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ICC
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# Posted: 26 Nov 2023 12:29
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I make bar soap about once a year about this time. Anyone else? Or maybe you are interested?
Fragrance-free is one reason I began doing this eons ago.
-izzy
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gcrank1
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# Posted: 26 Nov 2023 17:06
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Never made any, have bought from a few folks who do and like it.
Pls tell more 
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darz5150
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# Posted: 26 Nov 2023 17:14
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My sister does year round. It's an amazing skill.
She made me some camo unscented to use before hunting. But also makes an endless selection of custom scents, and shop soap with pumice similar to Lava.
Luckily we get the bars with imperfections.
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hattie
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# Posted: 26 Nov 2023 17:53
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ICC - is it difficult to make? Can you share how you make it?
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ICC
Member
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# Posted: 26 Nov 2023 17:56
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Quoting: darz5150 My sister does year round.
She appears to be a serious crafter of soaps. I, OTOH am a simple utility soap maker.
I got started because I do not like heavily scented soaps and it was difficult to find bar soap that was unscented. So, about 20+ years ago I looked into the process. I've never sold any. Mostly, it is for my own use, though I have a couple of family members who like it as much as I do. They receive small lots every so often on various gifting occasions.
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ICC
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# Posted: 26 Nov 2023 18:24
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Quoting: gcrank1 Pls tell more
Quoting: hattie Can you share how you make it
Yes, I shall share my recipe.
Be warned that the process does involve the use of sodium hydroxide (NaOH), otherwise known as lye. That comes in a crystalline form and is mixed with cold water to make a strong alkali solution.
FYI, NaOH has a pH of 13. The pH scale goes from 0 to 14 with 14 being a very strong base (alkali). So, yes, a pH of 13 could be dangerous if not handled with great care.
But if you are careful and follow instructions you can safely make soap.
I will come back to flesh out how I do it and supply my recipe.
Note that a good scale is needed. I use an Oxo brand digital kitchen scale that can work in grams which is preferred over ounces and fractions. One or two thermometers are required with reasonable accuracy in the 95 F to 100 F range.
My bars are not cut with great precision to keep the shape in nice rectangular shapes. I cut to much finer tolerances when building furniture. Soap is not furniture. 
-izzy
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paulz
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# Posted: 27 Nov 2023 11:00
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Very nice Izzy. My specialty is getting dirt on me.
favorite bar soap is ‘Lava’. Couldn’t find it at the supermarket for a while, finally got some at Ace Hardware.
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ICC
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# Posted: 27 Nov 2023 12:27 - Edited by: ICC
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Here is the ingredient list, for the half recipe. I call this my recipe for Coco-Palm-Olive bar soap. But in reality, it is from a recipe I got from a friend about 25 years ago. It works, I like it, so I use it. There are many online soap webpages with more recipes than you can shake a stick at.
Coconut oil (by weight) 312 grams
Palm oil (by weight) 374 grams
Olive oil (by weight) 561 grams
Sodium hydroxide (by weight) 177 grams
Cold water (by volume) 325 to 450 ml
The complete recipe and hints are in an attached PDF file.
-izzy
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ICC
Member
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# Posted: 27 Nov 2023 12:30
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photos of the soap mold box I made (included in the PDF file. It is suitable for the half size recipe
-izzy
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hattie
Member
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# Posted: 27 Nov 2023 13:23
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Thank you so much for these instructions ICC. I have always wanted to make soap. Hopefully I can give this a try over the winter months.
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ICC
Member
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# Posted: 27 Nov 2023 14:50
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Today I removed the soap block from the mold, cut bars, and placed the bars on a rack to dry/cure for 4 to 6 weeks.
Hattie, or anyone else... if I can answer any questions drop me an email (addy in my profile) or post here. I may reply to an email quicker depending on where I am, what I am doing.
-izzy
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socceronly
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# Posted: 27 Nov 2023 19:37 - Edited by: socceronly
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All I can think about here is Fight Club.
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DaveBell
Moderator
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# Posted: 28 Nov 2023 00:45
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I wonder? I save the soap bits left over. Can I make new bars out of them? Bought two silicone soap molds, they go in the oven. Cut them up, added a little water and baked them per per instructions from the net. Turned out okay, they have to dry for awhile after cutting to size.
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ICC
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# Posted: 28 Nov 2023 09:13 - Edited by: ICC
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I know someone who grates the left over soap bits and heats that with some water in a microwave and remolds when it is melted together.
Scraps of my soap can be fused to a new bar by wetting them and pressing them together for 30 seconds or so. After drying the pieces stay stuck.
-izzy
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travellerw
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# Posted: 29 Nov 2023 17:25
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Oh man.. One of my jobs today had me thinking about this post.
I'm restoring a car and cleaning up a bunch of parts. What am I using? A hot water lye solution. I have not found anything better at degreasing and removing paint at the same time. I think it works better than blasting.
So besides making soap, having lye around can be super handy. I also use more dilute solutions for general cleaning (with gloves of course). Its amazing for cleaning around your oven and stove as grease just disappears (even old sticky stuff). *NOTE* Be careful around aluminum as it will eat it.
Strangely, I have never used it to make soap.. but this post has me very intrigued.
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ICC
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# Posted: 29 Nov 2023 18:48
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Quoting: travellerw Be careful around aluminum as it will eat it.
The dry crystalline forms of Drano contain a small amount of aluminum powder. No useful purpose for drain cleaning but the reaction between the sodium hydroxide dissolved in water and the aluminum produces lots of bubbles which makes it appear to be working. Marketing. So soap makers should look for a sodium hydroxide product that is 100% pure. My True Value and Ace hardware stores carry a pure product in their drain cleaner assortment.
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travellerw
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# Posted: 29 Nov 2023 19:11
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Quoting: ICC So soap makers should look for a sodium hydroxide product that is 100% pure. My True Value and Ace hardware stores carry a pure product in their drain cleaner assortment.
Interesting. I never knew that about drain cleaner. However I can confirm tons of bubbles as I once tried to clean the filter on my range hood with a lye solution. Holy smokes did it bubble and fizz.
Anyone in Canada should look at Home Hardware. They sell 3KG (6.6 pounds) of pure crystals at a super good price ($45)
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Fanman
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# Posted: 1 Dec 2023 12:57
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Quoting: ICC I know someone who grates the left over soap bits and heats that with some water in a microwave and remolds when it is melted together.
I put the almost too small bits aside to dry, then they go in my traveling bag so I don't have to use the stinky soaps they give you in hotels.
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gcrank1
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# Posted: 1 Dec 2023 13:36
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You would think we all grew up during the Great Depression.
Yes, me too.....guilty, lol; got a baggie of soap bits about ready to re-form into a bar. Maybe I should make a batch of this fresh stuff up and mix the bits into it? A good winter project....its comin in quick here now.....
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