How to Make Soap Like a Pro

Ready to get sudsy?

Soap making is pure magic.

You mix oils, add lye, and boom—beautiful bars are born.

From melt-and-pour to cold process, there’s a method for everyone.

In this guide, we’re diving into the cold process. It’s creative, Customisable, and completely addictive. Let’s make soap from scratch—your skin will thank you.

How to Make Soap: Step-by-Step

Weigh Your Ingredients: Start by weighing each ingredient, including the base oils and fats you’ll use in your recipe.

Prepare Your Ingredients: Mix solid fats and add each ingredient to a bucket. Line or grease your moulds in advance to avoid a sticky mess later.

Weigh Your Additives: Measure out any additives, colourants, and essential oils that you’ll add to your soap later and set them aside.

Prepare the Lye Solution: Wear your goggles and rubber gloves, and weigh out the water in a separate bucket. Now, you’re ready to prepare the sodium hydroxide. In a well-ventilated area, slowly pour the sodium hydroxide into the water. Stir until the mixture is well blended. Don’t worry if it heats up—this is normal and part of the chemical reaction.

Monitor the Temperature: One essential step when learning how to make soap is to monitor the temperature of your fats and the lye solution. Once they reach the same temperature, around 60°C, pour the hot lye solution into the cold oils.

Blend the Mixture: Stir until the fats and oils dissolve entirely. Then, using a stick blender, mix everything until you reach a light trace. This is when the mixture begins to thicken.

Add Delicate Ingredients: Once the mixture has cooled slightly, add your herbs, colourants, and other delicate ingredients. Stir these in thoroughly.

Add Essential Oils: Now it’s time to add your essential oils. We leave these until the last minute because many essential oils have a flashpoint and can evaporate if added when the mixture is too hot.

Pour into Moulds: Pour your soap mixture into the prepared moulds. Cover the filled moulds with a blanket or plastic wrap and leave them undisturbed for 48 hours. This allows the soap to set correctly.

Unmould and Cut: After 48 hours, uncover the moulds and leave the soap to harden for up to seven days or until it’s firm enough to cut. If you don’t have a soap cutter, use a ruler and knife to mark the soap into bars. Once marked, cut the soap lengthwise and crosswise through the mould.

Cure the Soap: Lay the freshly cut soap bars on plain brown paper or wicker placemats in a well-ventilated area. Allow the soap to cure for at least six weeks, ensuring enough space around each bar for good ventilation. You can also rotate the bars occasionally to ensure even curing.

Enjoy Your Soap: Your soap bars are ready after the six-week curing period.

Enjoy the satisfaction of handmade soap that’s packed with your chosen ingredients.

If you want to learn how to make soap, check out my favourite homemade soap recipes.

To conclude. The naked truth

As you can see, learning how to make cold-process soap is straightforward once you get the hang of it.

The key is preparation—having all your equipment organised and following safety guidelines when working with lye.

Once you’ve gathered everything you need, you’re well on your way to creating beautiful, personalised bars of soap.

Give your bars enough time to cure, and you’ll soon enjoy your homemade creations!

Follow this link for more details on the safety equipment and materials needed for soap making. Then, get started on your soapy journey.

Follow this link to learn what safety equipment and materials you must purchase before you begin your soap-making journey.