How to Make Soap - Soapmaking Guide for Beginners

[Prysm]

Soapmaking for Beginners

There are several reasons people may want to learn how to make soap. While some may choose to do so simply because it’s a fun and satisfying hobby, many people start making their own soaps so they can avoid undesired ingredients like fragrances and synthetic detergents. Most commercial “soaps” are not 100% soap- they are detergent based and have their natural glycerin removed and may be called beauty bars, cleansing bars, face bar, etc. Glycerin is a skin-loving ingredient, but it is removed from commercial soaps to increase shelf life and to sell separately commercially for lotion and skin care products. If you make your own soap, not only do you get to use the ingredients of your choice, but the glycerin in your soap remains. Some hobby soapmakers may decide to make soap so that they may use homegrown ingredients like lard or tallow, aloe vera gel, herbs, and liquids like goat’s or cow’s milk. Some will make their own soap to use all organic ingredients, or perhaps make vegan soaps. Making your own soap allows YOU to choose the ingredients that suit you and your lifestyle.

While everyone seems to know what soap is, it does have a scientific definition. In short, soap is the salt of a fatty acid. From a chemical standpoint, “salt” is not the substance you sprinkle on your food (although sodium chloride IS a salt). A salt is the substance formed by the interaction of an acid and a base. In soapmaking, the acid is a fatty acid (the oils chosen, like olive oil) combined with lye (usually sodium hydroxide). The reaction between them is called saponification. Saponification can be defined as the process taking place that converts those oils/fats by the lye dissolved in water to soap. While lye can be dangerous to use, and precautions must be taken to make soap safely, lye is needed for this process. If someone tells you that you can make soap without lye, that is not true. What IS true is that if the soap is made properly, there is no lye remaining in the soap at all due to this chemical reaction between the lye and oils. There is an entirely new substance created- soap!

Preparation (Collect all of your supplies)

• Nonreactive vessel to melt your oils on stove or microwave (HDPE #2 or PP #5 plastic or stainless steel).
• Nonreactive pitcher or container to mix lye into water (NOT PYREX OR GLASS!!!!)
• Nonreactive utensils like stainless spoons or silicone spoons to stir
• Protective gear like safety glasses, apron, rubber gloves, long sleeves
• Mold for your soap, (lined if needed with either freezer paper lining, quilter's mylar, plastic cutting mats or silicone fondant mats) or silicone molds. Silicone and other molds sold for soapmaking generally do not need to be lined. Follow the manufacturer’s instructions if using a commercial soap mold.
• Consider an immersion blender for stirring/mixing the soap batter as a time and labor saving device
• Soapmaking software. Because of the need for precise measurements for both the oils and lye, always run any recipe you find through a soap calculator. Each oil has a different saponification value and requires a different amount of lye; and especially if you are substituting one oil for another, you will always want to double check the lye amount. We recommend the simple, easy to use calculator at SoapmakingFriend.com.

Safety notes

Soapmaking really is a simple process. The details needs more attention.

• All ingredients, including liquids are always measured by weight. This ensures precision.
• Lye is a caustic, and should be handled with care. Safety googles and protective clothing should be used throughout the process. Also, lye mixed in water gets HOT fast. So always mix cold water or whatever liquid your using with the lye-never use hot or warm liquids. In general, you will use about 2 times the amount of water as lye, but can err on the side of caution with a 2.5:1 ratio- that is, use 2.5 times as much water, by weight, as lye.
• Even though this soapmaking technique is called ‘cold process’, the soap batter is hot. Have hot pads at the ready, and protection for your counters.
• Mixing the lye into the water is crucial. Always add lye to water, in a taller vessel than you think you need. Never, but ever, add water to lye- it will volcano on your and be dangerous. “Add lye to water, just like you oughter” will help you remember this.
• Measuring is critical. You need to measure carefully as to ensure you have the proper amount of fats and lye so that you don’t have a lye-heavy soap. The old “grandma’s lye soaps” that you’ve heard will “take the hide off of you” should remind you of this. Your scale should go to the hundredth of an ounce if using imperial measurements, and to the tenth of a gram if using metric. Measuring lye in grams is a great idea, as it is more precise but ounces will work if you have an accurate scale for small amounts.
• Use only fragrances or colors designed for soapmaking. Anything with alcohol (like perfume) will cause the soap to seize right away. Some fragrances, like those with vanilla scents, will turn the soap brown. Consult the manufacturer’s directions if you are using a fragrance or essential oil new to you.
• As was mentioned earlier, make sure you run ANY recipe through a soapmaking calculator, even one you may have made before. This avoids any possibility of a lye-heavy soap, or not using enough lye and having a ruined batch. This takes just a few minutes, less than 2 minutes usually, and is important for the safety of your batch.

Basic Steps

• Step 1: Gather equipment and ingredients
• Step 2: Measure lye and add to the measured (weighed) water
• Step 3: Weigh the oils, and melt the hard oils first. Add soft or liquid oils so all of your oils are combined
• Step 4: Add the lye water to the oils gradually, stirring.
• Step 5: Stir until you reach trace, when lifting your spoon across the soap batter leaves a line or a ‘trace’ behind.
• Step 6: Pour into prepared mold(s)
• Step 7: When cooled and firm, cut into bars and set on a rack to cure for 4-6 weeks.

Get Started!

Now that you have your equipment, a knowledge of the safety rules, and the basics, we need our recipe and ingredients. Our recipe comes from the ‘sample recipes’ on SoapmakingFriend.com.

We’ll be using ingredients that you can find at your local grocery or drug store, except for the lye. Lye is found online, or in hardware stores with the drain cleaners. Just make sure you have 100% sodium hydroxide, lye, with no other ingredients.

Each oil you use brings something different to the soap. Coconut oil is cleansing, and helps create great bubbles in the soap, but too much can be drying for those with a dry and/or sensitive skin-type. Olive oil is conditioning to the skin, but can make a soft soap that can feel a little slimy in too- large amounts. Lard is inexpensive and helps give the soap stable lather, conditioning to the skin, gentle, and helps make the soap hard. If you are wanting a vegetable oil only soap, you may use palm oil instead of lard, but run it through a soap calculator to double check the lye!

A typical soap recipe looks like this:

• 60% Lard
• 20% Coconut oil
• 20% Olive oil
• Superfat at 5% (Superfat is the amount of excess oil used to ensure that all of the lye is used up, so the soap is not lye heavy, and the excess fat is conditioning to the body) https://www.soapmakingfriend.com/recipes/60564.easy-3-oil-first-soap

The recipe looks like this after you enter those amounts:

You will notice that the recipe page gives you a lot of information about the make up of the oils, and the qualities including cleansing, hardness, bubbles, lather, etc. For now, seeing that your recipe is in the general recommended percentages of each of those properties is great. Once you get more experience, you can vary this by your preference as you learn to formulate your own recipes.

You can see that the amounts of the oils are calculated for us by entering our percentages. The recipe also calculates the lye amounts and water amounts as well, so we are ready to go!

The printed page gives us all we need:

There are check boxes to help you check off the ingredients as you use them, so be sure to do that as you don’t want to leave out any ingredients. You can measure in grams and/or ounces by looking at the amounts in the columns.

Steps to making your first batch

• Step 1 - Find your recipe, and run it through a soap calculator. Ensure you have all your ingredients handy, as once you start it goes pretty fast! Grab a pen so you can check off the ingredients as you go.
• Step 2- Put on your goggles and gloves, and carefully weigh the lye in a small plastic container. Set aside, and weigh your water in a large non-reactive, non-glass container (plastic is good for these items). Add the lye to the water, stirring well and avoid breathing the fumes. Try to do this in a well-ventilated area. It gets HOT fast. Use caution. Let sit to cool.
• Step 3- Weigh your fats/oils, and melt the hard ones over low heat. Once melted, add the rest of your oils. Do this in a heat-proof vessel- stainless is great, and plastic works too. Do NOT use aluminum!
• Step 4: Once both your lye solution and your oils are 120 degrees or less, add the lye water slowly to the oils, and stir well. You will want to fully mix the ingredients, and this takes quite a bit of time with hand stirring. The batter will begin to change, from oils with liquid to a smooth soap batter that will become opaque and look like a thin pudding. An immersion blender, with burst off and on as to not burn out the motor, will make this job much faster and easier. Keep the immersion blender under the surface of the soap, as to not whip air into it. Then stir with the blender off, to keep checking to see when you are at “trace”
• Step 5: When the soap batter reaches a trace (when you can move the spoon through the batter and see a line, or a ‘trace’ left behind), the batter is ready to pour. Trace can be a thin trace or medium trace, but pour before the soap batter gets too thick. Add your “add at trace” ingredients if using them (like color or fragrance) and pour into your prepared mold. Cover with a towel to maintain the temperature without allowing it to overheat. At this point, you can remove your safety gear. Wash your items before the soap sets up on them. Some people will use old rags or newspaper to wipe off the thickened soap batter and discard so it doesn’t go down the drain. Some don't wash out their soap-pot and soaping utensils until the next day when the soap batter in them/on them has turned to soap overnight and they are super easier to clean then.
• Step 6: Allow to sit until firm, usually about 24 hours but some will harden faster than others. You will want to cut your soap with a sharp knife when the soap feels like cheddar cheese when you press on it. If it’s too hard, it may crumble. If it’s too soft, you won’t be able to unmold it. Check it several times if necessary. Because this is a ‘cold process’ soap, that is, not cooked or heat applied, the saponification process is not finished when the soap is poured into the mold. The chemical reaction will continue while the soap is in the mold and will finish as the soap heats up a bit more, and cools. The soap may go through a ‘gel’ stage as well, and you may see that if you check the soap during that time. It will look clear in the middle, and go out to the ends as it finishes. Don’t worry- this is a normal process!
• Step 7: Once you cut the soap, place on a rack in a dry place and allow it to cure for 4-6 weeks. It will become milder and sudsier with curing.

That’s all there is to it! You’ve made soap.

As you gain experience, you may want to try different ingredients, fragrances, colors, and recipes. You are only limited by the ingredients available and your imagination.

 

[GreenDragon]

I prefer to add my colorants (Mica or clays) to the melted oil and stick blend a few seconds to disperse the color and break up any lumps (clays especially). Then I proceed - add lye etc. For a beginner, this can eliminate headaches if they wait too long to add their colors and the soap has progressed to a heavy trace, and you cannot get an even distribution. Just my personal preference.

 

[CatahoulaBubble]

I think you should add that a scale that has grams or ounces is important for weighing out the oils and lye and that you want to go by weight and not by volume.

 

[Kristus_Apollo]

An outstanding guide for beginners! A couple of suggestions to clarify for beginners that might be helpful:

• Define what "nonreactive" means for the beginner
• You might include pictures of non-common items for a beginner like an immersion blender or examples of soap molds
• I would change the font color to red and bold it for two of the bullet points under "Safety Notes" to emphasize the danger and caution needed for the bulleted points that start with:
  • "Lye is a caustic..."
  • "Mixing the lye into the water..."
• Maybe give an example of what kind of pitcher to use under the "Preparation" section for this bullet point since you've stated what not to use:
  • "Nonreactive pitcher or container to mix lye into water (NOT PYREX OR GLASS!!!!)"

 

[MissE]

I prefer to add my colorants (Mica or clays) to the melted oil and stick blend a few seconds to disperse the color and break up any lumps (clays especially). Then I proceed - add lye etc. For a beginner, this can eliminate headaches if they wait too long to add their colors and the soap has progressed to a heavy trace, and you cannot get an even distribution. Just my personal preference.

I think colorants so early will speed up trace and sometimes this too is hard for beginners to handle.

 

[Loralye]

Proofreading only

5th line needs to have an s added to bar so that it is consistent.

Instead of-sell separately commercially for lotion and skin care products - try sell separately for commercial lotion and skin care products.

change - perhaps make vegan soaps - perhaps to make vegan soaps

Under safety notes, change - on your and be dangerous - on you and be dangerous

slimy in too- large amounts - remove the dash or the extra space after it

are super easier to clean - try super easy or just easier to clean

 

[Garden Gives Me Joy]

I salute your work!

To extend @Kristus_Apollo's idea re images of implements, I think that images of abstract concepts (like trace) would be helpful. At minimum, they could be very short 2-3 second videos or GIFF files. For a complete novice, it would take the guess work out of things. If you need images of abstract concepts, perhaps you can ask members to submit images and we can vote on the most illustrative ones. If you do, just include style guidelines.

If possible, a demonstration video following these recipe and instructions in their entirety will likely help.

 

[RedSkies82]

I do see just a few errors in grammar and spelling. But mostly you should be clear that this is the “cold process” technique (even in your title) Maybe providing a link to a melt and pour technique might be helpful for those who for whatever don’t like to use lye in their soap. I have personally found melt and pour processes very easy to use but also as an introduction to cold process soaps.

Also maybe a little more thoroughness on how to add colorant (I agree with someone else about mixing mica together when it is hot to get the lumps out) but there are also color bars and even drops that could be used.

Finally- did I miss something on how to spray rubbing alcohol over the soaps once in their molds to pop any bubbles on the surface and kind of even it out? That is also a technique I like to employ.

Mark Ryan

 

[dschiavo]

In the collect your supplies section you may want to add a scale to weigh your ingredients (or something to that effect) and some means of measuring temperature since it is noted in instructions to make that the temp should be 120. Looks pretty good though!

 

[Donna Ohanian]

Great column! Lots of good info. I would add that soap makes great gifts. For soap molds, an empty cardboard chicken broth container is the perfect size, as are empty cardboard heavy cream containers. No need to buy expensive molds to get started. I would add something about avoiding inexpensive fragrance oils as they are usually blends and not pure oils.
I saw a “your” where you mean you are. Maybe it’s just me, but I would never wear gloves. I want my hands non-slippery when I mix the water into lye. I do wear glasses and I always do it outside, even if it’s 10 degreees out. No one should be breathing that chemical reaction inside their kitchen. I keep it away from pets up on a deck railing while it cools with an old candy thermometer keeping tabs on the temperature.

Great beginner explanation!

 

[Unlimabun]

First, @Prysm, this is a fabulous guide for beginners!

Second, I think there have been some great suggestions, so far. @Kristus_Apollo's suggestion of highlighting important information is fantastic! Safety can't be mentioned too much. I also love @Garden Gives Me Joy's suggestion of GIFs for what trace looks like, or other things that might be difficult for beginners to grasp. They are also great tools for visual learners.

Third, here are some of my suggestions:

Preparation (Collect all of your supplies)

• Nonreactive vessel to melt your oils on stove or microwave (HDPE #2 or PP #5 plastic or stainless steel).

I would also emphasize the dangers of using aluminum.

• Mold for your soap, (lined if needed with either freezer paper lining, quilter's mylar, plastic cutting mats or silicone fondant mats) or silicone molds...

I think it is important for beginners to know they don’t need to make huge investments to make soap. For example, they can make molds from recycled products like boxes, sturdy plastic containers, Pringles cans, etc. They can also make their own molds from foam board, or even cardboard. They can line the boxes, cardboard, and foamboard molds with strips of clear packing tape or freezer paper.

• As was mentioned earlier, make sure you run ANY recipe through a soapmaking calculator, even one you may have made before. This avoids any possibility of a lye-heavy soap, or not using enough lye and having a ruined batch. This takes just a few minutes, less than 2 minutes usually, and is important for the safety of your batch.

I think you are very wise to tell them to run ANY recipe through a soap calculator and I would consider including recipes found in books, or online, in addition to “one you may have made before”. There are some pretty wacked recipes out there that are really dangerous!

• Step 2: Measure lye and add to the measured (weighed) water

I would suggest also adding to stir until the lye is dissolved because it clumps up so easily.

• Step 2- Put on your goggles and gloves....(plastic is good for these items)...

I would emphasize again the types of plastic to use (HDPD#5, PP#5, etc,) because disposable plastic cups and other plastic will completely melt with lye water. They will also melt with fragrance and essential oils.

• Step 5: When the soap batter reaches a trace...At this point, you can remove your safety gear. Wash your items before the soap sets up on them. Some people will use old rags or newspaper to wipe off the thickened soap batter and discard so it doesn’t go down the drain....

I would NOT suggest removing gloves and long sleeves to clean raw soap batter.

I hope you find my suggestions helpful. Good luck with it all!

 

[ThinLizzie59]

I have a question, and recommendation, about this particular bulleted warning sentence….

"Nonreactive pitcher or container to mix lye into water (NOT PYREX OR GLASS!!!!)"

The question is Why?
Pyrex is tempered glass, specially designed to withstand the heat of a furnace or flame.
As a Chef, I’ve used pyrex ovenware on the BBQ, under the Broiler, and in the Oven.
It’s specifically created to withstand extreme temperatures without breaking. The large Pyrex mixing-bowls are equipped with handles. Incidentally, Brambleberry’s founder (and President) uses them when doing her “How-To Video” segments for You-Tube, and also recommends their use.
I think, personally, that this quote I’ve taken in-question is misleading and inaccurate. Would you like to respond? If not, I recommend the changes, to reflect this. With the First Warning to be:

* The Equipment MUST be kept specifically FOR SOAP PRODUCTION ONLY! Never use, or allow the interchange, of any hardware used in SOAP preparation, later, for FOOD production.
* Only the use of branded “PYREX” glass, or stainless-steel, or Silicone for the mixing of lye and oils in the soap-production process.

These are my recommendations. Does anyone agree or disagree?

Thank you, ThinLizzie

Great column! Lots of good info. I would add that soap makes great gifts. For soap molds, an empty cardboard chicken broth container is the perfect size, as are empty cardboard heavy cream containers. No need to buy expensive molds to get started. I would add something about avoiding inexpensive fragrance oils as they are usually blends and not pure oils.
I saw a “your” where you mean you are. Maybe it’s just me, but I would never wear gloves. I want my hands non-slippery when I mix the water into lye. I do wear glasses and I always do it outside, even if it’s 10 degreees out. No one should be breathing that chemical reaction inside their kitchen. I keep it away from pets up on a deck railing while it cools with an old candy thermometer keeping tabs on the temperature.

Great beginner explanation!

I use and highly recommend the use of surgical gloves, if you don’t like using rubber-gloves. Just ONE splash of lye-water will help you to understand why!
There’s a REASON why they use lye to dissolve dead bodies. It works FAST to dissolve flesh and bone to a ‘pourable liquid.’ And LYE burns like HELL!

 

[Consuela]

Wording/minor grammar but it's just my thoughts.

"Most commercial “soaps” are not 100% soap- they are detergent based and have their natural glycerin removed and may be called beauty bars, cleansing bars, face bar, etc. Glycerin is a skin-loving ingredient, but it is removed from commercial soaps to increase shelf life and to sell separately commercially for lotion and skin care products."
Most commercial "soaps" are not 100% soap. They are detergent based and have their natural glycerin removed. They may be called beauty bars, cleansing bars, face bars, etc. Glycerin is a skin-loving ingredient (insert brief blurb about humectant maybe?) but it is removed in commercial soap making to increase shelf life and is sold separately commercially for lotion and skin-care products.

"While lye can be dangerous to use, and precautions must be taken to make soap safely, lye is needed for this process. If someone tells you that you can make soap without lye, that is not true. What IS true is that if the soap is made properly, there is no lye remaining in the soap at all due to this chemical reaction between the lye and oils. There is an entirely new substance created- soap!
While lye can be dangerous to use and precautions must be taken to make soap safely, lye is needed for this process. (Took out comma after and)
If someone tells you that you can make soap without lye, it isn't true. (swap the that for it?)
What IS true, is that if soap is made properly than no lye remains at all in the soap due to the chemical reaction between the lye and the oils.There is an entirely new substance created: soap. (colon vs em dash?) (Also: don't know why all of a sudden if/than wants to correct to if/then.)

Preparation (Collect all of your supplies)

• Nonreactive vessel such as stainless steel stock pot to melt your oils on stove or microwave (HDPE #2 or PP #5 plastic). *Do not use aluminum. Aminum reacts with lye and will flake off into your soap over time
• Nonreactive pitcher or container to mix lye into water (NOT PYREX OR GLASS!!!!)
• Nonreactive utensils like stainless spoons or silicone spoons to stir *Do not use wooden utensils as the lye will degrade the lye over time and it can splinter off
• Protective gear like safety glasses, apron, rubber gloves, long sleeves
• Mold for your soap, (lined if needed with either freezer paper lining, quilter's mylar, plastic cutting mats or silicone fondant mats) or silicone molds. Silicone and other molds sold for soapmaking generally do not need to be lined. Follow the manufacturer’s instructions if using a commercial soap mold.
• Consider an immersion blender for stirring/mixing the soap batter as a time and labor-saving device *Sure, you don't need one but it makes soapmaking a lot easier.
• Soapmaking software. Because of the need for precise measurements for both the oils and lye, always run any recipe you find through a soap calculator. Each oil has a different saponification value and requires a different amount of lye to go through the chemical reaction and make soap. If you are substituting one oil for another you will always want to double check the amount of lye needed. We recommend the simple, easy-to-use calculator at SoapmakingFriend.com.
  
  (Silly grammar addon in my browser says to hyphenate double-check but I'm not sure it's necessary as there isn't a qualifying thingy (definitely the proper term I'm looking for) that follows the action.

If it was me I might even include a quick blurb that you can double check your recipes by hand with some simple math and a SAP chart, but this isn't necessarily the norm nor is it necessarily best practice for brand new soap makers without understanding the math and science behind it.
(I mean, I do all of my calculations by hand but that's because that's how I learned and it was outlined in the first soap-making book I was given. There was a whole chapter dedicated to it and math problems to solve. Because you know, grade 10 math wasn't traumatizing enough.)

Perhaps not necessary to go into massive details about HOW to do it, but just that it can be done. (For example: Olive oil has a SAP value of .135. To saponify 100g of Olive oil we would multiply 100 by .135 which means we need 13.5 grams of lye. However, this does not account for superfatting. To superfat at 5% we would take the 13.5g and multiply it by .95 to calculate the actual amount of lye needed. etc. etc.
I'm sure there's a more eloquent way to say this ^ if you wanted to include such things.

I mean, at the end of the day there are SO MANY facets to soap making, just how detailed and mind blowing do you want it to be? Maybe don't want to introduce anyone into the rabbit hole too soon, as too much information can be overwhelming. But seriously, there's just so much about soap making.

As mentioned above by someone else, I would mention that you can make your first batch of soap fairly inexpensively by repurposing materials/equipment that you might already have around the house, or thrifting. Etc. I believe the first soap book I learned from mentioned repurposing used margarine containers, tupperware, milk cartons, etc. At the time my first batch was made in a tupperware and my mother was severely offended.

K. I'm being beckoned now by my small humans ...

 

[KiwiMoose]

@Prysm - love your work!

 

[KiwiMoose]

* The Equipment MUST be kept specifically FOR SOAP PRODUCTION ONLY! Never use, or allow the interchange, of any hardware used in SOAP preparation, later, for FOOD production.

I disagree. Whilst I do have my own soap making containers and equipment, I have no qualms about using them with food, or vice versa, using my regular food equipment with soap occasionally. Everything has been washed, so what difference does it make?

 

[AliOop]

I agree with @KiwiMoose on that point. Of course, you should clean everything scrupulously after making anything, whether food or soap, but don't you do that anyway?

Other than not getting soap in your food (blech), what is the big concern about multi-use equipment? There is zero active lye after making soap and washing everything up. You use soap (or detergent) to wash everything, doncha?

 

[fish123]

Hi everyone,

Overall is very well written, but I also can not agree with:

"Nonreactive pitcher or container to mix lye into water (NOT PYREX OR GLASS!!!!)"
-
PYREX is tempered glass compound and can be used in oven at much higher temperatures. And glass (incl. Pyrex) is one of the most nonreactive surfaces we have ...except for hydrofluoric acid... I always use Pyrex pitchers for mixing lye and soap and and they look as new as before.
Better to add a note - "GRADUALLY stir lye into water". I actually use COLD BATH for Pyrex pitcher where I disolve lye to:
(a) prevent irritating fumes from hot lye and
(b) better control temp before mixing - I hate to wait the whole eternity until it gets cool enough to mix.

I also use soaping containers and stick blender (stainless steel full immersion length) without any hesitations for FOOD - lye and fresh soap is CAUSTIC, NOT TOXIC, normal basic soap is practically "food-grade" safe, the safest soap to wash the dishes, actually. SO why to be afraid of using same utensils??
Oh! and remember - pretzels are actually bathed in lye solution before backing to get that chick "Bretzel" look and special taste, so much for lye "toxicity"... if it is pure of course (but any other would not do good for soaping either).

One should be careful using some fragrances perhaps... But then again - if everything should be non-reactive (on which I totally agree), it will not pick up any of it either (here Pyrex is definitely better than plastic).

 

[ThinLizzie59]

Hi,

Just a real quick correction here:

(remove While, capitalize: Lye) can be dangerous to use(. period. Make this sentence short. It will stand-out in its importance, omit: and, capitalize: Precautions) must be taken to make soap safely(. No comma, instead use period, again, short sentence.
New sentence, capitalize: Lye) is needed for this process. (Took out comma after: and)
If someone tells you, that you can make soap without lye, (remove: it isn't true. Strengthen the validity of your statement. Something outright wrong, can be declared wrong. Use the truth, through knowledge of the facts, to remove all doubt) (..that is False!)

What IS true, is that if soap is made properly(,) than ( improper word selected. “than” is used when making a comparison, such as ‘less than or greater than. You should use: then..” referring to a result, or after the fact.)
..then, no lye remains at all in the soap(,)due to the chemical reaction between the lye and the oils.There is an entirely new substance

 

[Annem]

I prefer to add my colorants (Mica or clays) to the melted oil and stick blend a few seconds to disperse the color and break up any lumps (clays especially). Then I proceed - add lye etc. For a beginner, this can eliminate headaches if they wait too long to add their colors and the soap has progressed to a heavy trace, and you cannot get an even distribution. Just my personal preference.

Thank you for thinking of me. This will probably take me a while. I could have it finished by sometime tomorrow, if that's okay

Hi,

Just a real quick correction here:

(remove While, capitalize: Lye) can be dangerous to use(. period. Make this sentence short. It will stand-out in its importance, omit: and, capitalize: Precautions) must be taken to make soap safely(. No comma, instead use period, again, short sentence.
New sentence, capitalize: Lye) is needed for this process. (Took out comma after: and)
If someone tells you, that you can make soap without lye, (remove: it isn't true. Strengthen the validity of your statement. Something outright wrong, can be declared wrong. Use the truth, through knowledge of the facts, to remove all doubt) (..that is False!)

What IS true, is that if soap is made properly(,) than ( improper word selected. “than” is used when making a comparison, such as ‘less than or greater than. You should use: then..” referring to a result, or after the fact.)
..then, no lye remains at all in the soap(,)due to the chemical reaction between the lye and the oils.There is an entirely new substance

It looks like you already got somebody to proof it. Do you still want my help?

 

[ThinLizzie59]

I agree with @KiwiMoose on that point. Of course, you should clean everything scrupulously after making anything, whether food or soap, but don't you do that anyway?

Other than not getting soap in your food (blech), what is the big concern about multi-use equipment? There is zero active lye after making soap and washing everything up. You use soap (or detergent) to wash everything, doncha?

Raw LYE molecules can become trapped in microscopic cracks of any porous container or tools used during the soap-making process. These may then leech-out, into food during food-preparation. (such as stewing, or stirring) NEVER use once ‘soap-making tools’ or any equipment, which comes into direct contact with LYE, during the saponification process of mixing or blending SOAP.
Keep all soap-making equipment, completely SEPARATE from your food-preparation equipment.
A separate room or studio is preferable, by law, but few have that luxury. Proof of knowledge regarding the cross-contamination of LYE and FOOD is required for your License.