Handy for hand washing, stain removal, and a traveling laundry solution, this soap is used grated in laundry liquid and powder recipes.
Lye:
-5 oz. sodium hydroxide
-14 oz. water
Oil blend:
-4 3/4 oz. olive oil
-6 1/3 oz. sunflower oil
-22 oz. coconut oil
Extras:
-5 tsp lavender essential oil
-Soap molds
Makes 12-14 small bars (about 4 oz.) the bars keep for serval years!
- Wearing gloves and goggles. Make the lye by carefully pouring the solution hydroxide crystals into the container holding the water. Let it cool to 80-86F, never pour water onto the lye. Gently heat the oil blend until coconut oil is melted, and cool until 80-86F.
- Carefully pour the lye into the oil and stir with a spatula until you reach “trace”; this is when the movement of the spatula creates a line that appears on the top of the mixture – a trace doesn’t disappear. It is a sign that your soap has reached full saponification – and indicates your mixture is ready to reach trace it usually takes about half an hour, but soap has its own timescale, keep stirring continuously and very thoroughly, all around the sides and the bottom of the pan.
- When you have achieved the trace, add the essential oil. Ladle a little of the soap mixture into a bowl. Mix the essential oils into this small amount of soap mixture. Then mix this well into the whole batch. Next, pour the mixture into the molds and cover with a piece of board and then towels to insulate). Place the mixture out of the way for 24 hours.
- After 24 hours remove it from the mold, wearing gloves to protect against residual lye. Let sit for another 24 hours to dry. You can cut up the soap if you need to. Wash all your equipment with very hot water and plenty of dish soap, wear dishwashing gloves (remember that the remnants will still be caustic) and rinse very thoroughly. As with all soap let it “cure” in a well-ventilated place for 4-6 weeks. This will allow for all the caustic effects of the lye to wear off.