Crafting with Nature: Making Your Own Cold-Pressed Soap

Many people are drawn to crafting for its ability to connect us with our history and provide a sense of belonging. While some crafts are purely for pleasure, others, like soap making, were once essential skills. Today, creating your own soap allows for personalization and offers a fulfilling experience. Here's a basic recipe for cold-pressed soap that you can make at home.

Essential Ingredients & Supplies

Before you begin, gather these ingredients and supplies:

• 6. 9 ounces lye (sodium hydroxide)
• 2 cups distilled water, cold (refrigerated is best)
• 2 cups canola oil
• 2 cups coconut oil
• 2 cups palm oil
• Goggles, gloves, and mask (safety first!)
• Mold for the soap (a cake or bread loaf pan works well; consider flexible plastic molds)
• Plastic wrap or wax paper to line the molds
• Glass bowl for mixing lye and water
• Wooden spoon for mixing
• 2 thermometers
• Stainless steel or cast iron pot for heating oils
• Handheld stick blender (optional, but highly recommended)

Safety Precautions

Working with lye requires utmost caution. Always wear goggles, gloves, and a mask, and ensure you're in a well-ventilated room. Never add water to lye; always add the lye to the cold, distilled water.

Step-by-Step Instructions

1. Prepare the Mold: Line your chosen mold with plastic wrap or wax paper and set it aside.

2. Mix Lye and Water: Wearing your safety gear, slowly add the lye to the cold, distilled water in a glass bowl. Stir continuously for at least a minute, until the lye is completely dissolved. The mixture will heat up rapidly. Place a thermometer in the bowl and allow it to cool to around 110°F.

3. Heat the Oils: While the lye mixture cools, combine the canola, coconut, and palm oils in a pot on medium heat. Stir well until the oils are melted together. Place a thermometer into the pot and allow the mixture to cool to 110°F.

4. Combine Lye and Oils: Carefully and slowly pour the lye mixture into the oil mixture, stirring continuously. Ensure a small, steady stream to allow for proper mixing.

5. Achieve Trace: Continue stirring, either by hand or with a handheld stick blender, until the mixture traces. This means it should have the consistency of thin pudding. This process can take 30-60 minutes or more. Patience is key! If the mixture doesn't trace completely, it will not saponify correctly, ruining the soap.

6. Pour and Let Sit: Once the mixture has traced, carefully pour it into the prepared mold(s). Let it sit for a few hours.

7. Cut into Bars: When the mixture is still soft but congealed enough not to melt back into itself, cut the soap with a table knife into bars.

8. Cure the Soap: Let the bars sit for a few days, then remove them from the mold(s) and place them on brown paper (grocery bags work well) in a dark area. Allow the bars to cure for another 4 weeks or so before using. This curing process allows excess moisture to evaporate and the saponification process to complete, resulting in a milder, longer-lasting soap.

Personalizing Your Soap

Once you are comfortable with the basic recipe, you can experiment!

• Color: Add special soap-coloring dyes after the mixture has traced, stirring them in. You can also try making your own dyes using herbs, flowers, or spices.
• Scent: Add a few drops of your favorite essential oils (such as lavender, lemon, or rose) after tracing the mixture and stir in.
• Moisturizing Properties: Add aloe and vitamin E at the tracing stage for softer, more moisturizing soap.
• Texture and Exfoliation: Stir some oats into the traced mixture, along with some almond essential oil or a dab of honey, for a pumice-like quality and wonderful scent.
• Visual Appeal: Add bits of lavender, rose petals, or citrus peel to your soap for variety.

Enjoy the process of creating your own unique, handmade soap!