Soap Making Tutorial for Beginners - Full Demonstration and Easy Beginner Recipe
This video is designed to provide beginner soap makers with a clear and complete demonstration of the cold-process soap making method, along with an easy olive and coconut oil soap recipe to use for your first batch of soap. It can seem like there is a lot to learn before you make soap, but once you have the basic knowledge and method clear in your mind, soap making is easy!
If you haven’t already seen it, please watch my Introduction to Soap Making video prior to viewing this video so that you have a good understanding of what soap is, how it is made, how to make it safely and the ingredients and equipment required to make your first batch of soap. You can find it here https://youtu.be/8bKpLWNqAGs . It is very important to be prepared with a good background in soap making (especially safety aspects) before you make your first batch of soap.
MOULD SIZE
My mould used in this video is 37cm long, 7cm wide and 5.7cm deep.
In inches that is 14.5" long, 2 and 3/4" wide and 2 + 1/4" deep.
It holds 1.480kg of soap batter - just enough for this recipe.
I bought it from Kmart in Australia - https://www.kmart.com.au/product/large--narrow-bamboo-drawer-tidy/718858?&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI8YC_iaPk4AIVCx4rCh0bHQR8EAQYBSABEgJto_D_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds
RECIPE
To make this soap recipe you will need the following ingredients and equipment:
• 950 grams of olive oil - You can use refined or cold-pressed extra virgin – either is fine
• 50 grams of coconut oil - Only use the type of coconut oil that is solid at cool room temperature, not the fractionated/permanently liquid type.
• 199 grams of water - Any water that is safe and suitable for drinking will be fine for your soap as well.
• 133 grams of caustic soda (also known as sodium hydroxide)
Please see my first Introduction to Soap Making video for more about this ingredient and soap making safety https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8bKpLWNqAGs
• 20 – 50 grams of essential oil (optional)
I used 40 grams of lavender oil in this soap recipe but you can use other oils to your preference. Use smaller amounts for pervasive, strong scents.
• Lavender buds, clay or colours for your soap (optional)
EQUIPMENT NEEDED:
• Safety glasses and gloves
• Face mask/dust mask (optional) – see Introduction to Soap Making video for full explanation of safety requirements https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8bKpLWNqAGs
• Newspaper or plastic sheeting to cover your work surface
• Small bucket or other mixing container, minimum 2 litre capacity
• Two other plastic containers for weighing and mixing your lye solution
• Immersion/stick blender
• Digital kitchen scale
• Whisk
• Spoon or silicone spatula
• A mould of some kind, minimum 1.5 litre capacity. Silicone moulds do not need to be lined. If you are using at timber mould or steel cake tin it will need to be lined with non-stick baking paper (parchment paper in the US). Please see my video on how to line a soap mould here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7vU68RqnFEI
• Piece of cardboard or coreflute to cover the soap before you wrap it
• An old towel or blanket to wrap your soap in
RECIPE SPECIFICATIONS for those who are interested in how the soap recipe was calculated:
• 1000 gram / 1 kilogram oil batch - 95% olive oil and 5% coconut oil
• 40% lye concentration - This means that the lye solution contains 40% sodium hydroxide and 60% water
• 4% Superfat - This is a small percentage of extra oil calculated into each recipe to ensure a slight oil excess. This provides a safety buffer of extra oil to help prevent the soap being ‘lye heavy’ or too alkaline. Superfatting also leaves a small amount of unsaponified oil in the finished soap which adds to the conditioning quality of the finished bar of soap.
SAFETY NOTES
While safety glasses and gloves are important throughout the whole soap making process, you may also wish to wear a long sleeve shirt and a face mask (a dust mask from the hardware or a bandana tied around the lower half of your face) while you mix the sodium hydroxide lye solution. In the first moments after the sodium hydroxide granules are poured into the water and the granules are stirred in, a gas is formed and released from the solution which can also burn the skin or the throat if breathed in. Make sure you mix your lye solution in a well-ventilated area and stand down-wind if there is a breeze from a window or fan.
*** And most importantly - ALWAYS POUR THE SODIUM HYDROXIDE GRANULES INTO THE WATER and NEVER the other way around. If you pour water into sodium hydroxide granules they can heat up very rapidly and bubble, hiss and spit – you do not want this!!!