Due to popular request, I am posting the recipe that I alluded to in my catch-up post last week. I have been searching for a simple soap recipe, one that I could use with whatever I had on hand, and one that was easy to sub things into. Enter this recipe.
I promise that you will make gorgeous soap no matter what. Seriously. I have tried this 4 ways (see variations below) and all have worked. It is amazing.
The soap lathers great, is simple enough to make within a half hour, and lends itself to experimentation and substitution.
Fine print: Please plug your substitution values into a lye calculator just to make sure yours comes out properly. There are several free ones on the internet, and some you can buy. I bought mine as an iPad app from Bramble Berry Soap Shop.
21 oz Lard
16 oz Canola Oil
16 oz Coconut Oil
7.41 oz Lye
17.5 oz Water
1. Melt your solid oils together in a pan. Add liquid oils. Measure the temperature.
2. Freeze your water (or other liquid), place into a glass bowl. Sprinkle the lye on top of the frozen liquid. Stir until the lye is dissolved. Measure the temperature.
3. When temperature of both are within 10 degrees, add and blend with a stick blender.
4. Trace is when the liquids are all combined and it starts to get a little thicker. Think thin pudding. DO NOT blend past trace or it will separate again and your soap will be ruined. (been there, done that!)
5. Pour into your mold. I just use a cardboard box that is slightly bigger than a loaf pan, line it with parchment paper.
6. Wrap the box in a towel and place somewhere you won't disturb it for 24 hours.
7. Remove from your mold (box) and cut with a sharp knife into pieces. I use a pastry cutter. It is a long metal blade type thing and works great!
8. Place in a cool, dark place and let cure for 4 weeks. This is to reduce the strength of the lye. It will burn if you use it right away. Lye likes to have a little rest before it is used.
9. Use your soap and enjoy!
Variations:
Goat Milk Soap - substitute goat milk instead of water.
Goat Milk Oatmeal Soap - Sub goat milk for water, add 1/2 C finely blended oats (I put mine through the coffee grinder) just before trace.
Healing Goat Milk Soap - Sub goat milk for water, sub Balm of Gilead oil instead of canola (or dandelion, or a combination of both), 1/2 C finely blended oats
Coffee Scrub Soap - Sub triple brewed coffee for water, just before (or at) trace add 1/2 C coffee grounds
Goat Milk Honey Soap - sub goat milk for water, at trace add 4 Tbsp raw honey
Clay Soap - at trace add 1/2 C re-hydrated clay of choice
Lavender (or herb) Soap - at trace add 1/4 C crushed and dried herbs/flowers, 1oz essential oil (I have done lavender eo with lavender flowers, dried lemon peel zest with lavender eo, lemon eo with dried basil, rose eo with rose petal dust, etc)
Basic Scrubby Soap - at trace add 1 C cornmeal and 1/2 C poppy seed
Those are a few of the many variations that you could try. If you don't have the right amount of oil, you can also combine so the total reaches the need amount (I combined Avocado oil and balm of Gilead to make the canola requirement, and I also combined a few solids to do the lard requirement, both worked great) Please let me know if you try it out. I would love to know how it works out for you!
