How to Make Bars of Hand Soap

Making your own soap at home saves money and allows you to get creative. The ingredients for homemade soap are cheap and you can add your own choice of herbs, oils and decorations. Once the soap has dried, you can either use it yourself or give it to family and friends as a gift. Although the soap-making process itself is simple, it's important to ensure you mix the right quantities of ingredients together and that you wear protective clothing while doing so.

• 1

  Cover the surface you will be working on with newspaper to limit spills, and put on the protective apron, gloves and glasses. Place the coconut oil or vegetable fat, the olive oil and vegetable oil in a pan and heat them until they have melted. Then, set them aside and wait for them to cool.

• 2

  Pour the 900ml of water into the bucket. Add the caustic soda and carefully whisk it into the water. Place a thermometer in the bucket to keep an eye on the temperature. Once the thermometer reaches 120 degrees Fahrenheit, add the cooled fat and oils to the mixture.

• 3

  Stir the mixture until you notice the texture start to thicken and the color to change. This can take around 40 minutes. When the mixture has the same texture as melted wax and drips off your whisk in globules, add any additional oils or herbs you would like to use to scent your soap. Make sure you combine the additions with the mixture thoroughly.

• 4

  Transfer the mixture to the plastic containers or molds. Pour the mixture carefully, ensuring you do not spill any. Tap the containers gently to ensure the mixture spreads evenly. Once the soap mixture is in the container, you can add decoration, such as orange slices, to the top of the mixture.

• 5

  Wrap the containers in an old towel or blanket and leave them for 24 hours. During this time, the soap mixture will cool down and set.

• 6

  Remove the soap blocks from the containers after 24 hours. Put your protective clothing back on to do so, as the sodium hydroxide could still harm your skin. Cut the soap into smaller blocks using the knife or cheese wire.

• 7

  Cover the blocks in an old towel and leave them where they won't be disturbed (for example, in a cupboard) to dry for six weeks. During this time, the sodium hydroxide will fully react with the oil and the soap will no longer be dangerous to human skin.