Set the pot on the stovetop over medium-low heat until the water gently boils and the soap base begins melting. If using a double-boiler, fill a pot with a couple inches of water, place the soap base into the vessel and place it on top of the pot.Have pot holders or heat-resistant gloves or mitts handy when handling these hot implements.
It also prevents hot spots or overheating that can happen when melting in the microwave. Both techniques work well, but doing it on the stovetop can give you more control and allows you to better see when the base starts melting. Most ready-made melt and pour recipes can be done either in the microwave or on a stovetop in a double boiler over low heat. We like the Made Safe certified essential oils by Radiance.
Pro tip: When buying fragrance oil online, make sure it is cosmetic grade (or use one of your own favorite fragrances). All you do is melt it, mix in your favorite fragrance oil, and mold it. If that’s still a little too ambitious for you, start with Bramble Berry’s simple translucent base.
We recommend buying from a reputable website, like Bramble Berry Handcraft Provisions, which offers a variety of supplies and has multiple recipes for making different kinds of soaps.īramble Berry's beginner’s guide to the melt and pour process walks you through the steps one by one and provides complete recipes for beginner, intermediate and advanced soap making.
If you are a beginner, the simplest way to start is to purchase a soap base - a pre-mixed combination of the soap, glycerin, and a few add-ins like plant butters and extracts for skin benefits, along with additives for transparency or fillers for making opaque bars. Here’s how make a perfect melt-and-pour soap at home: 1. These recipes are easy and fun to make at home - even with kids - and you won’t have to deal with the potential dangers of working with lye or learn the chemistry of the saponification process. For safety reasons, our Institute experts recommend following “melt and pour” soap-making recipes from reputable retailers. We’ve come up with a simpler and safer method for making your own hand or bath soap at home without lye. Rodriques keeps raw materials in a locked cabinet in her basement, which also doubles as her soap-making laboratory.Personal protection gear, such as goggles, a mask and heat-resistant gloves are also “musts” according to Rodriques.Appropriate ventilation is the most important thing to have before embarking on making soap from scratch.If you do choose to make soap with lye, Rodriques, who has been making and perfecting her homemade soap for over 15 years, recommends the following: So, you’ll need to work in a very well-ventilated area,” says Charmaine Rodriques, a former chemist in the GH Beauty Lab and current Regulatory Affairs Manager at Parfums Christian Dior. “Lye is caustic not only when it touches skin, but the fumes it generates when mixed with water are caustic to your eyes and mucous membranes. But lye can be hazardous to work with at home. Many DIY soap recipes call for using lye (the common name for sodium hydroxide) as the base. The soap you make won't kill germs, but it will certainly wash them away as well as any other bar soap you might buy. No commercial or homemade soap can be made without these two ingredients. These chemically react together in what is called “saponification” and produce the soap along with glycerin as a byproduct. Making soap at home requires two types of ingredients - an acid and a base. And while it seems simple enough, the experts in our Good Housekeeping Institute Health, Beauty, and Sustainability Lab say that making soap from scratch is a serious endeavor that requires more than just a few kitchen tools and some basic skills.
Homemade soap might pique your curiosity, especially if your favorite bars are currently sold out or hard to come by. Many products you often buy can easily be made in the comfort of your own home, from furniture DIYs to homemade cosmetics like hair masks or body scrub - you might be surprised by what you can make yourself.