How to Make Lye Soap

Learning how to make lye soap using the cold process method can be a useful tool. Not only will making your own soaps save you money, but handcrafted soaps make great presents.

1. Use equipment you can set aside strictly for soap making.
2. Safety is important when working with lye.
3. Ingredients for soap making must be measured by weight.
4. Always pour the lye into the water.
5. The temperature of the lye solution and the oils should be similar.
6. Soap needs to cure for several weeks before it can be used.

Learning how to make lye soap using the cold process method can be a useful tool. Not only will making your own soaps save you money, but handcrafted soaps make great presents.

1. Use equipment you can set aside strictly for soap making.
2. Safety is important when working with lye.
3. Ingredients for soap making must be measured by weight.
4. Always pour the lye into the water.
5. The temperature of the lye solution and the oils should be similar.
6. Soap needs to cure for several weeks before it can be used.

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• by Darcy Logan

• Soap results when fat or oil chemically reacts with an alkaline such as lye, potash or soda ash. There are four methods you can use to make your own soap:
  1. Cold process: Makes soap from scratch using oils and lye.
  2. Hot process: A variation of cold process that involves cooking the soap.
  3. Rebatching: Using parts of old soap, adding liquid and reblending it.
  4. Melt and pour: Involves melting pre-made blocks of soap.About.com: Soap Making Basics
• This page will cover the cold process method of making soap. It does not cover hot process because it is not a technique that should be attempted by beginners.Soapnuts!: Hot Process Soapmaking

• Most of the equipment you will want to set aside and use specifically for soap making.The Ponte Vedra Soap Shoppe: Soap Making Instructions for Cold Process Soapmaking All containers should be made out of glass, plastic, stainless steel, enamel or heat proof stoneware.Cranberry Lane: Natural Soap Making - Cautions Do not use equipment that is made out of tin, zinc or aluminum because they react with lye.Cranberry Lane: Natural Soap Making - Cautions

• Soap molds:
  • Cardboard box lined with wax paper, freezer paper or a plastic trash bag.
  • Glass baking dishesAbout.com: Make Soap
  • Capped PVC pipesCole Farms: Making Soap From Scratch
  • Candy moldsCole Farms: Making Soap From Scratch
  • 8" x 11" x 3" plastic container with lidThe Ponte Vedra Soap Shoppe: Soap Making Instructions for Cold Process Soapmaking
  • Wooden soap mold lined with freezer paperThe Ponte Vedra Soap Shoppe: Soap Making Instructions for Cold Process Soapmaking
• Large piece of cardboard the size of your soap mold (if the mold does not have a lid)The Ponte Vedra Soap Shoppe: Soap Making Instructions for Cold Process Soapmaking
• Rubber gloves
• Eye protection or safety goggles
• Kitchen scale (soap ingredients are measured by weight, not volume)Down-to-Earth: How to Make Cold Pressed Soap (July 26, 2007)
• 1/2-gallon glass jar or plastic (heat-resistant) pitcher
• 8-quart ceramic or stainless steel pot
• 2 small mixing bowls
• 2 cooking thermometers (with readings from 90 degrees F to over 200 degrees F)MakeLotion.com: How to Make Cold Process Soap (from Scratch)
• 2 rubber spatulas, stainless steel spoons or wooden spoons
• Hand stick blenderMakeLotion.com: How to Make Cold Process Soap (from Scratch) (optional)
• White vinegarAbout.com: Soap Making Safety Procedures

• There are three parts to any soap:
  1. Distilled or spring water
  2. 100 percent lye
  3. Oils, butters (cocoa, shea, kokum, etc) fat
• If this is your first time making soap, you might want to try a recipe that only includes ingredients you can get from your supermarket: 7.6 ounces olive oil, 7.6 ounces lard, 6.3 ounces coconut oil, 2.5 ounces sunflower oil, 1.3 ounces castor oil. You will make your lye water solution using 3.6 ounces lye and 8 ounces water.About.com: Grocery Store Soap

• Another good starter recipe is: 7.9 ounces coconut oil, 6.3 ounces vegetable shortening, 15.9 ounces olive oil and 1.6 ounces castor oil. Mix with a lye water solution of 4.4 ounces lye and 10.5 ounces distilled water.Soap Making Essentials: Basic Homemade Soap Recipes

• It is important that you do not substitute one oil for another. Every oil has a different saponification index.Treehugger: Easy Homemade Soap (December 31, 2005) Saponification is the process of combining a base fat with lye to produce soap and glycerin.Coconut Coast Handmade Soap Company: Glossary for the Modern Soap Maker, S

• • For more information on the properties of various oils used in soap making, check out Mahalo's How to Make Your Own Soap Recipe.

• YouTube Video: The Chemistry of Soap Making (Time: 3:07)

• One problem you may have when trying to make soap is finding lye. Lye is 100 percent sodium hydroxide and used in many drain openers.Cole Farms: Safely Working with Lye However, drain openers are usually a mixture of sodium hydroxide and other chemicals and cannot be used in soap making.Miller's Homemade Soap: Where to Find Ingredients You can also purchase it online at any of the following vendors:
  • The Lye Guy: Buy Sodium Hydroxide (NaOH)
  • Camden-Grey Essential Oils: "Lye" Search
  • AAA Chemical: Food Grade Sodium Hydroxide / Lye
  • Texas Natural Supply: Sodium Hydroxide - Caustic Soda - Lye
  • Bitter Creek Candle Supply: Lye Beads 2lb Can
  • Snowdrift Farm: Lye
  • The Original Soap Dish: Sodium Hydroxide
  • Biodiesel Barn: Sodium Hydroxide
  • Lehman's: Sodium Hydroxide

• You will need to be in a well-ventilated area, although it is not necessary to work outside.

1. Gather all your equipment and make sure it is clean.About.com: Soap Making Safety Procedures
2. Cover your workstation with newspaper, vinyl tablecloths or other protective materials.About.com: Soap Making Safety Procedures
3. Prepare your molds by lining them with waxed paper (if cardboard) or spraying them with nonstick cooking spray.Cole Farms: Making Soap From Scratch
4. Put on your safety goggles and rubber gloves.The Ponte Vedra Soap Shoppe: Soap Making Instructions for Cold Process Soapmaking Wear an old shirt with long sleeves.Teach Soap.com: Easy Cold Process Recipes
5. Assemble all of your ingredients.

• Lye can reach potentially dangerous temperatures if it comes into improper contact with water, so you must take proper precautions when working with the two substances.YouTube Video: How to Make Lye Soap : Combining Water & Lye to Make Homemade Soap (Time: 2:59) For those new to working with lye, here are the most important safety tips to keep in mind when you use lye for home soapmaking.

1. Always wear hand and eye protection when handling lye--even if you are simply cleaning up from making soap.About.com: Soap Making Safety Procedures
2. Have plenty of white vinegar handy to neutralize any lye spills.About.com: Soap Making Safety Procedures
3. Don't put your lye-water solution anywhere pets or children could knock it down or reach it.About.com: Make a Lye-Water Solution for Your Cold Process Soap, Page 6
4. Mark your containers: "Danger: Lye Solution."About.com: Make a Lye-Water Solution for Your Cold Process Soap, Page 6
5. Do not use containers made out of tin, zinc or aluminum because the lye reacts with them. Cast iron and stainless steel are fine.Suds & Scents: Lye Safety Check
6. The vapors released when lye is added to water are noxious and will irritate the lungs.Cranberry Lane: Natural Soap Making - Cautions Do not breathe.
7. Keep lye in a tightly-sealed bottle because it can react with moisture in the air.Suds & Scents: Lye Safety Check

• Once you've carefully reviewed the safety precautions above, you're ready to start mixing the lye and the water for your batch of soap:

1. Weigh the amount of cold water you need and place in a glass jar or plastic pitcher.
   • WARNING: Never use hot water to mix lye--it will become extremely hot, very quickly.MakeLotion.com: How to Make Cold Process Soap (from Scratch)
2. Weigh the amount of lye needed in a small dish or mixing bowl.Down-to-Earth: How to Make Cold Pressed Soap (July 26, 2007)
3. Slowly pour the lye into the water.Teach Soap.com: Easy Cold Process Recipes Make sure you don't splash during this step.Maple Lane: Soap Making Recipes
   • WARNING: Do not pour the water into the lye--it will grow extremely hot.About.com: Make a Lye-Water Solution for Your Cold Process Soap, Page 4 If handled improperly, the lye mixture may even explode.Google Book Search: The Encyclopedia of Country Living By Carla Emery (p.615)
4. Stir the mixture until clear and lye is dissolved.The Ponte Vedra Soap Shoppe: Soap Making Instructions for Cold Process Soapmaking The mixture will get very hot (approximately 200 degrees F) and may make steam or begin to bubble.Cole Farms: Making Soap From Scratch About.com: Make a Lye-Water Solution for Your Cold Process Soap, Page 5
5. Set the lye aside to cool until the mixture reaches 110 degrees F.Teach Soap.com: Easy Cold Process Recipes This should take about two to three hours.MakeLotion.com: How to Make Cold Process Soap (from Scratch)
   • Place the container in a cold water bath if you want to bring the temperature down faster.The Ponte Vedra Soap Shoppe: Soap Making Instructions for Cold Process Soapmaking
6. Clean the area immediately.

1. Weigh out the oils needed.
2. Place the solid oils into the ceramic pot or stainless steel pan.About.com: Make Cold Process Soap, Page 2
3. Place the pot on the stove over medium heat until the oils have melted.About.com: Make Cold Process Soap, Page 3
4. Turn off heat and add liquid oils to bring down the temperature of the oil.About.com: Make Cold Process Soap, Page 3
   • - If you are only using liquid oils, simply heat them until they reach 110 degrees F.Cole Farms: Making Soap From Scratch
5. Measure the temperatures of both the lye and the oil mixtures. You want both mixtures to be within 5 degrees of each other.Teach Soap.com: Easy Cold Process Recipes
   • - If the lye solution has cooled too much, place it in a pot of hot water.Maple Lane: Soap Making Recipes
6. Before combining your oils and lyes, prepare any additives you want to add.
7. Slowly pour the lye mixture into the container with the oils.Teach Soap.com: Easy Cold Process Recipes Stir continuously with a spoon.
8. Stir continuously as the mixture begins to thicken. You can continue to use a spoon or switch to a stick blender.The Ponte Vedra Soap Shoppe: Soap Making Instructions for Cold Process Soapmaking
9. Tracing occurs when you begin to see tracks or ripples on the surface of the soap that don't disappear.
   1. You can also tell a soap is tracing by dropping some of the mixture from a spoon onto the surface and seeing if it dents the surface.MakeLotion.com: How to Make Cold Process Soap (from Scratch)
   2. Room temperature, humidity levels and stirring speed will affect the tracing time.Cranberry Lane: Making Natural Soap from Scratch - Soap Moulds
   3. Tracing will happen between 10 to 40 minutes depending on your mixture.The Ponte Vedra Soap Shoppe: Soap Making Instructions for Cold Process Soapmaking
   4. Using a stick blender will cause tracing to occur faster.Down-to-Earth: How to Make Cold Pressed Soap (July 26, 2007)
10. Once the soap has traced, stir in your additives and mix until the soap is a uniform color.Pioneer Thinking: Make Modern Soap With Herbs, Beeswax And Vegetable Oils

1. Once the soap has begun to trace, it is ready to pour into the mold. Use a rubber spatula to scrape out any remaining soap.About.com: Make Cold Process Soap, Page 9
2. Pick up your mold and tap it gently on the counter to dislodge any trapped air bubbles.About.com: Make Cold Process Soap, Page 9
3. If the soap mixture does not fill the mold, place a piece of freezer paper over the top of the soap before covering it with a lid or piece of cardboard.The Ponte Vedra Soap Shoppe: Soap Making Instructions for Cold Process Soapmaking
4. Cover the mold with blankets or a towel and set it in a warm room of the house.
   • - How long you let your soap sit is up to you. Some makers say 18 hours covered followed by 12 hours uncovered, others say 48 hours covered, while others say three to five days covered.The Ponte Vedra Soap Shoppe: Soap Making Instructions for Cold Process Soapmaking Maple Lane: Soap Making Recipes Teach Soap.com: Easy Cold Process Recipes
   • - If the surface of the soap is still soft, allow it to sit uncovered for a day before removing it from the mold.Maple Lane: Soap Making Recipes
5. Remove the soap from the mold and cut it into bars using a sharp knife.
   • - If the soap will not release from the mold, place it in the freezer for two hours, which will make it shrink.Cranberry Lane: Making Natural Soap from Scratch - Soap Moulds
   • - The soap mixture is caustic for at least the first 24 hours.About.com: Soap Making Safety Procedures Wear your eye protection and gloves if you plan to handle the soap during this time.
6. Allow the soap to cure for another three to six weeks before using.Cole Farms: Making Soap From Scratch Teach Soap.com: Easy Cold Process Recipes This will help finish the saponification process.

• Below you will find some additional soap making recipes.

• Now that you've mastered the basics of how to make lye soap, you might want to advance to making milk soaps such as those found on Mahalo's How to Make Coconut Soap. You might also be interested in checking out How to Make Your Own Soap Recipe and start trying out your own concoctions.

• Introduction
• What You Will Need
• Step 1: Prepare Your Work Area
• Step 2: Prepare the Lye-Water
• Step 3: Mix the Ingredients
• Step 4: Cure the Soap
• Soap Making Recipes
• Conclusion
• References