customisable style of a homemade product and all of this in a cost effective package.

As much fun as lye soap can be to make, please remember to stick to all the safety precuations as the soap making process can become very dangerous if you are careless. A few basic steps can prevent this. Lye is a very caustic agent and special care should be taken when working with it. Wear a face mask, goggles, rubber gloves and a rubber apron at all times when working with lye. Work outside of the house if at all possible or in an exceptionally well ventilated room. Do not breath the fumes, avoid contact with eyes, skin or mouth.

Do not swallow the lye or any mixture there of. Keep out of reach of children at all times. Also a very important thing to note is that the oils and other ingredients used during the soap making process nuetralises the lye thus making it a very effective and safe soap. Only use the oils indicated in the recipe and use the exact quantities as indicated. Keep in mind that different oils have different properties and so you can not simply replace one oil for another, odds are the required accepted quantities of the oil used needed to nuetralise the lye are different for each different type of oil. Always read the manafacturer's notes on any and all products that you use. Do not use 'replacement' lye or products containing high doses of lye as a substitute. Do your research well before altering anything in the process.

Ladies and gentleman, allow me to present the part you have all been waiting for. Here is a guide on how to make your very own homemade lye soap. Take a look, be creative and create something nothing short of an artwork that is still practical, cost effective and at best, a very lucrative arts and crafts market favourite. All you need is a few ingredients, a little care, a bit of time and your personal touch.

Ingredients: 1 can lye crystals.
2x ½ pints of cold water.
5x ½ lbs. cooking fat or lard.
Scented essential oil (such as lavender)
Food coloring or pigment that should match the scent produced by the oil. (Eg. Green for mint, purple for lavender etc.)

What you will need:

Glass bowls.
Wooden spoons.
Glass pans or soap molds.
Wax paper.
Safety glasses.
Rubber gloves.
Glass cooking thermometers.

What you need to do:

Before anything else, put on your safety goggles, rubber apron, rubber gloves and face mask. Please always keep in mind that lye is a very caustice chemical and can cause severe burns if it gets on you skin or in your eyes. Now we need to add the lye to your water, never the other way around. Pour your water into one of the clean glass bowls. Now you SLOWLY add the lye to your water while being careful of any splashes or spills. Stir the mixture with a wooden spoon so that all the crystals dissolves into the water. You will notice that the temperature starts to rise while you are stirring, which is quite normal. Put the mixture aside while we start melting your lard.

Melt your lard or fat in a pot until it becomes a nice liquid and then leave the lard to cool. Remember that for this step you need to have all the proper safety gear and work in a well ventilated room if you can't work outside. Once both the lard liquid as well as the lye mixture have cooled to between 85 and 100 degrees you can pour the lard liquid into a clean glass bowl. Now carefully pour the lye mixture into the liquid lard being very carefull not to splash or spill. Add one or two drops of your chosen fragrance and coloring oil. Any more than that and you risk having too strong a scent or a soap that might stain anything you try to wash. Stir the mixturing carefully with a wooden spoon until it starts to trace. In other words, if you see a visible line made by the wooden spoon that stays behind for a few seconds, your mixture is ready.

For the next step we need to prepare some molds or a clean glass pan. Thoroughly grease the pan and line it with a piece of wax paper. Pour your mixture into the pan or your chosen molds very carefully as not to spill. Place an additional piece of wax paper on top of your mixture, cover it with a towel and leave to cool for the rest of the night. You can now safely remove the contents from the molds or glass pan so that you can cut it into the shapes and sizes that you wish it to be at the end of it all. Store your soap bars on a rack in a cool, dry place and simply allow two to three weeks for the bars to harden. Well, congratulations, you just created a soapy masterpiece!

The rest is entirely up to you. You and your family can use the soap at home as a luxurious cleaning product equivalent to expensive, upmarket beauty products. You can give it as a wonderous gift to family, friends, business aquintances or whomever else you want. It can be used in guest houses or hotels as a personalised soap. With some creative packagin you can even turn it into a lucrative product for your business or to earn a bit of extra cash at you local arts and crafts market. This is the perfect hobby in my humble opinion and can provide endless joy.