Made my own soap

[JR]

Winter is very boring here in Indiana, so I come up with some weird things to do. I made some old fashioned lye soap. I used plant oils instead of lard. Added some botanicals,chamomile,orange rind,eucalyptus. Yes.... I am that big of a dork.

[CoachG]

Well how well does it work?

[JR]

Works better than store bought. Rinses very clean,smells nice. Lathers very well. This will last my family for about a year. My wife makes the laundry soap ten gallons at a time, and I do the bar soap.

[G10+]

did you use sodium hydroxcide??
if so it works very well for chigers in the summer

[JR]

Yep lye AKA sodium hydroxide

[G10+]

I have used potassium  hydroxide but kinda strong lol   
I like home made soaps good a lot of things ....

[clovisoid]

Cool, we make our own butter every week but soap is hardcore!
My grandmother made soap and all kinds of things like that, she grew up doing it on the farm and kept at it into her 90's.

[JR]

We also make butter. Shake up the heavy cream in a big old jar till it balls up. We add a little salt to help it keep longer.

[painshill]

I don't think that's in the slighest bit "dorkish". Well... maybe the lavender.  :laugh: 
Had you thought about going native?
Native Americans used pulp from the drupe-fruits of Sapindus shrubs (also known as soapberry or soapnut) as a soap substitute for centuries… in both laundry and personal use.

They have detergent properties from the presence of saponin, which is a natural, non-toxic surfactant. They also have anti-inflammatory and anti-microbial properties that are helpful in treating eczema, psoriasis, lice and offer protection against some types of mosquito. Also a semi-effective spermicide, but I wouldn’t rely on that one.  :whistle:
Extracts are used in some natural skincare -and- beauty products these days.

[Paleolution]

I agree with painshill, what's so dorky about being creative, spending time doing something with your family, not spending a ton of money on toxic products, and using what mother nature has provided for us? lol, ok, so maybe I'm defending you as a fellow dork, but I think that's way cool.  Was it something that you learned from someone, or just took a few tries?

[kayakaddict]

Share your recipe?  Dorks unite!

[turkeytail]

Far from dork..Called self sufficient. 

[JR]

My wife found the recipe in a box she bought at a garage sale. It works great.for a full batch: 76 OZ of soybean oil, 48 OZ of olive oil,48 OZ of coconut oil, 56 OZ of purified water, 24 OZ of lye(sodium hydroxide),any botanical additives. Tools needed: large stainless steel pot, cooking thermometer,wooden spoon, safety goggles, hand held electric mixer, rubber gloves,vinegar.    Put on the gloves and goggles and keep vinegar near(neutralizes lye), heat all the oils to exactly 110 degrees. Slowly add lye to water in the pot. It will get very hot! Temp of lye and water mix must drop to 110 degrees. If temp of either is too high it will make greasy burnt soap.when both are at 110 mix the two together in the steel pot. Use the mixer to mix it up. When it gets to the consistency of very thick pudding it is ready to be poured out. You can pour it into a disposable container or build a simple wood box and cover the inside with butchers paper. Make sure you have either alot of containers or a very large one because a full batch is very big. Scrape it all out with the wood spoon. Wrap the containers with two layers of towels to hold in the heat and set it aside overnight. Next day, cut it into bars and set them in the open air for three weeks to cure. I would advise halving or quartering this recipe for your first try,as it makes alot of soap!  Oh, and if you want ,when you mix the two components together is when you can add botanicals and scents. IMPORTANT : if lye gets on you wash it off with vinegar immediately! It will burn you badly if you don't.

[kayakaddict]

Thanks, sounds easy enough.  A partial batch would be a nice project.  I've been into homebrewing and wine making for 10 years, raising chickens , major gardening and dabbled in cheese making, I appreciate homemade stuff.  I'm going to save this recipe and add this to my summer list.  Thanks again.

[JR]

I would love to learn to make cheese, my wife and I have been wanting to learn that for awhile now. We are waiting to plant our garden. I am also expanding our garden this year to grow more veggies for canning. Thinking about sweet corn this year. Got info on how to make cheese? Simple cheese first?