One thing that soap makers figure out quickly, is that even though they love various recipes because of the different qualities various oils bring to soap, we usually end up with one cold process soap recipe that we tweak with various scents and colors.
If you’re making soap for your family, then this is exactly what I would advise you to do.
What is most important to you? Bubbles? Hardness? Moisturizing qualities?
When you find that recipe that you love, hold onto it. Make it with only 1% superfat and grate it to use for laundry soap. Up the superfat to make it more moisturizing for winter. Add various scents and colors in different batches so that you have fun with holiday scents and learn new skills. Add herbs for your hair, skin problems, or even make jewelweed soap for poison ivy.
You don’t have to have a different recipe for each batch of soap that you make. I make a number of recipes, because different oils bring different properties to soap. Learn more about what oils do in soap here. But if I wasn’t selling soap in my shop, I’d probably use this recipe almost every time for my family.
It’s one of those “go to” recipes. I really like this recipe because it is simple, and it has always worked out great. It makes a wonderfully hard bar that lasts a very long time.
Remember, you can add whatever kinds of lovely extras to it like essential oils, flowers to the top, herbs blended in, or exfoliators like ground oats or coffee grains. Be creative and have fun. These additives will not change the basic oil, water, and lye amounts in the recipe.
For more information on soap making see 7 Steps to Homemade Soap for Beginners and the “Handmade Soap” tab in the Navigation menu at the top of the page.
Ingredients and Substitutions
Tallow:
Keep in mind that you can substitute vegetable shortening and lard for the Tallow if you like. Just make sure it is of high quality. A lot of vegetable shortening or lard that you buy in the store has extra ingredients to stabilize and preserve it. Those go into the soap and then your skin will absorb them.
Coconut Oil:
If you cannot use coconut because of a nut allergy, then feel free to substitute the coconut oil with babassu oil (Find some here). You don’t need to change anything else in the recipe because of this change.
Lye:
If you are searching for Lye, you can find some HERE. As long as it’s pure crystals, you don’t need to look for a label that says “food grade”. That doesn’t really make sense to me. It may cure olives at a seriously diluted consistency, but don’t go putting it near your skin!
If you’re looking for some lye locally, try a hardware store and look in the plumbing section. I’ve had a few mishaps with lye having rocks where I had to sift it, or even had my lye water turn neon blue from some crazy chemical they added. So find a brand that works.
Vegan Cold Process Soap
If you are a vegan or cannot get your hands on some good tallow, you cannot just replace the tallow with another oil. It will change everything in the recipe. Some substitutions are easy and a 1:1 change. Others will make the recipe too cleansing and drying to the skin, or make the recipe lye heavy and harsh on the skin. You can learn more about substituting oils in soap here.
If you need a vegan recipe, try one of these:
- 3 Spring Vegan Handmade Soap Recipes
- 2 Vegan Allergy Soap Recipes
Any of these can be changed as mentioned above. Change the essential oils used. Add some clay or herbs for color and medicinal needs.
Easy Cold Process Soap Recipe
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Cold Process Soap Recipe
A great tallow soap recipe that makes a great base soap.
Prep Time1 hour hr
Insulation Time1 day d
Cure Time21 days d
Type: Cold Process
Superfat %: 5%
Keyword: cold process soap, tallow soap
Makes: 3 pounds
Author: Kelly
Instructions
Combine tallow, olive oil, and coconut oil in a stainless steel pot and heat over medium heat until fully melted. Cool to 90 degrees Fahrenheit.
12 ounces tallow, 12 ounces Olive Oil, 8 ounces Coconut Oil
Wearing gloves, weigh lye into a disposable bag. Weigh water. Take both outside and wearing a mask, pour the lye into the water. Stir until dissolved and let cool to around 90 degrees Fahrenheit.
12 ounces water, 4.6 ounces Lye
Pour lye water into oils when both are the correct temperatures and mix with a hand or stick blender until it begins to thicken (reaches trace).
Add essential oils if desired and blend well.
1 ounce essential oil
Pour into a prepared 3lb mold (lined if necessary) and insulate for 24 hours.
Remove from the mold and cut. Allow to cure for 3-6 weeks to harden.
If you’d like to make shampoo bars, try onw of these recipes:
- Coconut Milk Shampoo Bar
- 4 Hair Type Shampoo Bar Recipes
- 7 Shampoo Bar Recipes
FAQs
You Can't Make Soap Without Lye
This not only allows the liquid and oils to mix (they don't do this naturally, as you might remember from grade school science class), but also creates the action by which soap has its cleansing properties.
What is the traditional cold process method of soap making? ›
Cold process soap making is the original, traditional method of making soap by combining fat or oil (animal or plant based) with sodium hydroxide lye then blending in addition of essential oils and colorants as required. This treatment causes a chemical reaction called saponification which takes up to 48 hours.
How to formulate a cold process soap recipe? ›
Another standard recipe is the 30/30/30/10. That's 30% olive oil, 30% coconut oil, 30% palm oil, and 10% of something special – rice bran oil, sweet almond oil, shea butter, or mango butter are all good options. The additional oils and butters each add a unique feeling to the recipe.
What is the best oil combination for cold process soap? ›
My favorite combinations with these ten Essential Oils are:
- Lemon & Litsea Cubeba.
- Lavender & Litsea Cubeba.
- Lavender & Any Citrus (Orange, Lemon, Lime, etc.)
- Lavender & Any Mint.
- Lavender & Rosemary.
- Rosemary & Lemon.
- Rosemary & Spearmint.
- Lime & Spearmint (aka "Mojito")
In this method, you're replacing lye with baking soda, both of which are alkalies. However, lye is much stronger than baking soda. Heating up baking soda in the oven turns it from sodium bicarbonate into sodium carbonate, making it a slightly stronger alkali that'll better replace the lye.
What happens if you don't use lye in soap? ›
NO, chemically-speaking, soap itself cannot be made without lye. Soap is made by blending oils (like olive oil or coconut oil), a liquid (water, goat's milk, etc.), and an alkali (lye). Lye is needed to convert oils into soap.
What makes cold process soap creamy? ›
The addition of Buttermilk Powder makes it very creamy and moisturizing.
What hardens cold process soap? ›
Sodium lactate in cold process soap
The main benefit is that it helps soap harden more quickly, which means you can unmold it more quickly. And because the bars are harder, they tend to last longer in the shower.
What makes cold process soap last longer? ›
Make Sure to Fully Cure
Making cold process soap takes patience. It needs time to sit in the mold to harden, which usually takes at least 2-3 days. Once unmolded and cut, the bars need to cure for about 4-6 weeks. During this time, excess water in the soap evaporates, which creates a firmer and longer lasting bar.
What is the cheapest oil for soap making? ›
When formulating your recipe, consider the cheaper soaping oils. Some of the most cost-effective soaping oils are canola, castor, coconut, olive oil (pomace), palm oil, rice bran oil and sunflower oil. These oils still make a great bar of soap.
Technically speaking, you cannot make soap without lye. Even most store-bought soaps have lye, albeit it is under clever names you might not recognize under the ingredient list. Lye itself doesn't have to be listed, but you'll notice things like sodium cocoate (coconut oil already reacted with lye).
How do you make old fashioned soap? ›
Here are couple of old fashioned soap recipes: A typical Southern recipe: “One half-box of concentrated lye, four pounds of grease, one pound of rosin, five gallons of water. Boil all together until the soap is made…then add a half pint of salt dissolved in a quart of water, boil a few minutes longer, and pour off.”
What oils increase lather in soap? ›
Things That Increase Soap Lather
- Coconut Oil - This is the number one soap making ingredient for creating lather with big, luxurious bubbles. ...
- Castor Oil - This is often used in a low percentage in soap recipes. ...
- Sunflower Oil - This oil helps to stabilize the lather so it doesn't disappear right away.
What Is the Purpose of Glycerin in Soap Products? Glycerin is used as a humectant in soap products. In other words, glycerin helps to ensure that your skin will maintain its own moisture in order to protect it from damage caused by dryness.
What can I use instead of jojoba oil in cold process soap? ›
If that jojoba oil is a bit out of your budget, you can swap it with meadowfoam oil or leave it out completely. In that case, you'd want to increase one of the soft oils like olive to make up the difference.
What is a substitute for lye? ›
That is by taking baking soda, spreading it out on a baking pan and putting it into the oven at about 250-300 degrees Fahrenheit for about an hour. That changes the chemical properties in the baking soda to make it behave more similarly to lye.
Is soap better with or without lye? ›
Using lye avoids the use of unnecessary synthetic chemicals larger companies may use that can cause skin irritation or allergies. Because lye creates soap with powerful natural cleansing properties, it makes for an amazing bar of handmade soap!
What is a substitute for potassium hydroxide? ›
Sodium Hydroxide (NaOH) and Potassium Hydroxide (KOH) are almost interchangeable. They are the most chemically similar of the hydroxides. They are both a white, strong alkaline, corrosive solid or powder. Sodium Hydroxide is more commonly known as lye or caustic soda where Potassium Hydroxide is known as potash.
