(The guys in my family like it, so that might be something your boys would enjoy too!) I’d try a new source. The specialty of this butter is that the adulterated version has a higher non-saponifiable content, which is good! If the reviews are good for the product, then perhaps it’s just a bad batch; I’ve also heard of that occasionally happening even with good suppliers. Does anyone know if this is correct & the amount needed if it is? Happy soaping! The oils in the recipe start reacting immediately with the lye to make soap when they combine. I can tell because I am just now getting itchy fingers to start doing some hobbies again. Thanks for the kind words! The only main difference I can think of is in what types of items they carry, probably vary. I think you could try leaving the aloe out – it can be aloe gel or aloe liquid. Hi Lynn, I’m so sorry that you’ve been ill, but am happy to know that you’re feeling better! I’m completely new to this but want to give it a try and go all natural with my skin care products. What should I add? This is my personal favorite. up to 3 teaspoons total of additives such as oatmeal, poppy seeds, dried spices, cosmetic clay, honey, etc.). All content © The Nerdy Farm Wife - All Rights Reserved. To make shea butter soap, put on gloves and goggles and mix your lye with distilled water. I have seen quite a few people n my area trying to sell M&P soap as anything but… I look at lye much the same as I do with electricity. I LOVE Bramble Berry’s products as well. Mix with the spatula until combined. I love Brambleberry too I just found your blog when I was looking for a natural eye wash-and found your calendula eye wash-making it now-I have some of my own flowers that I froze. Here are a few ideas for natural colorants. The lather can be creamy, thick or thin, bubbly or a bit of both and some where in between. Yes – great idea! It is the lye that turns fats into soap and it's impossible to make soap, from scratch, without it. The Nova Studio has some information on that & I believe they sell it: Wealth of information on this site as well as on your site. :), Hi, I love thus idea but am allergic to soy. I do find that the clear base (like I used in this article) leaves my skin feeling a wee bit dry, so I think it’s a great idea to experiment with adding moisturizing ingredients! :). So I’m going to try this myself. Rich lather in extremely hard water, rinses clean off skin with no film. No reheating, or overheating in the microwave. Soap m… I can completely remember that feeling. I LOVE LOVE LOVE Kirk’s. Thank you in advance. There’s also the “I made this all by myself!” cool factor. It doesn’t lather or it doesn’t bubble up? I’m glad that you enjoyed the web site and hope you continue to grow stronger each day! Unmold the soaps and wrap them tightly. Do I need to worry about ph or neutralizing? errr, the process I refer to in comment #5 should be #4. 3. Carefully pour the melted soap base into the molds and spray it with alcohol. ), or it could be the brand of soap base. Here’s how to make glycerin or melt and pour soap without lye. If you’re a palm-free soaper, look for SFIC’s Clear or White Palm Free Soap Bases at Soap Goods or Wholesale Supplies Plus. Hi Jan!! Your email address will not be published. As an Amazon Asssociate we earn from qualifiying purchases. Then cover the mould with a layer of cling film. I will eventually bye lye & then see which makes the better soap product in the end. While the soap heats, stir the arrowroot powder and aloe vera gel together until it’s very smooth, using a spoon to press out any lumps. The more I make soap, the more I consider learning hot process or cold process soapmaking. I do use other sites on occasion also. Where do you get all of your basic ingredients (aloe Vera, Shea butter etc.)? (SFIC bases rank high in my eyes because their motto is: “As natural as we can make it” which appeals to my crunchy side, plus their bases feel nice on my skin.). Yes, coffee grounds are great in soap (I have a coffee and cream recipe coming to the blog this month or next.) what do you do to ruined bases? Cocoa Butter and Soap. I hope the future batches are better behaved for you! I am an beginner to just confrom do lye consisting soap would harm skin and environment. Will that work or will it ruin the soap base? If you’re interested in combining natural colorants, essential oils, herbs, and flowers with melt and pour (glycerin) soap base – you’re going to love my new print book, Easy Homemade Melt & Pour Soaps – just released today! I was afraid too but then realized as long as you respect the lye and work carefully then it’s a snap! Aloe is prized for its ability to soothe itchy, hot or inflamed skin conditions. I love wholesale supplies plus too-they have a great list of all natural melt and pour soap bases which I use. :-), Hi Debra, I’m glad you enjoyed the information! Now, every fat requires a certain amount of lye to turn it into soap. You can probably get storebought soap cheaper. This is my favorite thing to do with melt and pour. If you don’t mind the little air bubbles, you can definitely leave out the alcohol spritzing! Carefully pour the melted soap base into the molds and spray it with alcohol. Thank you for your patience with me & my lengthy post. (And when my children were little I’d make my soap at naptime. Making soap with the melt and pour method If you do not want to handle lye, then your best option to make homemade soap is to use the melt and pour method. Use EO Calc to determine the right amount for your projects. The login page will open in a new tab. Thanks for the information Daniel! Try it! Thank for the wonderful recipes :) I have a question about packaging though – i have been making melt and pour soaps but since i don’t wrap them in plastic, they get some moisture on them. It includes 50 fun recipes, design tutorials, and lots of helpful information on infusing soap base with herbs and flowers, and usage rates for natural colorants, essential oils, and other ingredients sourced from nature. If you’d like to add dried flower petals to melt and pour, it’s good to be aware that most will turn brown or discolor. 2. Thanks in advance & for sharing your experience! The additional oils can throw the mixture out of balance and either run the batch or make the bars super soft. Other bases to try include Stephenson Donkey Milk, and Wholesale Supplies Plus DF (detergent free) Three Butter soap, and their DF Baby Buttermilk soap base. Congratulations to your granddaughter! This would be done either by rebatching soap chips or noodles or using a melt and pour soap base. But in this case, do we have to wait until using the bar soaps? In the microwave, heat the cocoa butter for about 3 minutes at 50 percent power. Lye is … It probably varies by region. It took months of research before I felt comfortable enough with the idea and even then, I had my husband handle it for the first few batches. I taught my 1st CP soapmaking class last month. The melt end pour method is by far one of the easiest and the safest way to make soap without lye. Something you could do, is just offer up a selection of materials and let them come up with their own unique recipes. Can you use almond milk instead of coconut milk? Store them in a cool, dry place. Have you looked into Biolefin biodegradable shrink wrap? You’d have to establish some sort of standardized alkalinity in order to get the results you want, but that is way beyond anything I’ve dealt with! Do you have a link to an image where you saw one? Use a scale (weight) to measure the oils, butters, wax, lye (sodium hydroxide), water, and glycerin. I have to admit, I’m a cold-process junkie so am not as familiar with the wide spectrum of things you can & can’t do with melt & pour. https://thenovastudio.com/things-we-love-biodegradable-shrinkwrap/ Jan ~ do you work with the white cream textured soaps? You can find good bases out there, just look and understand the ingredients. These came out so pretty too. Hi Jan! :), Me too – such an addictive & useful hobby! Spray bottle of rubbing alcohol. d. If I use it as is, would I need to add salt for hard bars? :). This error message is only visible to WordPress admins, The Ultimate Beginner’s Guide to Making Soap Without Lye, Peppermint and Chamomile Oatmeal Facial Mask, Peppermint and Orange Shea Butter Body Bal, Super Simple Sugar Scrub Recipe + Tips on Customizing Your Scrub, The Ultimate Guide to Making Soap from Scratch, simple cold process soap recipe for beginners, Contain no SLS, SLES, detergents, or parabens, Are made from only natural and naturally-derived ingredients, Includes non-GMO, vegan, RSPO and palm-free options. This is something I can do now and try making soap from scratch when the kids are older. Chill out! I will need enough for about 250 people. I see people using all sorts of expensive additives like poppy, chia, or flax seeds, etc. Could that stop be skipped or do we absolutely need the gel ? Keep them in the molds until they’re completely cooled and hardened, 4 to 5 hours. I hope this overview will be a nice gateway into helping others get more comfortable with the idea of making soap in general, and that some will gain the confidence to try cold process soap (my favorite method!) Wax paper. I never seem to get the microwave right in terms of time and temp level. You can buy suspension soap base, so your herbs can be all the way through the soap. :) But, if you have a few kids that might dump everything in, you can offer up a little formula that they can follow. Don’t be fooled by misleading terms. The alcohol helps pop or dissolve any little bubbles on the surface of the soap. What they don’t tell you is that in M&P soap they have to add additional glycerine to counteract the drying properties of the alcohol used. I’m allergic to coconut. shea butter melt and pour soap base (soap base comes in 2 lbs. I showed them how to make castile w/ oatmeal & honey. Preparation of this recipe is easy. ), Yes, that’s exactly how I view it too! Some people think that lather must equal bubbles which is why I ask. This combination will add a creamy soothing bubbly feel to the finished soap. Hopefully someone knowledgeable will see this and chime in! Can I just use this lye solution in place of re-hydrating lye crystals & NOT add water called for in the lye calculators? Here is an introduction to making soap includes without lye ( Melt & Pour and Cold process) Article by Smartpennieslife. I teach middle school Family and Carreer at a small Christian school. Only a tiny bit at most. It was for a Naturally Healing class. The melt & pour method though is fun for kids to help with, no matter what age. I am extremely interested in making my own soap—I saw an intriguing process using a crock pot a while back & can’t wait to try it. Thanks. I’ll give the a try Thanks!! Do lye or melt and soap would harm skin I am saying beacuase I always perferd herbal cosmetics and cream to stay away from chemical substances. I’ve tried Refined A Olive OIl but have gone back to Costco’s Kirkland Pure Olive OIl – it’s the lightest in color and not a blend. Goat milk soap recipes need little shea butter if at all. I get my base at http://www.wholesalesuppliesplus.com They have a wide variety of bases including an all natural. I promise!! I’m currently working on a new website devoted just to melt and pour recipes and tutorials – Easy Melt & Pour. :) It’s much easier now that my kids are older. :), I used to be afraid of lye, but then realized that if you aren’t afraid to use bleach then you shouldn’t be afraid of the lye. Put it in your Pyrex and melt it in the microwave or in a double boiler over low heat. They sell it at michael’s craft store. Great idea about making it at naptime when you have small children. When the cocoa butter is partially melted, add the shea butter and continue heating until it is partially melted. What is the difference between Bulk and Brambleberry? Now I’m ok with it – I just make sure to use gloves and goggles. Use your brain, you can NOT make soap without lye ever! PERIOD. You are being a bit hard on her. Many Thanks! I’d also like to share a recipe from my new print book, Easy Homemade Melt & Pour Soaps. blocks; use half for this recipe and save the rest for another project) 1 tablespoon chamomile powder (or contents of 3 chamomile tea bags) Soap mold or silicone muffin pan (I thought the star molds were super cute … and thanks for referring Berry store. If you’re using a ready made soap base, then you can use the soap right away. I stumbled on your website and like others, I’m fearful of lye. It brought back memories of the clean I felt as a kid & had not really experienced in many years. <3. Then I was told that they have had NO issues with NOT lathering and left it at that. They all got to take a soap home (in the mold) that they FINALLY got to use a week ago! It has helped my young child that has gone through puberty at an early age {genes, not cheap hormone laden food} get a handle on cystic like acne {along with 16 oz witch hazel & 5 uncoated aspirin added to it & used as a toner}. Place the container in a saucepan containing a few inches (at least 5 cm) of water, forming a makeshift double boiler. :) It sounds like you have made some amazing soaps! This recipe makes about 2 pounds of soap which will produce about 6-7 bars of natural soap. Any little bit leftover will come out if you soak your crockpot for a little while. If you click on one and make a purchase, I earn a small commission for sending a customer their way. The bases are designed to be complete and too much oil will alter their consistency. It was so much fun. for exfoliation purposes. 1. I heard that it changes. I’ve ran across a few that had bad reviews as far as being prone to seizing up. (Here’s an article I wrote about why we need lye, so you can learn more about why it’s necessary for soapmaking.) I have an example of this technique shown in the Jewelweed Melt & Pour Soap recipe in my article, Preserving & Using Jewelweed. Hi Petra! As long as you maintain a healthy respect for lye while you are working with it (Proper safety) it is rather safe. b. However, until you’re ready, or if you just aren’t interested into that kind of soap making – I’m here to tell you how to create your own unique herbal soaps, without handling the lye part. For those who don’t want to work with this potentially dangerous chemical there are alternative ways to make a beautiful bar of soap. (Scroll down to #4 on the list.) I won’t buy any other palm oil, knowing what’s happening the the forest & orangutans. No lye is left in a properly made soap or melt & pour base. I followed your instructions for a 5% superfat. possibly. All recipes are made and used at your own risk. I think if you add anything, it’d have to be in low amounts. Yes, you are not seeing things, I actually said BRUSH TEETH. Can I still add more oils to the melt and pour soap base? It’s so safe, your kids can help you! Friends, family, restaurants, or maybe even your church, I would hazard a guess one collection from any listed source would be more than enough for a batch as a trial for those non-coffee drinkers out there. I saw on a soap making forum that others were using Roebic brand 100% lye crystals {in other words, pure lye} but when I went to Lowe’s {plumbing department} to get it, it was $17 for 2 lbs. Sorbitol is an alcohol used to lower the soap’s melting point. While soap making without lye does rely on glycerin, it is still a lot of fun to play with the scents, colors, and additives that can help to make your soap unique. Melt your chosen base in a saucepan over low heat or in the microwave. Thanks so much again!!! How to make soap without lye Really there is no true lye free soap, because at some point or another lye has been used to create the saponification process. We are going to try this. 30 to 50 grams of your favorite essential oils or fragrance oils (you will need a bottle of 30 to 60 milliIitres the equivalent of 1 to 2 fluid ounces). Before adding a natural colorant to soap, most will do best if you dilute them with about 2 to 3 times as much rubbing alcohol first. You can still use it sooner though. My recipe for my soap paste is 25%: shea butter, mango butter, 92 degree coconut oil, and grape seed oil. Cover the top loosely with a heatproof saucer. Unmold the soaps and wrap them tightly. Pink: madder root powder (1/8 to 1/2 tsp per 4 oz), rose clay (1/4 to 1/2 tsp per 4 oz) Can this step be left out? I absolutely agree; lye can be very safe when handled properly. :). and more info on how biodegradable it is: I get a lot of the basic ingredients from places like Mountain Rose Herbs, Bramble Berry, Wholesale Supplies Plus, Soap Goods, Essentials by Catalina, and Amazon. Place dry grounds in a covered container until ready to use. May 16, 2015 - Looking for melt and pour soap ideas? I wish I could find one that is soy free and palm free – but so far, no luck! Never had a “bad” batch, the bases are so incredibly versatile and user friendly I am always amazed with what they accept and continue to come out SOAP: cleansing with abundant lather (some people gotta have that lather!) Here are some of the tutorials on there, with more to come! Has anyone made soap in a crock pot? Soap melt and pour is easy to make in about 10 minutes at home. f. I think someplace while researching this homemade lye process I saw that lime could be added as a catalyst (?) 5. :). you can’t make bar soap, liquid soap, laundry detergent, dish soap, etc without lye. ;) Any suggestions/”recipes” for beginners would be greatly appreciated! Now you’ll need to carefully make the lye solution. Love your recipes! 1 lbs. I personally stay away from M&P bases; as they contain some type of alcohol and can be drying on the skin. Thanks a lot! You’ll love it! The colors really make each one of them pop. She was simply letting people know that you can make soap without working with lye yourself. The key to diminish the use of lye is adding glycerin. Sounds about right…anyway I thought that you & your readers/followers might enjoy this site too, especially since I read that somebody referred to not having commercially available resources. After logging in you can close it and return to this page. I feel that you wrote this just for me :-) It answered my “soap base” question and gave me a lot of ideas on how to add beauty (scent & sight). I like how they make it look marble like. that the lye in the melt & pour base no longer is lye during the process? You can also buy different bases that already have extra moisturizing properties. Calendula petals will hold their color, and bachelor buttons (cornflower) will keep their pretty blue when sprinkled on top, but the rest won’t be attractive over time. Fill the bottom pot of your double boiler halfway with tap water. Lye is what makes oils soaponify and change from oil to soap. They could also use these as gifts! Hi Leah, I sure don’t. Or can we use them right away if it’s made from soap base? SF is around 7% and water is 36-38%. As am I Jan! Chop the soap base into large pieces. :), This is kind of new to me but really looking into getting started so thanks for much for sharing your info. I have been making my own soap, bath products, & candles for over 40 yrs. I also have several pages of helpful colorant samples in my print book, Easy Homemade Melt & Pour Soaps, as shown in the photo above. On the stovetop, melt at low-medium heat. :), Or… you can just buy your stuff… which is what I prefer :-), Oh I just love how these natural soaps turned out! Hello, I’m trying to find the correct aloe vera gel. I am using this for a shampoo. Hi Inny! :). I need a no-lye easy way to make this, adding oils and things like lavender buds, ect. :) You can buy melt and pour soap base or glycerine soap base on the internet and then melt it down and pour it into soap molds. a. Shea butter is Abundantly available in Ghana. She has sooooo many great ideas! That’s good to know – thanks for the information Charlotte! This article will hopefully give you further information: http://www.hobbyfarms.com/crafts-and-nature/why-use-lye-in-soap.aspx. I am very happy that I have run across your site & will be eagerly devouring all aspects of it. I love the idea of homemade soap favors! I use soap making supplies from Bulk apothecary (http://www.bulkapothecary.com/categories/soap-making-supplies.html). If you are using ONLY 5 ounces of shea butter for your soap, you will need .61 oz of lye and at least 2 fluid ounces of water for a 5% superfat soap. c. If I use the solution as is, would I measure the lye water in a liquid measure cup or still weigh it like the other ingredients for soap making? Sorry. Possibly the most often expressed sentiment I hear when it comes to soap making, goes something like: That is a completely justified fear and one that I shared for a very long time. You can buy sustainable Palm oil by Spectrum. Set your lye aside, combine your oils in a pan, and then heat the oil until it reaches 120 °F. One place to try is brambleberry.com – they have such nice customer service that if you did run into a problem, I think they’d be a lot more helpful than the place you purchased your product from. Wouldn’t you know that right after I posted to your blog, I found another that answered some of my questions? All of the soap bases I’ve seen contain soy protein do you know of any that don’t? do you have any suggestions for me ? It also includes several glycerin melt and pour soap recipes. I think my classes would really enjoy making these soaps…..even the boys! Can be used on face, body, hair & you can even brush your teeth with it. next. Would a crock pot liner or turkey roasting bag work to speed clean-up & make it an easier pour into molds? However, once it combines with oil, it undergoes a complete transformation and turns into soap and glycerin – which is helpful to your skin. 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