Soap and Bath & Body Products E-book
By www.ImaFrugalGirl.com
©2010 www.Imafrugalgirl.com
What You Will Find In This E-Book
Disclaimers and Legal Stuff
Lip Balm
Bath Bombs
Lotion Bars
Foot Balm
Everything You Ever Wanted To Know About Soap
CAUTION!!! READ THIS BEFORE ATTEMPTING TO MAKE SOAP!
Saponification Explained
What kind of lye to buy to make soap with
Easy Cold Process Soap Recipe
How to make a blanket wrap on your finished soap bars
Resources page
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I hope that you enjoy this e-book!
Disclaimers and Legal Stuff
Please read this e-book thoroughly before attempting to make any of these projects. While every precaution
has been taken in the preparation of this e-book, the author assumes no responsibility for errors or omissions or
for damages resulting from the use of the information contained herein. By downloading or using any recipe,
procedure or technique contained in this Soap and Bath & Body Products E-book you accept all responsibility
for your safety and the safety of those around you human and or animal.
Please do not read this Soap and Bath & Body Products E-book and think that you’re going to go into the soap
and bath and body product business. Making products like these requires a lot of trial, testing and error and the
last thing that you want is to injure somebody. Although my recipes never harmed anybody, I also had the
experience to know how to keep products sterile and safe. I also knew how to tell if soap was safe to use or not.
Only experience with many batches under your belt can teach you that. I made products for at least 2 years
before I started selling them. This e-book was created for you to use to make gifts for friends and family, and
also for your own personal use to save money by not having to buy them.
There are many more recipes on the internet for all of the products that I included in this e-book. I decided to
use the ones that I developed because I found them to be the best in my opinion. The only recipe that is not
mine is the soap recipe. I pulled this recipe off the internet and have used it many times to teach beginners
how to make soap because it is a very easy recipe. All of the product pictures are mine except for the bath
bombs. I later changed out my bath bombs to a more complicated, but very cute version.
The information, content and images on the ImaFrugalGirl.com Web site is the intellectual property of
ImaFrugalGirl.com, and is copyright © 2010, unless otherwise stated. This includes, but is not limited to, all
images, photographs, copy, written content and HTML unless other credits are given. The content contained in
this Soap and Bath & Body Products E-book may not be used, sold, reproduced, mirrored, duplicated,
distributed or copied in any form or manner, without the preceding written permission of Rose W., owner of the
ImaFrugalGirl.com website. Electronic mail (e-mail) is not considered an acceptable form of written consent.
Unless otherwise stated on the individual page, all photographs displayed in this Soap and Bath & Body
Products E-book are the property of ImaFrugalGirl.com copyright 2010, all rights reserved. All data contained in
this Soap and Bath & Body Products E-book, regardless of ownership, may not be sold, reproduced, mirrored,
duplicated or copied without the preceding written permission of the respective owner. The author of the work
retains all rights. This Soap and Bath & Body Products E-book and the information contained within it is provided
"as is" without any warranties or guarantees of any kind.
This Soap and Bath & Body Products E-book contains website links to other web sites that are independent of
the ImaFrugalGirl.com website. Please note that ImaFrugalGirl.com, its owner(s), webmaster(s), author(s), and
producer(s), make no representation or warranty as to the accuracy, completeness or authenticity of the
information contained in any website link or website that we link to. Use of any website link is done so at your
own risk and you willingly accept all risks and liability of doing so.
Now, with all of that said I present to you a compilation of recipes created by me and used in my soap and
bath and body product business of 5 years. I have tried to include the best product sources, but in this business
the prices can fluctuate frequently depending on oil prices and shipping costs. Like I stated above, please only
use these recipes for personal use, friends and family. The last thing you want to happen is you getting sued
because you made a product that somebody claims harmed them. The judge and jury will not be too happy
hearing that you just started making products and then immediately turned around and started selling them.
Pretty sure that would be a slam dunk win for the person suing you. Getting sued is not very frugal at all and
defeats the whole purpose of this e-book. LOL
Lip Balm
1 oz. beeswax
1 oz. coconut oil
1 oz. cocoa butter
2 oz. castor oil
1 Vitamin E Capsules
3-4 drops of flavor oil (candy flavoring oil)
Melt everything except the flavor oil and the vitamin E capsule in a Pyrex (Tolerates high heat well) glass
measuring cup in the microwave in 20 second intervals until mixture all melted. Remove from microwave
carefully because it will be HOT. Let cool then add your flavor oil. Mix to incorporate. If using lip balm tubes,
pour mix SLOWLY into the tubes being careful not to spill. Let cool a bit then top the tubes off again to fill in the
dimple. If the mix has hardened, briefly heat up again until it is pourable. This makes roughly 20 lip balms.
Bath Bombs
1 cup of baking soda
1/2 cups citric acid
1/4 cup of cosmetic (Kaolin) clay THE SECRET to my HARD AS A ROCK bath bombs!
¼ sugar- helps the wet mix hold together
1 Large or 2 small Vitamin E oil capsules, pierce the capsule and squeeze out the oil
2 1/2 tablespoons of olive oil
1 tablespoon of skin safe fragrance oil or about 20 drops of skin safe essential oils
3 teaspoons of water (approximately you may need more or less depending on the batch)
Colorant- I used the Wilton colorants bought at Michael’s using their 50% off coupon.
Put the citric acid, baking soda and the clay together in a mixing bowl. Blend well or you will end up with a
bad bomb that does not hold together. FYI I used to use a mixer to make my bombs.
Once you’ve mixed that really well, add your colorant. A little bit of these goes a long way so add color until
you get almost the color that you like. Keep in mind that when you add the wet ingredients the color will
become more vibrant.
Next put the water, olive oil, contents of the vitamin e capsule and the fragrance oil together in a spray bottle.
Shake vigorously to blend.
This is the tricky part, but once you do a couple of bath bombs it gets easier. Slowly and carefully spray the dry
mixture with the ingredients in the spray bottle, 1 to 2 sprays at a time, while running the mixer on low, scraping
down the sides of the bowl. Keep spraying slowly until the mixture begins to stick together. If you see a small bit
of fizzing in the mix, that's okay, but a lot of fizzing will ruin the mixture and your bath bomb won't fizz in the tub.
When your batch sticks together when squished, you need to start putting it in molds. Work fast! If you wait too
long, the mixture will get hard and brittle. Push the bomb mixture into the molds packing as much mix as you
can get into the space. The harder you pack the bath bombs, the harder and better your bath bombs will be.
Wait about a minute then gently tap them out of the mold. Let them air dry for about 24 hours in a dry
environment. If it is humid where you live do not even attempt to make these without a dehumidifier in the
room or you will have a fizzy mess on your hands.
You can use those Dollar Store cute silicone ice cube trays in fun shapes as molds. I used to bag up a bunch of
them in those cute little Dollar Store Bags and they sold like crazy! I also made the round ones as you see in the
picture above but those are a little harder to make because they tend to stick in one half of the meatballer
and break in half. Start with the ice cube trays then venture on to the harder stuff, you won’t be sorry!
Lotion Bars
1 oz. cocoa butter
1 oz. shea butter
2 oz. canola or olive oil
1 oz. beeswax
1 Large or 2 small Vitamin E oil capsules, pierce the capsule and squeeze out the oil
½ teaspoon cornstarch or rice flour
1 oz skin safe fragrance or essential oil
Melt everything in a microwave except the cornstarch and the vitamin E capsule and fragrance in a Pyrex
(Tolerates high heat well) glass measuring cup in 20 second intervals until mixture all melted. Remove from
microwave carefully because it will be HOT. Let cool then add your fragrance or essential oil. Add the
cornstarch and mix thoroughly. Pour mix SLOWLY into any shape mold that you like being careful not to spill.
You can even use the lip balm tubes for this; just make sure you label it as a lotion stick. Let cool a bit then top
off the molds again if necessary. If the mix has hardened you can briefly heat it up again until it is pourable. This
makes roughly 20 lip balms.
FOOT BALM
2.5 oz beeswax
2.5 oz olive oil
4 oz shea butter
4 oz cocoa butter
4 oz coconut oil
1 Large or 2 small Vitamin E oil capsules, pierce the capsule and squeeze out the oil
1 oz skin safe fragrance or essential oil
Melt everything in a Pyrex (Tolerates high heat well) glass measuring cup in the microwave except the vitamin E
capsule and the fragrance oil or essential oil. Microwave in 20 second intervals until mixture all melted. Remove
from microwave carefully because it will be HOT. When cooled a bit add 1 oz peppermint essential oil or other
fragrance oil of choice. Peppermint is a great choice because it soothes feet. I used to mix peppermint with a
titch of patchouli and that sold fantastic!
Makes eight 2 oz jars.
EVERYTHING YOU EVER WANTED TO KNOW ABOUT SOAP
What is soap and where does it come from?
It is thought that the first soap was made by accident. The ashes and the grease of animals from the sacrificial
fires of the temples situated on the top of Sapo Hill in Rome mixed with the rain, making soap which ran down
the slope in the streams of rain water resulting in a strange foam around the remains of the fire and its ashes
giving the women a wash day bonus. They noticed that their laundry was cleaner on those days.
Until the early 1900’s, much of the soap used was made at home. Fats from cooking and butchering were
saved until there was enough to make a batch of soap. The lye that was used was derived from ashes and it
was not a very scientific process. These days we now know that there are proper ratios of lye to fats to use that
will not result in a harsh bar of soap. Chemically speaking oils or fats combine with Sodium Hydroxide (lye) in a
process called saponification to produce soap.
Hand made soap creates and retains glycerin, known to soften the skin naturally. Glycerin is one of the best
known humectants (attracts moisture to the skin). It is often extracted during the process of manufacturing
commercially made soap, then sold as a valuable by-product for making other cosmetics. This is why when you
use a store bought bar of soap it leaves you feeling very dry afterwards. Actually the stuff sold in stores are not
really soap, they are detergent bars because the removed glycerin is replaced with a bubbling agent to make
the soap bubble more.
CAUTION!!! READ THIS BEFORE ATTEMPTING TO MAKE SOAP!
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Soap making is not recommended for children because of the potential danger that lye poses so
please make sure your area is free from children and pets too.
Carefully read the warning label on the lye bottle. Lye is also known as caustic soda (sodium hydroxide)
Use only pure lye granules — do not make the mistake of substituting a drain cleaner. DRAINO WILL NOT
WORK BECAUSE IT IS NOT 100% LYE! It contains other ingredients that you would not want in your soap.
Be sure to keep the lid tight on the bottle of lye. Moisture in the air will weaken its strength and cause it
to form lumps.
Lye can be fatal if swallowed.
Always wear rubber gloves and protective clothing, such as a long sleeved shirt and safety glasses
when working with lye. The dollar store carries these-BUY THEM. You do not want to mix lye without
protecting your eyes.
Be sure to work in a well-ventilated area. Vapors released from the lye when it is first mixed with water
are very strong and can greatly irritate your lungs.
Always have a bottle of vinegar close at hand. Vinegar will help neutralize the lye/water mixture if it
happens to splatter on your skin.
If lye, lye/water or even freshly made soap splatters on any painted surface, wash the area quickly with
water and detergent. Rinse with clear water and wipe dry.
Freshly made soap can burn and irritate the skin, therefore it’s best not to handle soap with bare hands
for at least 48 hours. If your skin does come into contact with fresh soap, rinse your skin with vinegar
immediately, then rinse with running water.
Do not use any containers made of tin, zinc or aluminum. Lye will react with them.
Please mix your soap in a large plastic container like a bucket or large bowl. The dollar stores carry these
items too.
ALWAYS add your lye to the water and NEVER add your water to the lye because it will cause a caustic
volcano.
ALWAYS USE cold water WHEN MIXING THE LYE because the lye will super-heat to over 200 degrees
almost instantly.
ALWAYS use a plastic or wooden spoon to mix the lye. NO METAL.
NEVER use anything that you have used to make soap to make food again. Place all supplies together
in a box and label them so that you know they are only supposed to be used for soap making.
ALWAYS use a digital scale when measuring your soap making ingredients unless otherwise specified.
Remember the ratios have to be exact or your soap could be dangerous!
You want a digital scale that:
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Measures in grams and ounces
Has a tare feature that allows you to re-balance scale and also subtract the weight of a container
Saponification Explained
Here is a simple way to show you why it is so important to make sure that your lye to fats ratio
is perfect:
MEET THE CAST OF CHARACTERS
Hungry Wolves:
LYE
Soft, Fluffy
Bunnies:
OILS & FATS
Border Collies:
SAPONIFIED OILS,
TRIGLYCERIDES
(the "soap" part of soap)
Peaceful, Soothing
Sheep:
GLYCERINE
Let's say you have a great big grassy field. On one side of the field are lurking a bunch of hungry wolves. The middle of the field is
filled with soft, fluffy bunnies, and of course, the hungry wolves want to eat them.
So the wolves run into the field and start eating bunnies.
But an interesting thing happens. Every time a wolf eats five bunnies - *Pop!* - he changes into an energetic busy Border Collie and
some peaceful, soothing sheep! So, if there had been 500 bunnies in the field to begin with, and 100 hungry wolves, all the wolves
would eat all the bunnies and you'd be left with a field full of Border Collies and soothing sheep but no more bunnies or wolves!
This is what happens when you pour the lye solution into the oils - the lye "consumes" the oils and the resulting transformation
produces saponified oils (soap) and glycerin. This is the process called "Saponification".
And what if there had been only 450 bunnies in the field to begin with? Well, then the 100 hungry wolves would have eaten all the
bunnies and most of them would be transformed into useful Border Collies and soothing Sheep. But there would still also be 10
hungry wolves left over with no bunnies left to eat, and you'd probably get bitten. Not good!
This is why it is so important to make sure you have always calculated and measured your recipe carefully. You don't want to end
up with any "leftover lye" when you're finished! On the other hand, maybe you really like having a few soft, fluffy bunnies around.
So you make sure that there are five hundred AND FIVE bunnies in the field before you let the 100 hungry wolves in. NOW after all
the wolves have eaten their share of bunnies and been transformed into useful Border Collies and soothing Sheep you will still have
five soft, fluffy bunnies left over and NO hungry wolves.
This is "Superfatting". Superfatting is when you deliberately add more oil to your recipe than the lye can consume. In addition to
saponified oils and glycerin, a superfatted soap will also contain some oils which have been left unchanged by the saponification
process and still have their original properties. So having leftover bunnies is a good thing, right? And if 5 leftover bunnies is a good
thing, then 10 leftover bunnies would be even better, right? The more leftover bunnies the better, right?
Well, maybe, and maybe not. If you have too MANY leftover bunnies, they'll get in the way of the Border Collies who are trying to
do their job and distract them. Or the bunnies might eat all the grass in the field and then the field is no good for sheep or anything
else. So while having leftover bunnies is certainly better than having leftover wolves, you still need to know just how many leftover
bunnies you can have before you start getting too much of a good thing!
Remember this when you decide to superfat a soap recipe. A superfatted recipe can give you a nice mild soap with the added bonus
of insurance against having any leftover lye. But if you have too much leftover oil, your soap won't be a very good soap anymore!
What it all comes down to is you gotta know your bunnies!
©2008 Canis Art
THIS IS A PICTURE OF WHAT KIND OF LYE TO GET.
NOTICE THAT IT SAYS 100% LYE.
DO NOT BUY A BOTTLE THAT DOES NOT SAY
100% LYE ON IT BECAUSE IT WILL NOT WORK.
YOU CAN GET THIS LYE AT LOWES OR OTHER HARDWARE STORES
PRINT THIS PICTURE IF YOU HAVE TO FOR REFERENCE AND
TAKE IT WITH YOU TO THE STORE IF YOU NEED TO.
OK so now we know only to use 100% lye, right?
Let’s move on to other things then. 
OK, now that you are all warned and educated, if you want to try your hand at soap making here is a very easy
recipe:
Easy Cold Process Soap Recipe
3 lb can of Crisco or the store brand will work fine
6 oz. of 100% lye NOT DRAINO
12 oz. of room temperature water
Cover your digital scale with some saran wrap. Place an empty plastic container on it then zero it out (press tare). The
scale should read zero with a plastic container on it large enough to hold at least 48 ounces in it. Add water to the
container until it reads 12 oz. and remove from the scale onto the clutter free counter. Get another (smaller) plastic
container and place it on the scale then zero it out again (press tare again).
AT THIS POINT PUT ON YOUR SAFETY GOGGLES AND GLOVES.
SLOWLY pour the lye into the plastic container until it reads 6 ounces. If you go over pour some back in the container
and weigh it again. YOU MUST GET THE LYE AMOUNT CORRECT, YOU CANNOT USE THE WRONG AMOUNT OR YOU
WILL HAVE CAUSTIC UNSAFE SOAP. Remove the container with lye from the scale. Place in a safe place on the counter.
Now get your water container and place it in the (empty) sink. Slowly add the lye while stirring with a wooden or plastic
spoon. Stir slowly and until the water is clear if you can. Make sure to stir from the bottom to make sure that all of the lye
gets dissolved. You do not want clumps of lye in your soap. Do this in a well ventilated area, with safety glasses on and in
the sink if at all possible. Open the windows if you can because when the lye hits the water it will make a strong vapor
temporarily. Let this mixture sit in a SAFE place until it is just slightly warm. AGAIN- make sure that there are no kids or
pets around that can get to the lye water and knock it over. I have heard horror stories of this happening and it is NOT
pretty. You must devote your full attention when soaping so if at all possible lock pets out of the room you are working in
and make sure that small children are watched by another adult, or are not around as you do this.
While the lye is cooling, slowly melt the Crisco in the microwave in a large plastic container, or in a pot on the stove over
low heat to melt until clear. Do not over heat this or you will have to wait until it cools way down. If you cannot dip your
finger in it then it’s too hot. If you use the microwave be very careful when removing the melted oil from it because it
could be slippery! Let it cool down a bit. You do not want to add lye to the hot oil because it will immediately speed up
the trace process and even begin to overheat and bubble up and out of the mold otherwise known as a soap volcano.
NOT FUN. It is also a pain to clean up. I had one of these in my life and it was not pretty so learn from my mistake, ok?
While everything is cooling, get your mold ready. For purposes of simplicity here, you can use an 8x8 pan, a sturdy box,
or even a clean kitty litter pan. If you want to get adventurous you can even make a soap mold by hammering a few
pieces of wood together like so:
Whatever mold you decide to use be sure and line it with a plastic drop cloth. I got mine at the dollar store and it lined
about 50 batches of soap for me before I needed to buy more. Cut it so that there is enough left over plastic to overlap
your mold enough to cover the soap on all sides after it is poured into the mold.
When the Crisco and lye are just warm to the touch, pour lye into Crisco while gently stirring. You can even use a stick
blender on low. Keep mixing and blending until you reach something called ‘trace’. Once your soap traces, the mixture
will not separate back into the original oils and lye-water. To test for trace, dip a spatula or spoon into the mix and
dribble a bit of it back into the bowl if it leaves a little trace behind, you're there. The soap does not have to be really
thick just yet, it just needs to be well mixed with no streaks of remaining oil. Some soap makers prefer to pour their soap
into the mold at light trace, that is, immediately after trace is reached and the soap is still very liquid. Others prefer a
more heavy trace, that is, pouring the soap after trace has occurred, and the soap has thickened considerably.
When your soap reaches thin to medium trace it is now the time to add any herbs, scent, or coloring. Add those items
slowly and mix until well combined. For purposes of simplicity here I did not mention adding scent, herbs or color for your
first recipe. It’s better to start simple then as you get more used to the process you can experiment with adding those
other things. If you wish to add some scent, you could use 4 oz of either skin safe essential oil or skin safe fragrance oil. I
listed a source for those in the resource section of this e-book. If you do choose to add a scent, I suggest NOT using a
floral one because sometimes different floral scents have a tendency to ‘not play nice’ and they will harden your soap up
lightening fast. That is what we call ‘Instant soap on a stick”. You do not want this, trust me. Soap on a stick = soap in
the trash for a beginning soap maker. In time you will learn what fragrance oils are good to use and when you get more
accomplished you can use the harder to work with oils because you have to be fast to make those work in soap.
Slowly pour your soap batter into the prepared mold. Cover with the overlapping plastic liner and then carefully set in a
draft free, kid free, and pet free place. Cover your molds with a towel and leave the soap alone (no peeking!) for about
24 hours to set up. After 24 hours, remove your soap from the mold, peel the plastic off and cut into whatever size that
you want your bars to be. Place your cut soap onto a shelf or rack separating each bar by at least 1 inch to help with air
circulation.
Be sure to let your soap cure for at least 3 weeks. 6 weeks is even better but it will be perfectly fine after 3, it just will not
be as hard and it will not last as long as a longer cured bar will. This recipe makes about 4 lbs of soap and depending on
how you cut your bars will determine the final bar count. I used to get 17 good sized bars of soap out of my 4 lb loaf
mold. I also had a professional soap cutter that cut the bars perfectly even every time. Cutting soap by hand takes a
sharp knife and practice. If you get some uneven bars or bars that are beyond hope, roll them into soap balls. Those are
very pretty displayed in bathrooms, see?
If you have some great cut bars you can get creative with your soap wrapping. I have no idea who created
this technique, but I found it on the net years ago and thought it was just the coolest way to wrap soap!
Here are the instructions, the numbers match the pictures:
1. Place label face down, with the top edge close to you. Fold down ½" of top edge.
Make sure the soap is centered on the wrapper.
2. Fold another 1" (or whatever height your soap is) and crease along the edge.
3. Fold both sides in and crease, so it looks like a paper airplane.
4. Bring both sides over the back.
5. Fold and tape the bottom like a present.
6. You can then attach a label
RESOURCES LIKE WHERE TO BUY STUFF AND WHERE TO FIND ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
Watch the videos to give you an idea on the process. They use their recipes so do not let that confuse you.
Video on making Bath Bombs:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AOY7QFOVv6A&feature=player_embedded
Video on the Cold Process Method of Soap making:
She does a few things a bit differently than I do but it shows the process.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ghvQ4v_Fjrs
Video on making Lip Balms but the same process can be applied to Lotion Bars & Foot Balm.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SxXWF62Osa4
OILS, BUTTERS & WAXES SUPPLIERS
http://www.mountainroseherbs.com/butter/butter.php#but_but_c cocoa butter $4.25 4 oz or 8 oz $7.50
http://www.mountainroseherbs.com/butter/butter.php#but_but_s Shea butter $4.00 4 oz
http://www.mountainroseherbs.com/wax/wax.php#bu_wax 1 oz filtered beeswax $1.50
OTHER INGREDIENTS SUPPLIERS
http://www.mountainroseherbs.com/supply/misc.php#cont_msc_lip lip balm tubes
http://www.mountainroseherbs.com/clay/clay.html#cl_w Kaolin Clay 1 lb $4,95
http://www.mountainroseherbs.com/bulkmisc/bulkmisc.php#bu_c_a 1 lb citric acid $3.90
FLAVORING & FRAGRANCE OILS SUPPLIERS
http://www.getsuckered.com/search.aspx?keyword=flavor+oil Lip balm flavoring (candy flavoring)
http://www.mcsoywax.com/Fragrances%20samples.htm 10 of the 2 oz Fragrance Oil bottles for $25 or;
http://www.mcsoywax.com/fragrances.htm Individual 2 oz Fragrance Oil bottles for $3.00 each
OTHER SOURCES
Walmart: Coconut oil, olive oil in the cooking aisle, castor oil and Epsom salts and possibly citric acid in the
pharmacy section, Vitamin e capsules in the vitamin section, and baking soda in the baking aisle. Walmart
also carries some essential oils but make sure they are body safe first.
Dollar Store: Baking soda, Epsom salts, safety goggles, painter’s plastic drop cloth, plastic bucket, kitty litter pan,
large plastic spoons, wooden spoons, containers, jars and olive oil, lye mixing containers, cute shapes of silicone
ice cube trays, packaging, baskets labels, etc. I used to get a bunch of stuff for my business there.
©2010 www.Imafrugalgirl.com