Making your own natural soap is creative, easy and fun. Whether you choose to start with a kit or make it totally from scratch, you’ll enjoy experimenting with fragrances, essential oils, herbs and colors with this creative and artistic activity.
The “melt and pour” method is safe enough for kids to do. Choose from soap bases like goat milk, honey, glycerin, olive & aloe, oatmeal, shea butter or any other base you can find on the market. They’re all a little different, so choose the one with the qualities you prefer.
To make a bar soap just melt the soap base completely, stirring frequently and add the fragrances, colors, or essential oils that you like. Then pour the soap into the molds and allow it to cool. If for some reason the soap bar does not come out the way you like it, just re-melt and try it again.
Feeling adventurous? Try the more advanced method using fat, water, and lye. You will need a little more equipment, time, knowledge and caution. Lye is a caustic agent that requires special handling. Use eye protection and rubber gloves, and keep it off your skin and clothes. Also, lye will damage aluminum and Formica so avoid contact with table tops and counters. For details, recipes and more ideas, type “make natural soap” into a search engine.
Making soap is not only fun, it saves money. Compare the cost of fancy soaps to what you make yourself! Use your imagination to make your own soap look and smell exactly like you want. You can even start your own soap business!
Making natural soap at home is environmentally friendly compared to the production of commercial products. Prior to World War I, people used to make soap at home from leftover cooking fats, using purchased cans of lye. Before that, people made lye from wood ashes.
The movement toward more sustainable living has some healthy side effects as well. Since our skin is the largest organ of the body, taking care of it has become more important. One of the benefits of making natural soaps is that you can control what goes into them. If you are allergic to Shea Butter, just use oatmeal instead. If you are a vegetarian, there are soaps you can make out of vegetable fats instead of animal fats.
It’s so easy, fun, healthy and economical to make your own natural soap. You’ll expand your creativity and help the environment. Make exactly what you want and don’t be afraid to experiment. There are many easy soap-making recipes available. Make it a family project and have fun together. Anyone can do it!
Jen Hopkins has worked in the skin care industry for years. She maintains websites about make soap at home, and organic soap making. If you want to contact her, you can use the contact form at one of her sites.
