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Making your life greener - one bite at a time.

When making your own soap you can choose natural ingredients such as herbs and spices for colour, and essential oils such as lavender oil for perfume. You can also choose form a variety of oils for different purposes, such as olive oil, for a moisturizing soap.

You can buy high quality soaps in specialty stores and they are of excellent quality. They are usually packaged beautifully as well and make wonderful gifts. The down side of this is that they are very expensive, as you are paying for all that packaging, not just the soap. A better idea is to make high quality soaps at home and with the money you save you will be able to be creative in packaging them for friends as gifts if you wish to and still have money left over.

Most people will find all that they need to make soap is already in their kitchen.

You will need the following

A large container for mixing the soap made of enamel, glass, stainless steal or earthen ware

A wooden spoon just for soap making

Soap moulds. Can use wooden trays, shoe boxes and all shapes and sizes of small containers such as margarine containers.

Rubber gloves

Eye protection (you will find these at your local hardware)

Here is a couple of basic soap recipes that you can start with. Then get creative. Start adding ingredients. Add oatmeal for an exfoliating bar or lavender for acne prone skin. Every batch you make can be different from the last, or you may find a favorite you make again and again. We have two great recipes for "Home Made Soap"
Recipe number one makes a hard dry soap that is ideal for grating into flakes to use for making your own laundry powder.

Recipe number two makes a great body soap, as it is a little softer and oilier, and can even have some essentail oil added for fragrance.

- Low Allergy Soap - This is a hard dry soap ideal for grating into 'flakes'. Equipment Required:
A large container for mixing the soap made of enamel, glass, stainless steal or earthen ware

A wooden spoon just for soap making

Soap moulds. I have used wooden trays, shoe boxes, and all shapes and sizes of small containers such as margarine containers.

Rubber gloves

Eye protection

Ingredients:
500 grams of caustic soda

1 ½ litres of rain water (or distilled water)

3 kg rendered animal fat / organic coconut oil

With great care and wearing the rubber gloves and some eye protection, add the caustic soda to the water in a large (18 litre) container and stir until dissolved. There will be a chemical reaction with will cause the water and caustic soda to heat up. This liquid will not only get hot it will now be capable of burning you like an acid so be very careful. Set aside to cool till lukewarm. WARNING - Do not add water to caustic soda, you must add caustic soda to water - in that order. In another pot heat the fat until it is liquid, and add to the caustic solution. Stir for 5 minutes. Pour into shallow containers lines with cotton material. Keep in a warm place for 1 day. Cut into bars. Let the soap rest for 6 weeks before using. 

 "Body" Soap This is a soft 'moist' soap ideal as a general use soap in the kitchen, workshop,and bathroom. Equipment Required:
A large container for mixing the soap made of enamel, glass, stainless steal or earthen ware

A wooden spoon just for soap making

Soap moulds. I have used wooden trays, shoe boxes, and all shapes and sizes of small containers such as margarine containers.

Rubber gloves

Eye protection

Ingredients:
500 grams of caustic soda

1 ½ litres of rain water (or distilled water)

1.5 kg rendered animal fat / organic coconut oil 

1.5 kg of olive oil. (Please measure by weight.)

With great care and wearing the rubber gloves and some eye protection, add the caustic soda to the water in a large (18 litre) container and stir until dissolved. There will be a chemical reaction with will cause the water and caustic soda to heat up. This liquid will not only get hot it will now be capable of burning you like an acid so be very careful. Set aside to cool till lukewarm. WARNING - Do not add water to caustic soda, you must add caustic soda to water - in that order. In another pot heat the fat and olive oil until it is all liquid and add to the caustic solution. Stir for 5 minutes. At this stage you may add a small amount of essential oil to give the soap a fragrance. Pour into shallow containers lines with cotton material. Keep in a warm place for a day. Cut into bars. Let the soap rest for 6 weeks before using.