I reckon there are three types of people who want to make soap: 1) people who just want to follow the recipe and don’t want to understand the chemistry behind soapmaking 2) people who want to know enough to design their own recipes, but not the full detail 3) chemistry geeks who want to know […]
Simplifying soapmaking
I know a lot of people would like to try making soap, but are put off by the cost of ingredients and equipment, the perceived danger of using caustic or the complexity of the recipes. Soap making does not have to be expensive, dangerous or complex. I want to share a few tips to get […]
soapmaking – how much water to use
For all of my soap recipes I use 1 kg of oils (including tallow), the amount of caustic to react with the oils (a little less to allow for “superfat”) and about 330 mL of water. Someone asked me recently why I don’t specify an exact amount of water. I had to go back to […]
Salt soap fail
I decided to try a couple of recipes that use salt – soap with pink salt as an exfoliant, and then soap with salt water in the lye to make a harder bar (its called soleseife in German). Salt is supposed to produce a nice lather and a soft, soothing soap. Everything went well until […]
How to Make Lard Soap
This gentle creamy white soap has a delicate texture and a clean, light scent. It’s low sudsing qualities and gorgeous lather make it the perfect shaving cream and base for many homemade cleaners and detergents. Making this soap does not take very long and is very easy. There are only three ingredients for the scent […]
How To Make Homemade Soap From Ashes
There are a few things you just don’t want to live without. Soap is definitely one of those things. Whether you want to be prepared for a disaster, are interested in cultivating lost arts, or are really into DIY everything, making your own homemade soap from ashes is a great skill to have.
