Soap Making For Christmas Gifts

Soap making for Christmas gifts and to decorate your bathroom can be a fun family project throughout the year.

This particular craft can seem a little difficult for the beginner, but in time, if you stick with it, you can make beautiful decorative hand soaps like the ones above.  

This is also a craft in which you need to adhere to all instructions, precautions and tips to insure the best results, and most important to insure your safety and those around you.  The instructions found here were created by those who are experts so their warnings are important to read and follow.  Read all directions and cautions before you begin.

Please make sure that children and pets do not get in the way of the process where you are working with lye and hot water.  Keep all tools and products out of their reach.  If working with children, make sure that you practice first to insure that you understand the process and what precautions need to be taken.  With all that in mind, have fun soap making!  

NOTE:  The soap shown in the photograph above was made with a cutter and is only an example of what you can make. Look Online or at your local craft store for the cutters that suit your needs.  

Items Needed For This Soap Making Project

• Oils:
  • 24 ounces olive oil (not extra virgin)
  • 24 ounces coconut oil
  • 38 ounces vegetable shortening
• Alkaline Solution:
  • 12 ounces sodium hydroxide (lye). No longer readily available; can be purchased online (see external links). Do not use drain opener; the formulas have changed and are no longer suitable for soap. Or make your own lye solution.
  • 32 ounces spring or distilled water
• Fragrance or Essential Oil
  • 4 ounces of your favorite fragrance
  • dried ground herbs (optional)
• Equipment:
  • Safety Goggles
  • Rubber Gloves
  • Scale to weigh the ingredients
  • A one gallon stainless steel or enamel kettle, not aluminum, and not lined with non-stick surface
  • Glass or plastic wide mouth pitcher to hold water and lye
  • A two cup plastic or glass measuring cup
  • Plastic or wooden spoons
  • Stainless steel wire whisk or a hand blender
  • One accurate glass thermometer that registers between 80-100 degrees F.
  • Plastic shoe box for your soap mold. Spray with vegetable spray so soap will release easily.
  • 2 towels to cover your soap
• A source of running water, in case of a spill.
• You will need several hours of time to make your soap.

Soap Making From Scratch

• Weigh out 12 ounces of lye (sodium hydroxide) into the two-cup measuring cup.

• Weigh 32 ounces of cold water in glass container.

• Slowly add lye to water (best done outside), stirring gently. It is very important to add the Lye to the water and not the other way around, otherwise the reaction is too quick and it is dangerous! The lye will heat the water and release fumes. The fumes dissipate quickly, but turn your face away so as not to inhale the fumes. Make sure to stir with a wooden spoon, plastic will melt and metal will react.

• Set aside and allow the lye to cool.

• Weigh out 24 ounces of coconut oil and 38 ounces of vegetable oil shortening into the metal kettle. Porcelain coated metal, or glass vessels are fine, regular metal pans and pots are fine for melting the oil, but inappropriate for mixing lye solution with oil, or setting off lye/water mixture - use canning jars or heavy glass made for drastic temperature changes. Melt these oils over low heat and stir frequently. Remove from heat after oils have melted and add the 24 ounces of olive oil.

• When your lye has reached a range of 95-98 degrees Fahrenheit - a candy thermometer works well to check temperature - (35-36 degrees Celsius) and your oils are at the same temperature, add the lye in a slow steady stream to the oils. Use the metal whisk to stir the mixture. Do NOT use metal implements to stir raw soap! This will cause a reaction you are not looking for, again, use a wooden spoon. After about ten minutes you will notice a change in your mixture. This is called saponification. "Tracing" occurs when the spoon stirred through the mixture leaves a "trace" behind it, as happens when one is making pudding.

• Add your fragrance when tracing occurs. The mixture will appear like thin cream, and droplets of soap will stand up on the surface. Stir well. Be ready to pour natural soap in your mold. Some fragrances and essential oils (cinnamon for example), will cause soap to want to set up quickly in your pot. Other oils like citrus are more forgiving.

• Use an old plastic spatula to scrape out your soap-pot. You may notice soap has a slight to heavy ammonia like scent. This is normal. Use gloves and eye protection! Raw soap is caustic and it can burn skin. Cold water and/or vinegar will neutralize soap splatters. Raw soap is strong enough to use as paint remover. Never re-use utensils for soap-making in the kitchen or around food. Cover your shoe box with the two towels and set aside undisturbed, and out of air drafts (including the air-conditioner or swamp cooler) for eighteen hours. The soap will go through a gel stage and a heat process.
  
  At the end of this period uncover the soap and allow to sit for another 12 hours. If you measured accurately and followed the directions, there should be no problems. But if your soap has a deep oily film on top, the natural soap cannot be used because it has separated. It is disappointing if this happens. This will occur if your measurements were not accurate, or if you did not stir long enough or thoroughly, also if there is a drastic difference in lye solution temp vs. oil temps when mixed.
  
  Sometimes soap will not set at all, or will have white or clear pockets in it. This is caused by under-stirring during the soap-making process and the finished product is not only unusable, but caustic!! Use care and good common sense in disposing of this. Perfectly fine finished soap may also have a light layer of white ash-like substance on the top. This is basically harmless and can be scraped away with the edge of an old ruler or metal spatula. Once you have good, solid soap, this is the only time you can safely get any metal products near it.

• Unmold your natural soap. Turn the box over and allow the soap to fall on a towel or clean surface. You can use wax paper or parchment paper lightly greased with Vaseline to line your molds. This will greatly assist with the unmolding process. Cut your soap into bars. Tension is what is used to cut soap of this type. A length of wire with two handles or heavy nylon string or fishing line is needed. A sharp knife will work fine too, just BE CAREFUL!
  

Soap Making Tips

• Temperature is crucial when mixing the oils with the lye. If too hot, it will separate; too cool and it won't turn into soap. If you have a thick layer of oily stuff after the 18 hour covered period, the soap will be unusable. If it has a layer of white stuff, don't worry about it, that's normal. If there are small white lumps in the soap, they are lye and it will burn if used.
  

• Adding any chemical to water significantly reduces the risk of the chemical splashing back to your face. Remember, "Do what you oughtta, add acid to water." It works with base as well.


• Don't use perfume as a fragrance, especially if it contains alcohol. It will alter the chemical reaction that's taking place between the lye and the fats, and will cause your soap to fail. You can use natural essential oils, or fragrances that are specifically manufactured for use in soaps. A little bit of essential oil or fragrance goes a long way. You may only need a teaspoon or so.

Soap Making Video

  

Soap Making Credits

This soap making Article provided by wikiHow, a wiki how-to manual. Find author credits at the original wikiHow article on How to Make Your Own Soap. All content on wikiHow can be shared under a Creative Commons license.

 witter and acebook.

Leave Christmas Gel Candle Making for  << Home  << Free Projects

I Did It and So Can You!  Achieve Your Own: Home Business Success With SBI

If you've ever wanted to turn your craft, hobby or interest into a home business success story, there's a way you can do it -- even in this difficult economy!  And you can earn $25.00 dollars for taking the first step!  I'll pay you to get started! Two years ago I turned my dream into an Internet business through SBI, and now I get thousands of free, targeted visitors per month -- and it's still growing!  And I can help you do the same!  I'll even show you how to monetize your projects, recipes or writing on the Internet.  Keep reading to find out how!   More...

Sign Up Free For Updates and Freebies!

Name: Email:

Legal Notice: - The Soap Making instructions are provided to you "AS-IS".   No other warranties of any kind, express or implied, are made to you as to the e-Text or any medium it may be on, including but not limited to warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose.  The Author/Publisher of Christmas Preparation assumes no responsibility or liability whatsoever on the behalf of any purchaser or reader of these materials.