1. Choose your location carefully.

- Your soap making area should be free of distractions, have an element (stove or
portable), be in close proximity to your oven, have access to water and have a large, flat
work surface.
2. Protect your area.
- Lay down a protective layer on your work surface. I use a vinyl table cloth. It's cheap, easy
to wipe clean so I can reuse it, and oils won't leak through.
- Put down a rubber backed carpet if your floor needs protection.

3. Assemble all equipment and ingredients.
- Set up all your soap making suppliesand ingredients in a manner that works for you.
- For this method of hot process soap making, you will need a crock pot in addition to your
regular soap making equipment.
4. Prepare soap molds.
- Line your soap molds with butchers paper.
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Step 2 - Measuring the Base Ingredients.
When you're first learning how to make soap, it's best to limit yourself to just a couple of
additives to begin with. As you become more familiar with making hot process soap, you
will be more confident about adding in other techniques.
All the steps in these soap making instructions are important but with this step it is crucial
that you pay particular attention to measuring accurately. Make sure you are familiar with
your weight scale before you start.
Inaccurate measurements can produce lye or oil heavy hot process soaps which you will
either have to re-work or throw out. Learning how to make soap is a lot more fun if you
don't have to throw it out!! Make sure you get a good scale....it's the best investment you
can make.
1. Measure additives and essential oils.
- Measure out any botanicals or colorant you will be using and place them in ramekins.
- Measure out any essential oils, extracts and/or nutrients that you are adding and place
them in small sealed jars.
2. Prepare the lye solution.
- Measure out your water and place it in the juice jug.
- Before using sodium hydroxide, put on your safety equipment; goggles, gloves and long
sleeve clothing.
- Measure out the lye and pour it slowly into the water stirring as you pour. Keep stirring
until the lye crystals are completely dissolved.
- You will notice fumes being produced while you are mixing the lye solution. I hold my
breath until the lye is dissolved and then leave the area for a few minutes until the fumes
disburse.
SPECIAL NOTE: Always add the sodium hydroxide (lye) to the water. NOT the water to the
sodium hydroxide. An unpleasant, violent reaction occurs if you do. Kind of like vinegar
and baking soda is my understanding.
3. Measure base oils.
- Starting with the solid oils, measure each and place it into your crock pot that is set on
low. As you continue to measure, the solid oils will melt.
- Once the solid oils have melted, add the liquid oils.
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Step 3 - Mixing the Oils and Lye.
This is the step where hot process and cold process soap making start to differ. There's no
need to cool the oils with hot process soap making...great for those who hate to wait!!!
1. Combine lye solution and oil mixture.
- Slowly pour a thin stream of the lye solution into the pot of oils while using the
whisk/stick blender to stir the mixture.
- Maintain a steady, strong stirring motion. Not so fast as to splash but fast enought to
keep the mixture in constant motion. The idea is to get the oil, lye and water molecules to
meet and combine to make soap. If you're using a stick blender, pulse for a few seconds
then stir for a few seconds. Repeat.
- Make sure to stir thoroughly all areas of the pot. The mixture will turn creamy and
opaque and then will begin to thicken.
2. Stir mixture until it begins to trace.
- Keep stirring until the mixture reaches a thick trace.
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Step 4 - Cooking the Soap.
Once the soap reaches a full trace, it's time to cook the mixture and force the gel. Below
are some photos to show you what the different stages of the process look like.
1. The Cook.
- Put the lid on the crock pot and leave it to cook on low for awhile.
- The soap will heat up and start to bubble around the edges of the crock pot.
- Keep an eye on the soap and stir it down gently only if it starts to bubble over.
- The mix will begin to take on a clear vaseline like look. Once the whole mix has this look,
you can test it to see if it is done. Take a small sample of the soap and rub it between your
fingers. It should have a waxy feel. Test the soap by touching it to your tongue. Keep
cooking....if it 'zaps' like a nine volt battery, it's not done.





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Step 5 - Additives and Pouring Soap.
Now is the time to add color, botanicals and scent to your hot process soap mixture.
1. Incorporating additives.
- Mix in any botanicals and extracts.
- Mica and oxides can be mixed with up to 1 Tbsp. per pound of warm glycerin or warm
oil. This will help to make the colourant easier to blend in.
- Once the soap has cooled a bit, you can add the essential oils. Make sure to cool the
soap to a temperature below the essential oils flash point. Flash point is the temperature
that the oil will ignite and vaporize.
- You will have to work quickly while mixing since the soap may become to cool to place in
the mold.
2. Molding the soap.
- Hot process soap is a lot like rebatching when it comes to molding. It doesn't pour. It is a
thick goopy mass (like mashed potatoes) that must be scooped into the mold quickly. Make
sure to tap the mold on the counter to get out any air pockets.
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Step 6 - Cutting and Curing.
Once your soap has reached room temperature it can be unmolded.
1. Unmolding.
- Remove the soap from the mold and take off the butchers paper. If you did not use a
lined mold, you may find it easier to remove the soap by placing it in the freezer for awhile.
2. Cutting.

- You can cut the soap into bars right away.
- I use a soap cutter that requires you to push the soap block through a thin wire. This tool
makes cutting soap blocks a dream. The building plans for this cutter can be found in
Catherine Failors book "Transparent Soapmaking".
3. Curing.
- Once you have cut the soap into bars, they should be cured for a few weeks. The longer
the cure, the milder the soap.
- There is some debate as to how soon hot process soap can be used. My feelings are that
the cure time should be as long as with cold process (around 4 weeks) while others have
said it's ready to go immediately. Since I haven't seen any scientific documentation showing
this to be so, I've decided to stick with the longer cure. Though I will admit to having tested
soap on many occasions long before it's cure is complete...I'm just impatient that way.
- Place the soaps in a single layer on a beer flat or tray lined with paper towel. Turn them
regularily so that all sides are exposed to the air.
4. You're Done!
- Now that you have learned how to make hot process soap, it's time to plan the next
batch!!


1. If you are using a pure fat, such as coconut oil or olive oil, you can skip to step 5. Coconut oil yields a soft, quick-lathering
soap. Olive oil and other vegetable cooking oils yield a soft soap that never completely hardens.
2. Render the tallow by cutting it into chunks, placing it into the large pot, covering it, and heating on medium heat until it is
melted. Stir occassionally.
3. Cool the fat to below the boiling point of water. Add a volume of water equal to that of the fat. Bring the mixture to a boil.
Cover and remove from heat. Let sit overnight.
4. Remove the fat from the pot. Discard non-fat gunk (scrape it off of the bottom of the fat) and any liquid.
5. Measure 2.75 kg rendered fat. Cut the fat into tennis-ball size chunks and place the pieces into a large bowl.
6. Set up all of your materials. Ventilate the area (or work outside), put on safety gear, and open all containers.
7. Make soap :-) Pour the water into a large glass or ceramic bowl (not metal). Carefully pour the lye into the bowl and mix
the water and lye with the wooden spoon.
8. The reaction between water and lye gives off heat (is exothermic) and vapors that you should avoid breathing. The spoon
will be somewhat degraded by the lye.
9. Once the lye is dissolved by the water, start adding the chunks of fat, a bit at a time. Keep stirring until the fat is melted. If
necessary, add heat (put on a low burner with ventilation).
10. Stir in the lemon juice and fragrance oil (optional). Once the soap is well-mixed, pour it into molds. If you use glass baking
dishes for molds, you can cut the soap into bars after it has become firmer (not hard).
11. The soap will harden in approximately an hour.
12. You may wrap the finished soap in clean cotton rags. It can be stored for 3-6 months in a cool, well-ventilated location.
13. Wear gloves when washing your equipment, as their may be some unreacted lye remaining. Wash in very hot water to help
melt away the residue.
Tips:
1. Adult supervision required! Wear gloves and protective eyewear and cover exposed skin to avoid accidental exposure to
the lye. Keep out of reach of children!
2. If you get lye on your skin, immediately wash it with lots of cold water. Read the cautions on the container before opening
the lye.
3. Don't measure the lye. Instead, adjust the soap recipe to accomodate the container size of the lye.
4. Cooking oils are sensitive to air and light, and soap made from cooking oils will spoil in a few weeks unless it is
refrigerated.
5. Volatile fragrance oils or even dried herbs or spices may be added to the soap to scent it. Fragrance is optional.
What You Need:
4 kg (9 lb) suet (tallow)
350 g (12 oz) lye
750 ml (3 C) water
500 ml (2 C) lemon juice
7.5 ml (.25 oz) fragrance
gloves
wooden spoon
ventilated work area
molds/glass baking dishes


Overview:
Make soap from lard.
Equipment:
1. Lard or some sort of fat.
2. 6N Sodium Hydrozide (NaOH)
3. NaCl / table salt
4. Ethanol - alcohol
5. Glass beaker and stirring rod.
6. Bunsen burner or other means of heating solution.
7. Mold for making soap bars.
Safety:
Gloves, labcoat and appropriate eyeware should be worn when handling the 6N
NaOH. It should be used in a well-ventilated area, preferably in a fume hood. DO
NOT BREATHE THE FUMES. Wash with vinegar should you get some on your skin
(have some vinegar handy before starting the experiment) - DO NOT wash with
water! (Thank you, Erick)
How to do the experiment:
1.Place 10 grams of lard (or any other fat, such as oil or butter) in a beaker
2.SLOWLY AND CAREFULLY (have an adult do this...this stuff is dangerous) add
15mL of 6N sodium hydroxide
3.Add 50mL of ethyl alcohol
4. Gently heat this mixture under low heat, stirring with a glass stirring rod until the
base has completely reacted with the lard (about 20 to 30 minutes)
5.After all of the base has reacted, add 20mL of water and stir
6.Cool the mixture. Add 12g of sodium chloride (table salt) to 50mL of water. Pour
the cooled mixture of base and lard into the NaCl mixture (not the other way around)
7. Let this new mixture cool completely. The solid cake that forms is the soap (whats
left, if you do it out chemically, is glycerol)
Explanation:
From MadSci File 851500145.Ch:
Re: Information on soap
Area: Chemistry
Posted By: Samuel Conway, Senior Staff Chemist, Avid Therapeutics,Philadelphia,
PA
Date: Tue Jan 14 18:30:32 1997
Message ID: 851500145.Ch
"Soap" is nothing more than the sodium salt of a long chain fatty acid:
CH3-(CH2)n-COONa
^^^^^^ ^^^
'fatty part' 'water soluble' end
The idea behind it is that the hydrocarbon ("fatty") portion dissolves dirt and oils,
while the ionic end makes it soluble in water. Thus, it allows water to remove
normally-insoluble matter.
I can't say that I am an expert on its history; however, if you are old enough to
remember "The Beverley Hillbillies", Granny was always cooking "lye soap" by the
ce-ment pond. She would boil lye (sodium hydroxide) and lard (animal fat) in a big
pot. The mushy mass left behind, when dry, would congeal into soap which Jethro
said would "take off the dirt and a little bit of skin, too." That was probably because
Granny did not understand stoichiometry and put too much lye in it.

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