How to Make Olive Oil Soap

If you suffer from skin problems and are looking for an inexpensive remedy, then you need to learn how to make olive oil soap. Making your own soap with olive oil can be a fun project and is not difficult to do.

1. Do not use extra virgin olive oil.
2. Always add lye to water; never water to lye.
3. Heat the oil before using.
4. Use a stick blender to mix the oil with the lye.
5. Olive oil soap takes longer to cure.

• Olive oil is a popular and classic ingredient in soaps because of the numerous benefits it gives to its soap, such as the facts that it:
  1. Acts as a humectant that attracts moisture to your skin.Soap-Making-Essentials.com: Olive Oil
  2. Is believed to help with skin cell regeneration and helps prevent moisture loss on your skin.Soap-Making-Essentials.com: Olive Oil Cole Farms: Soapmaking Oils Properties
  3. Makes a mild soap that safe enough to use on babies.Soap-Making-Resource.com: Olive Oil Soap Making Tutorial

• There are two major types of olive oil soap: Castile and Marseille. Castile soap has a base that is 100% olive oil. In contrast, Marseille soap has between 99% to 72% olive oil as its base.About.com: Qualities of Soap Making Oils, Page 2 This page will cover how to make Castile, or 100% olive oil soap.

• Olive oil is defined by when it is pressed:
  1. Extra virgin and virgin olive oils come from the first pressing of the olives.About.com: Qualities of Soap Making Oils, Page 2 It is considered the highest grade for cooking.Soap-Making-Resource.com: Olive Oil Soap Making Tutorial Extra virgin olive oil should not be used for making soap.Cole Farms: Soapmaking Oils Properties
  2. Refined, or Grade A, olive oil comes from the second pressing and is lightly refined or filtered.About.com: Qualities of Soap Making Oils, Page 2 It has has more fatty acids than the virgin olive oil.Soap-Making-Resource.com: Olive Oil Soap Making Tutorial
  3. Pomace grade olive oil is obtained by solvent extraction of what's left over after olives have been pressed. It contains high levels of unsaponifiables and will make your trace time quicker.Summer Bee Meadow: Properties of Oils Used in Soapmaking It gives the oil and soaps made with a greenish tint.About.com: Qualities of Soap Making Oils, Page 2

• Properties of olive oil soap include:
  1. Produces a white bar that takes longer to cure.About.com: Qualities of Soap Making Oils, Page 2
  2. Creates a thin but conditioning and stable lather that can seem sticky and slimy when compared to commercial soap.Soap-Making-Essentials.com: Olive Oil About.com: Olive Oil Profile
  3. Fatty acid levels include:
     • 5 to 15% linoleic acid which helps with conditioning and provides a silky feel.Summer Bee Meadow: Properties of Oils Used in Soapmaking
     • 63 to 81% oleic acid which helps with conditioning and provides slippery feel and stingy lather.Summer Bee Meadow: Properties of Oils Used in Soapmaking
     • 7 to 14% palmitic acid which makes the bar harder, more cleansing and produces a stable lather.Miller's Homemade Soap Pages: Design Your Own Soap - Choosing Your Oils
     • 3 to 5% stearic acid which makes the bar harder and longer lasting while producing a stable lather.Miller's Homemade Soap Pages: Design Your Own Soap - Choosing Your Oils
  4. Has an iodine index number between 79-95, which means it creates a softer bar.Miller's Homemade Soap Pages: Design Your Own Soap - Choosing Your Oils

• 16 ounce olive oil
• 5.5 ounces distilled water
• 2 ounces lye (sodium hydroxide)
• Soap molds:
  • Cardboard box lined with wax paper, freezer paper or a plastic trash bag.
  • Glass baking dishesAbout.com: Make Soap
  • 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 it does not have a uncover)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
• Small mixing bowl
• 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)
• White vinegarAbout.com: Soap Making Safety Procedures

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

1. Cover your workstation with newspaper, vinyl tablecloths or other protective materials.About.com: Soap Making Safety Procedures
2. Prepare your molds by lining them with waxed paper (if cardboard) or spraying them with nonstick cooking spray.Cole Farms: Making Soap From Scratch
3. 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

• Although lye can reach potentially dangerous temperatures when it comes into contact with water, it can be perfectly safe to work with the two substances in your own home.YouTube: How to Make Lye Soap : Combining Water & Lye to Make Homemade Soap (Time: 2:59) If you're inexperienced in working with lye, make sure to review a few important safety precautions before continuing.

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 made sure that you're clear on how to work safely with lye and water, it's time to prepare the mixture for your soap:

1. Weigh out 5.5 ounces 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 out 2 ounces of lye in a small dish or mixing bowl.
3. Carefully pour the lye into the water making sure you don't splash.Teach Soap.com: Easy Cold Process Recipes Maple Lane: Soap Making Recipes
   • WARNING: Do not pour the water into the lye--the lye will very quickly become dangerously hot.About.com: Make a Lye-Water Solution for Your Cold Process Soap, Page 4
4. Stir the mixture until the lye has 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

1. Weigh out 16 ounces (1 pound) of olive oil.
2. Place the oils into the ceramic pot or stainless steel pan.
3. Place the pot on the stove and heat the oil until it reaches 150 degrees F.Soap Center: Recipe Ingredient Search
4. Remove oils from heat and measure the temperatures of both the lye and the oil mixtures.
   1. Mix the oils with the lye solution with the temperature of the oils is between 120 and 130 degrees F and the lye between 90 and 100 degrees F.Soap Center: Recipe Ingredient Search
   2. If the lye solution has cooled too much, place it in a pot of hot water.Maple Lane: Soap Making Recipes
5. Slowly pour the lye mixture into the container with the oils.Teach Soap.com: Easy Cold Process Recipes Stir continuously with a spoon for 15 minutes.Soapnuts: Cold Process Soap Recipes Page One
6. After 15 minutes, switch to a hand or stick blender, otherwise it will take your soap several days before it traces.Rainbow Meadow Recipes: Castilian Summer
7. 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 if you drop some of it from a spoon on to the surface that 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

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. Cover the mold with blankets or a towel and set it in a warm room of the house.
3. Because olive oil soap uses only liquid oils, you will need to check your mold frequently (at least every 12 hours) the first few days. If a layer of oil has formed on the surface, stir it back into the soap with a spoon.Maple Lane: Soap Making Recipes
4. Once all the oil has absorbed, proceed as usual.Maple Lane: Soap Making Recipes You should also add any essential oils at this point.Soapnuts: Cold Process Soap Recipes Page Three
5. Once the soap has set for 72 hours undisturbed and has become hard, it is ready to be removed from the mold.Soap Center: Recipe Ingredient Search Soapnuts: Cold Process Soap Recipes Page Three
   • - 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
6. Cut the soap into bars using a sharp knife.
7. Allow the soap to cure for six weeks.Rainbow Meadow Recipes: Castilian Summer

• Below you will find recipes that incorporate other oils while still using mostly olive oil. The procedure to making these soaps is virtually the same as listed here, but you might want to check out How to Make Lye Soap for more information.
  • About.com: Olive Oil Soap Recipes
  • Miller's Soap: Castile Soap Recipes
  • The Ponte Vedra Soap Shoppe: Cold Process Soap Base Recipe II | Recipe for Olive Cream Soap
  • Soapnuts: Cold Process Soap Recipes Page One | Page Three | Page Four

• Now that you've mastered olive oil soap, you might be ready to move on to more advanced recipes such as How to Make Goats Milk Soap. You might also want to experiment with your own recipes by checking out How to Make Your Own Soap Recipe.

• Introduction
• About Olive Oil
• What You Will Need
• Step 1: Prepare Your Work Area
• Step 2: Prepare the Lye Solution
  • Safely Working with Lye
• Step 3: Mix the Ingredients
• Step 4: Cure the Soap
• Variations
• Conclusion
• References