Handmade soap making is a new craze taking place in India. In the country where there are more than 130 crore people, demand for soaps is never going to shrink. Soap business needs very minimal capital but the return it yields is pretty considerable. However looking at the ill-effects of harsh chemicals used in soaps available in the market, there is a huge movement of people towards organic soaps. No doubt handmade soaps are a little expensive but one cannot ignore their benefits. Considering the increasing demand for natural handmade soaps in India, more and more people are trying their hands in this small business earning a huge profit. Let us take a look at how to make soap at home.

Table of Contents

Infographic – Indian Soap Industry

Infographic -Soap Making

Handmade Soap Making Basics

Before you try making soaps at home, you must know its basic concepts. Here are some.

Saponification

It is noteworthy, that the primary basic thing involved in soap making is “Saponification”. It’s a method in which animal fats or vegetable oils are reacted with sodium or potassium hydroxide (lye) which produces fatty acid. It’s called “soap”. Most people making soaps at home choose to use vegetable oils over animal fats. When fats or oils are mixed with sodium hydroxide it forms hard soaps. Mixing with potassium hydroxide produces soft soap. Sodium hydroxide and potassium hydroxide are caustic and hence dangerous to the skin. Now you must be wondering if we use such harsh chemicals in soap making, then how it supposed to be a natural soap. So the best part of saponification is, no lye remains in the finished product (soap) after it reacts with oil molecules. Therefore, yes your product is organic!

Soap Making Process

Homemade soap making involves two basic methods A) Cold Process B) Hot Process

Cold Process Soap Making

In cold process soap making, the lye is mixed with water then additives (oils or fats) are added in solution and blended with the stick blender. After a fatty solution is formed, it is transferred to molds. It takes 4-5 weeks to saponify and soaps to be ready to be used.

Hot Process Soap Making

Hot process soap making involves letting above mentioned soap batter heat very gently before pouring in molds. For the reason, it accelerates the saponification. Eventually, after pouring the solution in molds, soaps are instantly ready to be used in a couple of hours.

Melt and Pour Soap Bases

So far we have seen what saponification is and which are two soap making processes. However saponifying consumes a pretty much of time, also handling lye with carelessness may cause serious problems to skin and eyes. Relax; there is the best alternative to avoid this process. Use soap base! Here I got some varieties if soap bases.

Goat Milk, Shea Butter & Glycerin Soap Base

The soap base is nothing but a saponified product made of lye and fats. Most of the homemade soap businesses in India use soap bases since it is a very fast and easy method. The best thing is, soap is immediately ready to use within an hour or two.

There are different types of melt and pour soap bases easily available in the market. Clear soap bases include glycerin or oil. On the other hand, moisturizing soap bases have goat milk or Shea butter added in it. Buy a soap base according to your skin type.

Ingredients for Homemade Soap

Melt and pour soap base

Additives of your choice (Optional): Shea butter, cocoa butter, olive oil, coconut oil, gram flour, clay, charcoal, etc

Essential oil or fragrance

Natural dye or organic color

Equipment for Homemade Soap

Gas/induction stove or microwave

Glass or stainless steel vessel and ladle

Soap mold

Rubbing alcohol

Handmade Soap Making – Beginners Guide

So let us see the procedure to make 4 soaps weighing approximately 100 grams each at home.

1. Melt Soap Base

Take 400 grams of any soap base according to requirement and skin type. Cut it with a clean knife into small pieces, you can grate it as well. Now we have to melt it until it becomes liquid and that happens within a few seconds. You can do it with either microwave or stove. Here are two methods to melt the soap base. Follow either A or B.

A) Melt with Gas or Induction Stove

Most importantly, soap bases have a very low melting point. Hence you cannot directly heat them. Certainly, putting vessels directly on the stove may burn the product. Therefore we need to use the double boiler method. For instance, here how I do double boiling as below.



Double Boiler Method

Grab a saucepan and fill it up to 4-5 inches with water and keep on low flame on gas. Now take another glass/steel vessel, put soap base chunks in it and put this vessel in saucepan such a way that its base won’t touch the saucepan. That is to say, you have to make the vessel float on the water so that it will absorb the heat from the water. After few seconds soap base wills start melting. Meanwhile, keep stirring!

B) Melt with Microwave

Put the soap base pieces in microwave utensils and heat it in the microwave for 30 seconds. Stir it well and again put it in the microwave for 30 seconds. Repeat this step until chunks are melted into a smooth liquid. Do not overheat.

2. Use Additives

Subsequently, once the soap base melts, you may want to add some additives of your choice. The beauty of handmade soap making is, you can use the ingredients according to your requirements and choice. Also, you may avoid ingredients that do not suit your skin.

How to make milk and honey soap

If it’s cold outside or you have dry skin, you can add some shea butter or cocoa butter. No need to add any of this if your soap base already contains these ingredients. You can also think of adding coconut, sunflower or olive oil as it nourishes the skin, again this is optional.

Certainly several more ingredients you can think of, which are useful for skin problems. Apparently, I often use gram flour (besan) and turmeric. Gram flour exfoliates dead skin, removes tan and turmeric benefits are not hidden from us anymore. If your skin is oily, adding 1-2 tbsp of clay (Multani mitti) will surely help to control excess oil in the skin. Choose the right clay for skin according to issues. Moreover, adding dried rose petals, orange zest powder or herbs like rosemary, lavender, mint, etc provide great skin benefits. Let me know in the comments what do you like to add in your homemade soap.

3. Add Essential Oil or Fragrance

After that, take your melted soap base out of microwave or stove and stir well. Remember, as the soap base melts very quickly, it cools even faster. It starts setting within a few seconds. So after you take out the pan from heat, everything you need to do is at lightning speed.

Mint Essential Oil

Essential Oils

At this step, we need to add some fragrance to it so that your soap smells fresh and good. Apparently, there are several soap perfumes like orange, rose, lemon, mint, lavender and many more. However, instead of perfumes I personally like to use essential oils since I want to go totally organic.

Essential oils are extracts of the plant or flower. They are made from the distillation method. In this procedure oil extracts and captures the essence of the plant or flower used. These oils do not only have fragrances but also are rich in nutrients. Hence essential oils are often used in aromatherapy. Popular essence oils are – Tea Tree, Peppermint, Rose, Lavender, Lemon, Rosemary, Sandalwood and Jasmine. I would like to hear your favorite one and its skin benefits. So add 15-20 drops of your favorite essential oil to the liquid soap base and stir well. Eventually, no need to add any perfume after this.

4. Put in Natural Dye or Color

While it is not obligatory, adding colors to soap enhances its look. Nevertheless, natural dyes are safe for the skin. So add a few drops of organic colors to soap base and stir well.

5. Setting or Molding Soap

Finally, so you are done with everything, immediately pour your soap base into molds. However, do not use a plastic container to set the soap as it is toxic to your skin. You can use simple steel or glass bowls at the learning stage. Here I got some beautiful silicone molds.

Silicone Soap Molds

Consequently, you must be wondering where did we use rubbing alcohol mentioned in the above list. Okay, so once you pour the solution in molds you will notice a tiny air bubble on the surface. Immediately take rubbing alcohol and spray it 2-3 times on soap and bubble where they are? Remember as soon as you pour the soap, it starts setting on the same second. Therefore, you need to be really fast with alcohol spraying. Don’t worry, the alcohol evaporates within a few seconds too. To clarify, your soap does not have any alcohol content in it.

Although many soap makers suggest to freeze them, I prefer setting soaps naturally. Hardly it will take an hour or two to set the soaps. Demold them after that and your organic soaps are ready to use. Here is my goat milk soap with besan, turmeric and honey.



Gram Flour, Turmeric & Honey Soaps

Have you ever wondered homemade soap making would be this easy? Share your experience and any new idea to make easy homemade soaps in the comment box. Happy sharing!