How to make natural homemade soap: instructions for beginners

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

Handmade soap is always an exclusive and natural cosmetic product with an individually selected composition. And making homemade soap is a fun, creative and completely uncomplicated process!

What is homemade soap made of?

Soap base

It is recommended for novice soap makers to train on ordinary baby soap without additives and fragrances. If you are confident in yourself, then purchase a professional soap base in specialized stores. They sell white, transparent and multi-colored bases with the addition of oils in packs of 250, 500 and 1,000 grams.

What to buy:

• White and transparent soap bases, 100 g →
• White and transparent soap bases, 250 g →
• Transparent soap base, 1 kg →
• Transparent soap base, 100, 250 and 500 g →

Base oil

It can be anything: coconut, almond, olive, castor, grape and apricot seeds. The oil is almost entirely composed of organic compounds: fatty acids, vitamins, waxes, microelements that are extremely beneficial to the skin.

Add no more than ½ teaspoon of oil to 100 g of soap base. An overdose of essential oils can cause severe allergies, and the soap will stop lathering.

There are many varieties of base oils, each with its own therapeutic effect and infusing homemade soaps with skin-friendly properties.

Base oil	Skin type	Property
Apricot kernels	Any	Saturates the skin with vitamins: A, B, C, E, F. Moisturizes, softens, increases elasticity, normalizes the function of the sebaceous glands
Grape seed	Oily and mixed	Regulates the function of sweat glands, restores the natural oiliness of the skin
Castor	Dry and mixed	Well removes age spots, whitens and nourishes the skin, fights fine wrinkles
Almond	Any	Saturates the skin with vitamins E and F, moisturizes, normalizes the function of the sebaceous glands, prevents enlargement of pores
Coconut	Any	Protects the skin from UV rays, smoothes and makes it more delicate
Eucalyptus	Oily and mixed	It is used for skin whitening, treatment of furunculosis and acne
Sage	Oily and mixed	Smoothes wrinkles, normalizes the work of the sebaceous glands. An excellent remedy for combating acne and other skin problems
Palm	Any	Antioxidant and Natural Source of Vitamin E
Cocoa	Any	Accelerates the process of regeneration of damaged skin cells, eliminating various cosmetic defects

What to buy:

• Coconut oil King Island →
• Eucalyptus oil Spivak →
• Spivak apricot kernel oil →
• Spivak grape seed oil →
• Almond oil Spivak →
• Clary sage oil ARS →

Dyes

Handmade monochromatic soaps can be made using food grade water-soluble dyes.

• Cocoa and coffee make the soap chocolate.
• The chamomile infusion will give the soap a yellow tint.
• Saffron and curry are bright yellow.
• Spinach, dill and parsley are green.
• Beetroot juice - red or pink.
• Essential chamomile oil - blue.

Do not use petals of red rose (gives a dirty gray color) or hibiscus tea (gives a dirty green color) to get red shades.

Natural dyes have low lightfastness and quickly fade in the sun. Therefore, such soap must be stored in a dark place.

For multi-color layered soaps, use liquid or dry pigment in standard and neon shades. Pigment dyes give a bright, rich color and make the soap slightly matte. Before adding to the soap base, dry pigment must be rubbed with oil or glycerin.

A beautiful shimmer and shine to homemade soap is given by mother-of-pearl - a mineral dye in the form of a powder. It perfectly emphasizes the relief of the product. Mother-of-pearl is used in a transparent base soap and is applied to the product surface with a brush or fingertip.

Such a colorant does not need to be dissolved beforehand and is added dry to the molten base.

What to buy:

• Liquid dyes, 5 ml →
• Set of 13 liquid dyes, 10 ml →
• Liquid dyes, 15 ml →
• Pigment dyes, 50 g →
• Pigment dyes, 10 g →
• Pearlescent pigment, 22 g →
• Sequins, 5 g →

Additives

To give homemade soap additional properties, various additives are used: glycerin, cream, honey, herbal infusions, dried flowers.

The recommended dosage of additives is no more than 1 teaspoon per 100 g of soap.

For example, finely ground coffee, oatmeal, and ground nut shells can be added to the scrub soap during the preparation process. Some of these formulations are easy to prepare yourself. But, for example, bamboo powder or baobab fruit will have to be purchased.

What to buy:

• Glycerin "Inventors", 100 ml →
• Dry lavender flowers, 30 g →
• Dry flowers of lavender, rose and jasmine, ~ 30 g →
• Dry calendula flowers, 10 g →
• Dry jasmine flowers, 30 g →
• Various dry plants, 40 g →

What tools are needed

1. Heat-resistant containers with a spout that can be heated in a microwave oven or in a water bath.
2. Silicone 2D and 3D soap molds.
3. Alcohol for lubricating mold surfaces and for better bonding of soap layers. Alcohol should be kept in a spray bottle with a volume of 30–150 ml.
4. Glass or wooden sticks for mixing the soap base.
5. Thermometer for liquids.

What to buy:

• Measuring glass made of glass →
• Glass measuring cup with handle →
• Stainless steel measuring beaker with handle →
• Silicone molds for soap →
• Digital thermometer →
• Spray bottle →

How to make homemade soap

Step 1

Prepare all the necessary ingredients in advance: dyes, oils, fillers, and so on. Cut the soap base into small cubes and melt in a water bath. Make sure that the substrate temperature does not rise above 60 ° C. Otherwise, bubbles will form in the soap, and its quality will deteriorate.

Step 2

When the base is completely melted, add any base oil, color, and one teaspoon of filler, such as ground coffee, to it. In this case, coffee will act as a colorant and give the product a deep chocolate shade.

Step 3

Pour the mass into a mold, after sprinkling it with alcohol from a spray bottle. If you are working with several layers, then when pouring a new one, do not forget to spray the previous one with alcohol and lightly scratch its surface for better adhesion of the layers. The surface of the soap can be decorated with whole coffee beans.

Step 4

Place the mold in a cool place for 2 hours (never in the freezer!). Then remove the soap from the mold by dipping it in hot water for a few minutes and place it on paper to dry for 1-2 days. Store prepared soap in breathable packaging. For example, in cling film.

Bonus: 4 homemade soap recipes

Homemade facial soap

• soap base white;
• 2 tablespoons lanolin oil
• 1 teaspoon of any aromatic oil;
• 1 tablespoon oatmeal, crushed
• 1 tablespoon of ground almonds

Chocolate and vanilla

• soap base;
• a few drops of vanilla essential oil;
• 1 teaspoon almond oil
• 1 teaspoon of ground coffee;
• a few drops of honey and ylang-ylang oil.

Strawberry with cream

• opaque soap base;
• ½ teaspoon olive oil
• ½ teaspoon strawberry seed oil;
• red or pink dye;
• 2 tablespoons of cream;
• strawberry and cream flavors.

Pink dream

• white soap base;
• 1 tablespoon pink clay
• 1 teaspoon of apricot essential oil
• 5 drops of vanilla oil;
• a mold in the form of a flower.