Homemade Soap Recipes

One of the best things about many homemade soap recipes is that once you get the hang of it and make your own soap, you'll immediately notice the difference in your skin and your bathroom.

There are no preservatives or harsh, skin-drying chemicals in homemade soap, so your skin immediately feels softer.


If the chemicals in store-bought soap can do that to your skin, imagine what it could potentially do to the rest of you. On top of this, once you've washed yourself, you rinse the soapy suds down the drain to end up as waste water. Those chemicals are being flushed into the water systems.


Below are some quick homemade soap recipes that are great for beginers using Cold Process. Other recipes that use this process are Homemade Castile Soap and Homemade Lye Soap.


The Melt and Pour soap recipes can be found here. And further down this page we have the form to submit your own soap making results and recipes.

Basic Soap Recipe - 'four oil' base soap.

The most basic soap recipe is made with simple ingredients to make a great creamy natural soap.

I've made this homemade soap recipe dozens of times and it holds good hardness and lathers up very well, on the whole its good old, fashioned four oil soap recipe, that makes a good base for any fragrant colorant or exfoliates you may wish to add.

• 6.5 oz coconut oil
• 6.5 oz palm oil
• 7.5oz olive oil
• 1 .3oz castor oil
• 8 oz water
• 3.1 oz of lye
• 2. oz of fragrance or essential oil,

Carefully weigh out ingredients and then follow our step by step cold process soap method

Beginners Six bar batch

This is another perfect homemade soap recipes for anyone that wants to make soap for the first time. It's based on oils that are economical and easily obtainable at grocery stores.

And because this is a small six bar batch it's easier to handle if you run into any problems and need to rebatch (re-melting) it. Plus it's also a perfect size for experimenting with and testing out those new textures and fragrances for the first time.

• 7.6 oz.(155ml) Olive Oil
• 7.6 oz.(210g) Lard
• 6.3 oz. (180g) Coconut Oil
• 2.5 oz.(70ml) Sunflower Oil
• 1.3 oz. (40ml) Castor Oil
• 3.6 oz. (90g) Lye
• 8 oz. (220ml) water
• 1.1 oz. essential oil

Carefully weigh out ingredients and then follow our step by step cold process soap method

 

Homemade Soap Recipe Tips

If you want To give your soap a pleasant fragrance, color or texture, why not try adding some of these great ingredients. Just add a little at a time once you have reached the "trace" stage until you're happy with the look and smell of your soap mix.

Natural coloring

• Brown..........use cocoa powder
• Salmon Pink....use cayenne pepper
• Yellow.........use turmeric
• Peach.... .....use paprika
• Beige..........use cinnamon powder
• Yellow/peach...use curry powder

Bear in mind, the color will look much darker and warmer when first added to the liquid soap mixture compared to after it has set. Take into account how fat changes from gold to white and try to imagine how your color might change in its appearance by fading or lighten up. Bottom line is, if you stumble on to something you like then make a note of it.

Using fragrance or essential oil

You will need between 1.5 to 4oz of fragrance or essential oil to each 8 pound batch of cold processed soap, dependent upon how scented you like your soap, and the strength of the oils used. Peppermint, rosemary, cinnamon, clove, spearmint and bitter almond are probably the strongest of all the essential oils.

Generally use 1-2 teaspoons per pound of soap.

Handy equivalents.

• 88 Drops...........1 Tsp
• 3 Teaspoons........1 Tablespoon
• 1 Tablespoon.......1/2 oz
• 2 Tablespoons......1 oz
• 16 Tablespoons.....1 Cup

Homemade Soap Recipe Textures

• Oatmeal is great for the skin and makes an excellent facial soap; different amounts of grinding will give different effects from course to mild.
• Cornmeal and poppy seeds will produce a good exfoliating soap.
• Tea tree oil is good for anyone that's suffering with acne.
• Geranium oil makes a great moisturising soap for dry skin
• Grated orange or lemon peel gives a wonderful aroma, appearance and texture.
• Almonds and finely ground walnut shells give a good look and feel
• Lavender Buds, Eucalyptus Leaves (ground or they may feel a little abrasive)
• Flower petals look lovely in soap; although most petals darken or become black they still give a really nice affect.
• How about slicing, shredding or grounding a loffah for a unique look and feel
• For a really good affect try Coconut Flakes - sprinkle some on top or incorporate in the soap.

Now click here for some more Homemade Soap Recipes

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We hope you enjoyed these homemade soap recipes. If you've tried to make your own soap or if you have other recipes you'd like to share with us, feel free to leave your recipe using the form below. We'd love to hear from you.