Making your own natural soap is creative, easy and fun. Whether you choose to start with a kit or make it totally from scratch, you’ll enjoy experimenting with fragrances, essential oils, herbs and colors with this creative and artistic activity.
Melt and Pour is easy and safe enough for kids to do. Soap bases could be goat milk, honey, glycerin, olive & aloe, oatmeal, shea butter or any other base you can find on the market. Each one has different qualities, so choose the one that is best for you.
To make a bar soap just melt the soap base completely, stirring frequently and add the fragrances, colors, or essential oils that you like. Then pour the soap into the molds and allow it to cool. If for some reason the soap bar does not come out the way you like it, just re-melt and try it again.
Feeling adventurous? Try the more advanced method using fat, water, and lye. You will need a little more equipment, time, knowledge and caution. Lye is a caustic agent that requires special handling. Use eye protection and rubber gloves, and keep it off your skin and clothes. Also, lye will damage aluminum and Formica so avoid contact with table tops and counters. For details, recipes and more ideas, type “make natural soap” into a search engine.
Making soap is not only fun, it saves money. Compare the cost of fancy soaps to what you make yourself! Use your imagination to make your own soap look and smell exactly like you want. You can even start your own soap business!
Making your own natural soap is also environmentally friendly — store-bought soap was made in a pollution-causing factory. Before World War I, people used to make soap at home from leftover cooking fats, using purchased cans of lye. Before that, people made lye from wood ashes.
Best of all, you have total control over what goes into your soap. If you are allergic to one ingredient, simply substitute another. Vegetarians will appreciate soaps made from vegetable rather than animal fats. Skin is the largest organ of your body. Knowing what’s in your soap is great way to help take care of it. Sustainable living certainly has some healthy side effects!
It’s so easy, fun, healthy and economical to make your own natural soap. You’ll expand your creativity and help the environment. Make exactly what you want and don’t be afraid to experiment. There are many easy soap-making recipes available. Make it a family project and have fun together. Anyone can do it!
Jen Hopkins maintains websites about nail care tips, and natural soap making. If you want to contact her, you can use the contact form at one of her sites.
