Homestead · Homemade Goods & Apothecary · demo dispatch
Cold-process a bar of soap
Safety · Lye and concentrates burn. Keep this off the kids shelf.
Legal · Not medical advice. Not a substitute for licensed care.
Legal · Not medical advice.
Ada Brooks · 90 minutes, then a month of cure · intermediate · low · 1 proofs · 0 saves · 1 reactions
A tiny batch: oils, a weighed lye solution, and a stick blender. You do not eyeball sodium hydroxide.
soap · lye · apothecary · oils
Tools and materials
- 100% sodium hydroxide
- A scale accurate to 1 gram
- Oils from a calculator you rechecked
- Goggles, gloves, and a mold
- Distilled water
- Vinegar nearby, not for the recipe
Steps
1. Suit up and weigh
Goggles and gloves before the lye container opens. Weigh water, then weigh lye. Run the oils through a trusted lye calculator and write the numbers.
2. Dissolve lye
Add lye to water, never water to lye. Stir outside or by a window until clear. It will get hot. Set it aside to cool.
3. Bring it to trace
When oils and lye solution are both near body temperature, blend to a light trace. Pour, insulate, and leave it alone for a day. Unmold and cure about four weeks before use.
Safety
Sodium hydroxide burns. Add lye to water, not the other way around. If lye solution hits skin, brush off solids and rinse with plenty of water, then use vinegar only on skin that is already rinsed. Do not use vinegar in your eyes. Keep children and pets out of the room. Label the cure bars so nobody uses them early.
Common mistakes
- Pouring water onto dry lye
- Skipping goggles because it is a small batch
A plain oil blend teaches more than a scented one. Fragrance can seize a batch while you are still learning trace.
Proofs
Goggles on, lye into water, numbers from the calculator twice. Bars are curing on a labeled rack. Not for use yet.