Start soap making
Mix oils with lye, pour it into a mold, and a few weeks later you have real, hard bars of soap you made yourself. Here's the video that hooks everyone, and everything you need for your first bars.
Space neededA counter with fresh air
First projectA loaf of plain bars
Skill levelCareful beginner
Good forGifts and patient makers
The video that hooks everyone
Soap with a swirl in every bar
Cold process soap made with a Taiwan circling swirl, a pattern that leaves the bar striped in purple, pink, green and white. Press play and see why it hooks people.
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Tool list
What you need to start
Everything you need for your first project, and nothing you don't.
Starter kit
01Goggles + long glovesLye burns skin and can blind you. Wear both, plus long sleeves, every time.
02Digital scaleSoap is made by weight, to the gram. Guessing isn't safe.
03Lye (sodium hydroxide)Pure lye from a soap supplier. Keep it sealed and up high.
04Distilled waterMixes cleanly with lye and keeps bars free of spots.
05Oils for a tested recipeA simple beginner recipe, checked with a lye calculator.
06Heat-safe pitcher marked 5For mixing the lye water. Stainless steel works too. Never aluminum.
07Stainless pot + thermometerHolds your oils. You'll check temperatures often.
08Stick blenderBrings oils and lye to trace in minutes instead of an hour.
09Silicone loaf moldThe batter sets in it, then you slice it into bars.
The manual tells you what to look for when you buy each one.
- 1Adding water to lyeAlways add lye to water, slowly. Never pour water onto lye: it can boil up and splash.
- 2Skipping the lye calculatorEvery recipe needs the right amount of lye for its oils. Run it through a lye calculator, even one you found online.
- 3Using bars too soonFresh soap needs 4 to 6 weeks to cure on a rack. It gets milder and harder, and it lasts longer.
