HOW TO MAKE SOAP
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How To Make Soap
This is the easiest, simplest way I know to make soap.
As you need to know how to make soap in an indefinite
TEOTWAWKI scenario (ITS) the ingredients need to be as readily
available as possible.
There are many wonderful recipes in books and online which are
great for making now, but the problem is they use all sorts of
ingredients such as coconut oil, olive oil and borax – good luck
finding any of those a couple of years into an ITS!
In my comfortable 21st century existence I’m a vegetarian, but
unless I can lay my hands on a ready supply of vegetable oil, in an
ITS this is how I will make soap.
What you'll need:
To make lye:
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Water
Cold fire ashes
Large, deep container (plastic, wooden or clay only – not
metal) with a hole in the bottom (a large clay flower pot is
perfect)
To make soap:
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2 x 3/8 cup of concentrated brown water lye
2 cups rendered animal fat (or you can use vegetable oil)
Large cook pot – NOT aluminum, tin or Teflon coated
Saucepan to warm the fat
Long handled wooden spoon
Thermometer – cooking or meat 70 – 140 degrees F
How To Make Lye
Knowing how to make lye is essential to soap making, but it's not a
difficult process.
You can make your brown lye water from the cold ashes of a
hardwood fire – do NOT use ashes from a pine wood fire.
Homemade lye may not as caustic as commercially made lye,
but if it comes into contact with your skin it will burn so
you will need to wear protective gloves and safety goggles.
For safety’s sake it is always better to make lye outdoors.
A 9 inch clay flower pot should hold 10 cups of tightly packed ashes
which should give you 1 gallon of brown lye using 1 1/2 - 2 gallons
of boiling water.
If your container is smaller/larger you’ll have to do the math.
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Pack a 1 inch layer of straw, brown pine needles or sand into
the bottom of the flower pot.
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Tightly pack the cold ashes onto the bottom layer leaving a
couple of inches at the top of the flower pot.
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Place the flower pot on supports or suspend above another
non-metal 1 gallon container in which the lye will collect.
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Bring half a gallon of water to boil and pour slowly over the
ashes. If they are tightly packed they should not be
swimming or floating in the water.
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While this first lot of water seeps into the ashes, boil another
half gallon of water then slowly pour onto the ashes.
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Wait an hour then pour on another half gallon of boiling
water.
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When all the water has seeped through the ashes you should
have 1 gallon of brown lye collected in the bottom container.
If not...
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Wait half an hour then pour on another half gallon of boiling
water.
Fresh Lye Is Best
Even though the ashes will retain a lot of water discard this – if you
need more lye make another fresh full strength batch.
It is always best to make soap with freshly made lye, but it can be
stored in a lidded container.
Lye Strength
Why complicate life by worrying about the strength of the lye?
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average strength makes all-purpose soap
stronger makes laundry soap
weaker makes bath soap
You’re going to need them all anyway and a little variability isn’t
such a bad thing.
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Rendering Animal Fat
Beef fat is Tallow.
Pork fat is Lard.
You can also use the fat from other farm animals such as goats or
sheep and wild animals such as raccoon, opossum, and groundhog.
Poultry fat isn't suitable to be used on its own - it's too soft, but you
can add 10 per cent poultry fat to tallow or lard.
Animal fat becomes rancid quickly so it must be rendered asap.
Once rendered it will last longer.
Rendering animal fat must be done outside as far away from the
house as possible - it smells awful!
ONLY use the fat - cut off ALL the lean meat.
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Cut the fat into 1 inch cubes
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Put 1/8 inch water in a pot and add some cubes of fat
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Cook over a low to medium heat
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As the fat melts add more cubes and keep stirring
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Make sure no fat sticks to the bottom of the pan or else it
could burn
If it starts to smoke there's too much heat!
Some bits of fat won't melt - these are called Crackling.
Once the fat has cooled a little the Crackling can be removed by
straining the fat through muslin into a sealed container such as a
Mason jar.
1 pound of animal fat will give you about 2.25 cups of rendered fat.
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How To Make Soap
Again, when you make soap, you need to be very careful and wear
protective gloves and goggles.
First you need to boil down your 1 gallon (16 cups) of brown lye
water until you have 3/8 of a cup. This will take 3-4 hours.
As it boils down the process speeds up so when it’s down to about a
quart you’ll have to keep a watch on it.
Warm your fat (made from melting (rendering) almost any type of
animal fat) in a saucepan – about 90 degrees F for lard, 130
degrees F for tallow or 110 degrees F for a 50/50 combination.
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Pour 1 cup of warm fat into the large pot and slowly add 3/8
cup of lye and stir for 3 minutes. The mixture will be brown
with white streaks.
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Add another cup of warm fat and another 3/8 cup of lye and
stir continuously for about 15 minutes.
The fat and lye must completely blend together or they will separate
later and you won’t have soap! For this to happen you need to keep
the mixture at the temperature above for warm fat.
You will need to be patient – this is a slow process. When using
animal fat to make soap it can take up to 3 hours for the chemical
reaction that turns lye and fat into soap to happen.
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Every 10-15 minutes stir the mixture quickly and smoothly
(do not splash – remember, safety first). You’ll see streaks
as the lye and fat separates, but after stirring for a minute
the color should solidify as the lye and fat combine. Stop
stirring and leave for another 10-15 minutes then repeat.
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When you’re not stirring the pot keep it covered to retain the
heat.
When the soap mixture is a solid color and shows no streaks when
you stir it after a 10-15 minute rest, and it is the consistency of
thick gravy it is ready to test.
The mixture must be at the correct temperature as above for
warming fat to test.
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Take a little of the mixture in a spoon. With the spoon about
1 inch above the mixture allow ONE DROP to spill into the
mixture. If the mixture supports this drop for a moment, the
soap is done.
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Draw the tip of your spoon across the top of the mixture. If
you can see a ‘line’, your soap is done. This is called Tracing.
This is the stage when you can add fragrance if you wish. Only add
essential oils as anything else can upset the chemical reaction
between the lye and the fat.
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When the soap mixture traces, pour it into a mold. The mold
needs to be at least 1 1/2 inches deep.
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Put the molds somewhere warm and cover with a towel or
blanket to stop the molds losing heat too quickly. Make sure
the towel/blanket doesn’t come into contact with the soap.
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Leave the molds for 1 day then remove the towel/blanket
and leave for another 6 days.
In an ITS you have to make soap for practical reasons, but that
doesn't mean you can't use pretty molds
During this time the soap will be soft – this is normal. Be patient.
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After 7 days turn out the soap from the molds and allow to
air dry in a warm place for 6 weeks. Do not stack the bars
directly on top of each other.
During this time any residual water will evaporate off. Any excess
lye will leak from and form a pool of liquid around the bars. Drain
this off so it doesn’t have a chance to be reabsorbed. If this happens
add 10 percent more fat to your next batch of soap.
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After 3 weeks turn the soap upside down to air dry the
underside.
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After the full 6 weeks of air drying put the soap into air tight
containers. This will stop them from drying out in hot
climates or absorbing too much moisture in humid climates.
Homemade Soap Isn't Like Shop Bought
Homemade soap needs to come into contact with water a few times
to work properly. Wet the soap, rub it and allow it to dry a few
times.
Homemade soap does not lather like commercially produced soap.
Soap does not need to lather to work properly – bubbles are only
added to commercially produced soap to give visual appeal.
Test The Consistency Of Your Soap
Test a finished bar of soap by shaving it with a sharp knife. If it
crumbles it contains too much lye, but it can still be used as laundry
soap.
If the shaving curls slightly it is a good all purpose soap.
Keep Soap Making Records
Each time you make soap it’s a good idea to keep a written record
of the results and make minor adjustments to each of your next
batches accordingly until you perfect your soap making.
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Recycle Leftover Slivers Of Soap
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Grate or chop into small pieces.
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Warm water in a double boiler to 170-180 degrees F
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Add soap and stir slowly and continuously
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Reduce the heat to a simmer and stir occasionally until all
the soap pieces have melted
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If you want to you can add essential oils now
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Pour liquid into molds and follow the same steps as for
making new soap
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