How to Make Soap for Hand & Body
YIELD 5 3.5 OUNCE BARS
Ingredients
coconut oil ⅔ cup – to produce good lather (buy it in bulk here for soap making here)
olive oil ⅔ cup – which makes a hard and mild bar
other liquid oil ⅔ cup – like almond oil, grape seed, sunflower or safflower oil (find them here)
¼ cup lye – also called 100% sodium hydroxide (find it here or at local hardware stores)
¾ cup cool water – use distilled or purified (find the best water purification systems here)
Instructions
Step 1
Cover your work area with newspaper. Put your gloves and other protective wear on. Measure your water into the quart canning jar. Have a spoon ready. Measure your lye, making sure you have exactly ¼ cup. Slowly pour the lye into the water, stirring as you go. Stand back while you stir to avoid the fumes. When the water starts to clear, you can allow it to sit while you move to the next step.
Step 2
In the pint jar, add your three oils together. They should just make a pint. Heat in a microwave for about a minute, or place the jar of oils in a pan of water to heat. Check the temperature of your oils – it should be about 120° or so. Your lye should have come down by then to about 120°. Wait for both to cool somewhere between 95° and 105°. This is critical for soap making. Too low and it’ll come together quickly, but be coarse and crumbly.
Step 3
When both the lye and oils are at the right temperature, pour the oils into a mixing bowl. Slowly add the lye, stirring until it’s all mixed. Stir by hand for a full 5 minutes. It’s very important to get as much of the lye in contact with as much of the soap as possible. After about 5 minutes, you can keep stirring or you can use an immersion blender (like this). The soap mixture will lighten in color and become thick. When it looks like vanilla pudding it’s at “trace” and you’re good to go. (Watch this video to see what trace looks like.)
Step 4
Add your herbs, essential oils or other additions at this point. Stir thoroughly to combine. Pour the mixture into mold(s) and cover with plastic wrap. Set in an old towel and wrap it up. This will keep the residual heat in and start the saponification process. Saponification is the process of the base ingredients becoming soap.
Step 5
After 24 hours, check your soap. If it’s still warm or soft, allow it to sit another 12-24 hours. When it’s cold and firm, turn it out onto a piece of parchment paper or baking rack. If using a loaf pan as your mold, cut into bars at this point. Allow soap to cure for 4 weeks or so. Be sure to turn it over once a week to expose all the sides to air (which is not necessary if using a baking rack). For a DIY soap drying rack, I took an old potato chip rack and slid cardboard fabric bolts (from a fabric store) through the rungs.
Step 6
When your soap is fully cured, wrap it in wax paper or keep it in an airtight container. Hand made soap creates its own glycerin, which is a humectant, pulling moisture from the air. It should be wrapped to keep it from attracting dust and debris with the moisture.
Notes
When you’re done making soap, always clean your equipment that has been exposed to lye. You can neutralize the lye with white vinegar, then wash the equipment well as you normally would. For the rest of it, let it sit for several days. Why? Because when you first make soap, it’s all fat and lye. You’ll be washing forever and you could burn your hands on the residual lye. If you wait, it becomes soap and all it takes to clean it is a soak in hot water.
如何为手和身体制作肥皂
配料
椰子油⅔杯–产生良好的泡沫（在此处大量购买以用于制皂）
橄榄油⅔杯–制作坚硬而温和的酒吧
其他液体油⅔杯–如杏仁油，葡萄籽油，向日葵油或红花油（在此处查找）
¼杯碱液–也称为100％氢氧化钠（在这里或在当地的五金店找到）
¾杯冷水–使用蒸馏水或纯净水（在此处找到最佳的净水系统）
使用说明
步骤1
用报纸覆盖您的工作区域。戴上手套和其他防护服。将水倒入夸脱罐头罐中。准备汤匙。测量您的碱液，确保您有恰好¼杯。慢慢将碱液倒入水中，边搅拌边搅拌。搅拌时站起来避免冒烟。当水开始流干时，可以将其静置，同时进行下一步。
第2步
在品脱罐中，将三种油加在一起。他们应该喝一品脱。在微波炉中加热约一分钟，或将一罐油放在锅中加热。检查您的机油温度–应该在120°左右。到那时，您的碱液应该已经下降到大约120°。等待两者冷却至95°至105°之间的某个温度。这对于制皂至关重要。太低了，会很快融合在一起，但又粗糙又易碎。
第三步
当碱液和油脂都处于合适的温度时，将油脂倒入搅拌碗中。缓慢添加碱液，搅拌直至混合均匀。用手搅拌整整5分钟。使尽可能多的碱液与尽可能多的肥皂接触非常重要。大约5分钟后，您可以继续搅拌，也可以使用浸入式搅拌器（像这样）。肥皂混合物的颜色会变浅并变稠。当它看起来像香草布丁时，处于“痕迹”状态，您就可以开始了。 （观看此视频以查看痕迹。）
第四步
此时添加您的草药，精油或其他添加剂。彻底搅拌即可混合。将混合物倒入模具中，并用保鲜膜覆盖。放在一条旧毛巾中并包好。这将保留残余热量并开始皂化过程。皂化是基础成分变成肥皂的过程。
第5步
24小时后，检查肥皂。如果仍然温暖或柔软，请再静置12-24小时。寒冷而结实时，请将其倒在羊皮纸或烤架上。如果使用面包盘作为模具，请在此时切成条状。让肥皂固化4周左右。确保每周翻转一次，使所有侧面都暴露在空气中（如果使用烤架，则不需要这样做）。对于一个DIY肥皂干燥架，我拿起一个旧的土豆片架，将（织物商店里的）纸板钉穿过梯级。
第6步
肥皂完全固化后，用蜡纸包裹或将其保存在密封的容器中。手工肥皂会产生自己的甘油，甘油是一种保湿剂，可从空气中吸收水分。应当将其包裹起来，以防止其被潮气吸引灰尘和碎屑。
笔记
制作完肥皂后，请始终清洁暴露于碱液中的设备。您可以用白醋中和碱液，然后像平常一样清洗设备。对于它的其余部分，将其放置几天。为什么？因为当您第一次制作肥皂时，都是油脂和碱液。您将永远洗衣服，并且可能会灼伤残留的碱液。如果您等待，它会变成肥皂，而清洁它所需要的只是在热水中浸泡