How to Make Soap: A Complete Guide to a "Make and Pour" Recipe

If you are wondering how to make soap at home, then you came to the right place.  

Many soap-making methods online use lye in their recipe. However, the chemical could be hazardous when used at home. Founder of "The Sud Bar," Charmaine Rodrigues said that lye or sodium hydroxide is caustic when it touches the skin. 

When lye is mixed with water, the fumes it produces are caustic to both your eyes and mucous membranes. She said that you should work in a very ventilated area when using lye. Here is a complete guide to the "make and pour" recipe without lye. 

Choose your recipe and fragrance

The easiest way to start is to buy a soap base, that is made up of glycerin, soap, and a few add-ins. Add-ins include plant butter, filler, and extracts that are pre-mixed for ease of use. Make sure that you buy the cosmetic grade when you are ordering online. 

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(Photo: unsplash/freestocks)

Ready the tools for mixing

You need a stainless steel wire whisk, old pots or pans, measuring cup, and mold. You will use the whisk for stirring your fragrance into the soap base. Any old pots or pans are good for melting and making your soap. 

Use a glass measuring cup because plastic ones might not stand your hot melted soap mixture. Choose the size and shape of silicone molds that you prefer. Lay them out so you could readily pour your mixture into them. 

Start by melting the base

You could do ready-made melt and pour recipes either on a stovetop or in the microwave. While both methods work well, you could have more control if you do it on a stovetop. Apart from that, you could also see better when the base is melting and prevents over-heating unlike when you do it in a microwave. 

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Place the soap base into a double-boiler over medium heat until water boils gently and the base melts. Heat your soap base in a container for one minute when using the microwave. If the soap base does not melt, continue heating for short bursts of 20 to 30 seconds. 

Add in the fragrance

A general rule of thumb is to use about one teaspoon of fragrance for each pound of soap. Otherwise, you may follow what is written in the recipe you have chosen. Make sure that when you add the fragrance, the soap base is hot enough for easy mixing but cool enough not to evaporate the scents. 

The trick is to remove the pot from the heat source then mix in the fragrance using a wire whisk, quickly, but gently. Distribute it evenly to the base but try not to mix in air bubbles. 

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Fill the mold

Carefully yet quickly pour the soap mixture into the mold, filling them as close to the top as you can. 

Cool then remove from the mold

Place your filled mold on a flat surface then let them cool when it has fully solidified. Your soap mixture will take at least an hour to harden. Wait at least 24 hours for larger molds just to be sure.