How To Make Your Own Soap

This DIY soap making recipe is so easy to make, you won’t be able to stop at making just one.

Gone are the days of making soap the traditional ways, which were often too tricky for you average person to make. now thanks to varying DIY companies which produce a host of easy ingredients and recipes to help you make everything from perfumes, soaps, body scrubs, lip balms, lipstick and so much more, soap is now far easier to make.

This is the perfect way to spend a lazy afternoon.

The only question is, what sort of ingredients fo you need to make the soap. Well here’s the thing, you can actually melt down old soaps or use melt and pour soap which is purchased online. Depending how organised you are, if you haven’t had a chance to yet purchase anything online, you can grab some old soaps laying around the house and use those to melt together and create some delicious scented soaps.

And the best part – you probably have all the other ingredients you need to make some cool soaps, laying in wait around the house. Such as herbs, spices, an old cake tray and so much more.

Whether you want to make these for someone else, or make them for yourself, making soap is a creative and fun way to pass the timer, when you’re at home relaxing but feeling a like you want to potter around making things. You know, like soap.

What you’ll need:

• 450g melt and pour soap base
• Soap moulds, a cake tin lined with baking paper, or anything else you think would work for crating your soaps
• Half a teaspoon of essential oils of your choice
• Your choice of seeds, flowers, herbs, spices and salts

Just FYI, whatever tools you use to make the soap, it’s a good idea to keep them aside for when you may want to make soaps again, as you won’t want to be using them for any food prep.

If you don’t have spare to use for all of your soap creation and making, Kmart is a great place to head to for some cheap items to use for making soap. And they also have some great preparation tools make from silicone as well, which is excellent for making soap, as it makes it easier to remove the soap once it has set. And no, this post is not sponsored by Kmart LOL.

Here’s what you need to do:

1. Cut your soap base into 1.5cm cubes and place in a large, oven-safe glass bowl. Microwave the soap base for thirty seconds, then for intervals of fifteen seconds, making sure to stop in-between each burst of cooking in the microwave. Soap can burn easily, so make sure to keep an eye on it closely to ensure it’s not burning as you’re cooking.
2. If you want to make individual soap portions which are all decorated differently, like one with flowers, one with spices and maybe one with herbs, then once your soap is melted and you have stirred through your essential oils, separate into a variety of different smaller bowls. Or skip the essential oils and add them in after separating, for different scents. It’s entirely up to you.
3. If you have safe colourings to use for coloured soap (if you are melting clear or white soap), then you add these here for coloured soap also. Just make sure you purchase the right soap colouring agents, so it doesn’t colour your skin or create an allergic reaction.
4. Note: You need to work quickly as soap will begin to set almost right after it’s melting.
5. Once you have created your scents and what you want in them, it’s time to add the soap into moulds. Once you have poured them into the moulds you are using (if you are using a variety) or into one mould if only making one soap. Decorate the top with additional decorations such as flowers, seeds or even coffee beans.
6. Once it is set, remove the soap from the mould – normally it takes a few hours to set properly. Once it has been removed, it’s best to let it set overnight, before you opt to cut it into shapes or slices. Then you can either wrap if it’s for a gift, or put into an airtight container for storage and cut off as you need. If you have already cut the soap up and are now storing in a container, separate each piece with baking paper, so it doesn’t stick together and ruin.