How to Make Your Own Natural Soap

I was never a soap person. I’ve always loved my strongly scented sudsy body washes. I know you’re all with me! Doesn’t a body wash just feel like much more of a luxury? But do me a favor, and take five minutes to research sodium lauryl sulfate. I promise you it’ll make you question if you really want to keep using it. So many people ignore the ingredient on their bottles because, hey, it hasn’t hurt them so far right? I believe we have a duty to keep our bodies healthy though, and ignoring the problem doesn’t lead to a solution. “…If you use conventional cosmetics on a daily basis, you can absorb almost five pounds of chemicals and toxins into your body each year…”1. That’s a lot of toxins your liver has to filter!

So what was my alternative to all these chemicals? My lovely mother bought me an all natural goats milk soap bar to try, and I was hooked. A natural soap that felt just as fancy as my other washes, I had to have more. I searched frantically to buy more scents only to discover the bars were $6 each. Being the frugal navy wife that I am, I was a little disappointed to say the least. “Well, how hard can it be to make your own?” I thought. Scanning through page after page of soap making instructions, I came up with two options to make this amazing soap. I could either use lye and goat’s milk, or I could use a pre-made base. Lye is a very caustic substance that can be dangerous if it touches your skin or really most any other substances. All of it burns out of your soap in the process of making it so it’s not harmful once your soap is finished, but it was the in between time that concerned me. Not that I’m a scaredy cat, but I rent an apartment in the city, not a prime spot for using potentially hazardous chemicals. Also, goat’s milk, something that again was a problem from my city apartment. I wasn’t easily going to be able to pick up at the grocery store. So I did my research on a good base, and Bramble Berry came out on top.

Bramble Berry was the most cost efficient and had all these ingredients listed for me on the site so I knew exactly what I was getting. Something all natural, with no extra harmful additives. I just got a package from them this week with the soap base and a few other things I bought. They even sent me a free gift, a little bottle of soap scent (the pure honey scent is amazing)! A 1 pound bar of soap base costs only $3.30 plus shipping. The more you buy, the more cost effective it is. I can usually make about 8 bars of soap from 2 lbs of soap base (you may be able to make less or more depending on how big your molds are). Working out the cost of shipping plus 2 lbs of soap ($12.60) and dividing that by 8 bars of soap, each bar costs me approximately $1.57 to make. I do add essential oils into mine (to make it smell pretty) which you might say adds a few cents to the cost, but it’s a negligible amount. Not bad I’d say!

So you ready to make your own? All you need is molds, base, essential oils, and a little bit of time.

Step 1. Get a glass bowl large enough to fit your base in

Step 2. Melt your base in the microwave in 30 second intervals, stirring with a spatula in between. I recommend cutting your base into smaller cubes to make the melting process quicker.

Step 3. Add your favorite essential oil scents! I like peppermint/rosemary and lavendar/vanilla the most so far. I usually make 2 bars at a time and add about 10 drops of each essential oil, but keep sniffing and adjusting the amount of oils you put in until it reaches your preferred strength.

Step 4. Gently pour soap into your molds and wait for them to cool and harden. This usually takes about and hour or two.

Step 5. Revel in the thought of how crafty and frugal you are! You go girl!

Post your comments and pictures on how your soap turned out! Tell me if your find any fabulous new scent combinations! Until next time time,

The Navy Wife xoxo

1.Mercola, J. (2010, July 13). Sodium Lauryl Sulfate: Facts Versus Fairytales. Retrieved June 12, 2015, from http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2010/07/13/sodium-lauryl-sulfate.aspx