1. Mixing containers made of lye-resistant material. Enamel or Stainless Steel Pots from 8 qt. to 20 qt. according to the batch size you will be making. Small to large Plastic bowl to weight the ingredients in and then pour them into the pot.

NOTE: NEVER, NEVER USE ALUMINUM, it reacts with the lye and adds properties to the soap you don't want.

2. A heatproof container for your lye mixture. You can use a stainless steel bowl, or a large plastic bowl, pitcher or bucket. I found that a large plastic pitcher or flat bottom bucket works well and it does seem best since glass can break if gotten hot to fast. And lye will heat the water up very hot, so make sure to use at least room temperature water. Remember to mark you container "Lye Poison" so someone won't think it is water. This is if you make your lye water up and allow it to set for a day or so, as many who make soap do, including myself, have to from time to time. And put it out of reach is a good idea also.

3. Stainless steel slotted spoon (for mixing the lye into the water) and plastic heat proof spoon or heat proof rubber spatula. I do not use wood, even in Cold Processed (CP) soaps, if you have a cheap one it will soon start splintering off into the soap, not a good thing. I recommend the heat proof rubber spatulas for stirring the soap mixture. Pot holders or oven mitts, measuring spoons for measuring your scents. Stainless Steel is best for measuring the Fragrance or Essential Oils as they have a tendency to react with plastics or aluminums.

4. A stick blender, good for 3 lbs. or larger batches. The stick blender enables you to get a faster trace. Use only for a minute at a time and stir in between with the heat proof spatula.

5. Use eye protections. I wear eyeglasses, but if you don't you might want to invest in some goggles and for those that want to, even if you ware eyeglasses, you can get some that will fit over your glasses. A splash of raw soap in the eyes can be very painful and damage the eyes. I have had this happen, well not a splash, but I had a eye itch and scratched it while making soap, not knowing I had the raw soap on my finger. WHEW!!! Took a lot of water to relieve that one.

6. Latex or Chemical gloves. Use this to keep any possible splashes off arms and hands and when stirring the lye water, to keep the steam off the arms. Keep vinegar and water handy if you do get some on your skin. A big bowl with some in it comes in very handy while doing large batches if you don't have a sink handy. You inevitably will get some on you and a quick wash with it will keep any reactions, if any, to a minimal. If you do have a sink handy, just wash with warm water and soap and it will do better than the vinegar water.

7. Scale to weight the oils and lye. You can start with a food scale, they will do just fine. You will just have to guess at the decimals if the soap formula has them. Later you can invest in a digital scale if you feel the need or get one right away. I find that a good food scale works just fine for small batches. A digital fool scale can be purchased at some discount store and are available at Kitchen Stores at the Malls.

8. Soap molds. You can use Rubbermaid drawer liners or any plastic container you have around. Vinyl down spouts, PVC pipes, cut in about 12" lengths. Jell-O Molds or even cookie cutters for animal shapes and toy shapes, for the kiddies. :-) Or purchase one of our wooden Soap/Cutter Molds TLC Soaps/Cutter Molds™

9. Thermometers (2), like a candy thermometer or a quick read Thermometer. I prefer the quick read Thermometer, only need one of them. You can wipe it clean between testing the oil or lye mixtures and it gives you an instant readings. But since I usually cool my lye down completely, I only use it now and then for testing the temp of the oils. I have found over time I do not need one at all and can tell the temp of the oils from the outside of the pot, but to start this is a good thing to have on hand.

10. Also some Vinegar just incase you splash some lye or the soap mixture on yourself. You can mix it 1/2 and 1/2 in water and have in handy beside the sink. I have never used it, but it has come in handy for others. I usually just rinse very well and then wash off with soap and no harm is done but a little drying of the skin which a good lotion will help that.

Now don't let all this scare you into not making you first batch. And remember that it is no more scary than cutting the grass or carving a Turkey. When you do these things you take safety measures like wearing good shoes when cutting the grass, not sticking your toes under the mower and keeping you hand out of the way of the knife when carving that Turkey. So make that first batch and you know you will be making something much better for you skin and a wonderful craft to get addicted too. You will be doing the "Happy Soapers Dance" after that first batch comes out of that mold.




Supplies needed to make soap



You will need oils such as Lard, Tallow, Palm, Palm Kernel, Coconut, Castor, Olive, Shortening, Cocoa Butter, Shea Butter, Sweet Almond, Avocado, Jojoba, Hemp Seed, etc. There are many that can be used and some are listed on this page Saponification Chart. This page will give you the sap value of the oils listed and how you can figure a soap formula manually when you are ready to make a formula of your own. I have some on hand from time to time but will not be carrying them as general supplies anymore.

You will also need Sodium Hydroxide (Lye) to make bar soaps. You can purchase it at some local grocery store usually under the name of Red Devil Lye in the US but I am not sure of other names in other countries. This is the only pure lye that I know of on the market, no other product will work. There are some suppliers on line that you can purchase from and your local phone book might list some under Chemical Supplies and you can purchase in 50 lb. bags from them. If you wish to make Liquid Soaps then you will need Potassium Hydroxide and this will have to be purchased online in small quantities or at a chemical shop in 50 lb. amounts.

You will need clean water. Tap water can work, but if you know that your water is in need of filtering, you can use a filter pitcher and filter your own or purchase bottled distilled water. Because of the way that water is processed in the treatment plants, if it is high in chemicals it can cause the soap to not come out well. So filtered water or bottled water is best.

You will need a soap formula to try and you can find some here on the Formula section of the site. If you need any help you can always e-mail me at rcsoap@comcast.net or if you are a member of the TLC list, you can always ask for help there too.




Mixing and Molding Soaps


1. Put on your eye protection and rubber gloves.

2. Get your heat-proof container ready and measure your filtered or distilled water that is needed for your soap formula. Remember to use COLD or room temp water. The lye will heat up the water, so you don't want to use hot water, hot water could cause it to over heat and come out of the container. Put on your gloves and weigh out your lye, add your lye slowly to your water, stirring the water constantly. Do not wait to stir, the lye will settle to the bottom and become very hard to dissolve, so stir constantly. The water will become hot and cloudy, don't worry, that is normal, just keep stirring till it is completely dissolved and clear again. Remember DO NOT breath the fumes, they are very choking and can cause eye irritation. I use a small fan behind me and/or the hood fan on my stove to keep down the fumes and to pull them or blow them away from me. Or you can take it outside and mix if you like. I wear my gloves and glasses for this process, because the steam/fumes from the lye water makes my skin itch, so remember you might be sensitive to the steam. Let the lye water cool to room temp or close to it.

NOTE: Always add the lye to the water, never the other way around. If you add water to the lye, you will have a volcano reaction that could also cause the mixture to come out of your container and burn you badly. Remember ... snow on the lake ... add lye into the water.

3. While the lye water is cooling, measure your fats into your pot and heat gently, you do not want to over heat the fats. I recommend that you not heat the oils over 130° to 140° or so as not to destroy any of the good properties of the oils. If you are using Beeswax, it will need a bit higher heat to melt, but not usually any higher than about a medium setting. If you need higher heat, just place it on medium/high for about a minute and then back to medium. I do a lot of off and on stirring to help everything to melt, so I never have to go over a medium setting. I also like to add my powdered herbs or spices for coloring at this time. After everything is melted, turn it off and let it set till cooled to the temps you need.

4. Prepare your molds for the soap. If you are using a plastic mold, you may have to spray it with oil to help the soap come out easier. A lot of times the plastic molds will have to be placed in the freezer after the soap has set for the 18 to 24 hours and then warmed a bit with a blow dryer in order to press the soaps out.

If using our wooden molds use the instructions that come with them for lining them and using the acrylics and how to cut the soap afterwards. TLC Soaps/Cutter Molds™

5. When the fat has reached the temp that you need, move the pan to the sink (to contain splatters). Pour the lye/water into the fats while stirring constantly.
Note: Temperatures are not really critical, you can mix at from 100 to 120 degrees for the oils and the lye water at room temp. This comes from my experiences with making my lye water up the day before mixing. Works very well and remember "MARK YOUR LYE CONTAINER" so that everyone knows that it is lye water and not water.
This is the time that I also add my milk when making a soap that has milk in it. After adding the lye water to the warmed oils, then add the Milk. Room temp is fine or you can warm it a bit if you like.

6. Start with your heat resistant rubber spatula for stirring and then use the Stick Blender if you choose for about a minute or so and stir. I find that only using the stick blender a few times is all that I need to speed up the tracing time. When the lye, water and fat first combine, the mixture is thin and watery. As the chemical reactions start to form soap, the mixture thickens and turns opaque and then will become a solid white or cream color. "Tracing" is a term to describe the thickness of soap when it's ready to pour into molds. When it comes to trace, it is like what pudding looks like just before it becomes pudding. If you drop a bit on the surface of the soap, it will leave a bit of a mound or indentation or if you stir it you will see a "trace" of the stir for a few seconds. If you are pouring into individual molds, you will not want this full of a trace. So look for a medium trace, where you see the trace for a second and it disappears, this will keep the soap from blopping into the individual molds and having air bubbles.

7. When the soap comes to light traced, you can add your scents, powdered herbs (if you have not added the herbs in with the oils), and any other ingredients or oils. A light trace is when you can see the trail of your spatula in the soap and then it disappears right away. The measurements of the scents are really according to the mildness or strength of the Fragrance Oils (FO) or Essential Oils (EO) you use. You will need more for the lighter scents and less for the stronger scents. I am sorry that I can not give you exact measurements for this, but every companies scents are different and you will have to experiment to get the fragrance you want. The measurements range from 1 tsp. to 1 1/2 tsp. per lb. of oils for FO's and from 1/2 Tbsp. to 1 Tbsp. per lb. of oils for EO's. Just remember to "ONLY" use the fragrance oils that have been tested for soapmaking, this way you know that your soap will come out great. And EO's for the most part work well in soapmaking.

8. Pour the soap into molds and wait for it to harden and cool. This is called the insulation stage and takes 18 to 24 hrs., this also depends on the soap formula that you use.

9. Unmold the soap and remember that the soap can be harsh if something went wrong in the process, so just to be safe, wear you gloves. If using plastic molds, you can press on the back of the container and the soap will release, some of the time. When the soap doesn't release easily from the mold, you can place it in the freezer for a few hours. Then take it out and let it start sweating and/or use a blow dryer on the outside of the container. This will release the soap and it will slip right out. With the TLC Soaps/Cutter Molds™, just lift it right out and take off the lining and acrylics.

10. After the insulation period, cut the soap into bars. Wait for the soap to cure (dry) usually 4 to 8 weeks, this is according to if you are in a dry area or humid area or if you use a warming bin to dry your soap. During the curing time the bars harden which will make them last longer in the bath. It's a good idea to write the information about each soap on a piece of paper: the date you made the soap and what the formula name is (usually the scent of the soap) and when it will be cured. Place this paper on the soap or taped beside the soap.

11. "Now enjoy your soap".