Making Soap Without Lye
Is making soap without lye possible? Yes and no.
You can easily make handmade soap without ever touching lye in it’s raw state.
When handled properly lye won’t hurt you and I’ll explain more about using lye safely later on, just in case you decide that you’d like to give cold process soap making a go.
But lets get started with making soap without lye.
Making Soap Doesn’t Have To Be Scary
Lavender Soap
Soap making is a lot of fun and you can produce some really nice soaps without ever going near lye.
There are 2 ways of making soap without lye. You can use the melt and pour method which uses a specialty soap base, or you can rebatch a regular bar of soap.
Both of these methods are great for soap crafting with children too.
Just to be clear, there is no such thing as soap making without lye. Lye is the ingredient that results in the saponification of the oils that are used to make soap.
These 2 methods just allow you to make soap safely, without coming into contact with lye in it’s raw state, as the melt and pour soap base and the ivory soap have already undergone the saponification process.
Full instructions for melt and pour soap making
A Basic Method Of Making Soap Without Lye
Re-purposing some Ivory soap is an easy way to create soap with handmade appeal. Add your own herbs and essential oils to create a unique bar.
Experiment with different decorative molds to make beautiful soaps to fit almost any occasion, without ever touching one bit of lye.
Safety first – even though you aren’t going to be handling lye, you are advised to wear an apron, gloves and safety goggles. Some essential oils are very powerful and can cause severe skin irritation.
You will need :
- 1/4 cup of water
- dried and crushed herbs (try chamomile and lavender)
- 2 cups shredded ivory soap
- your choice of essential oil (for fragrance)
- large bowl
- glass plate
- wooden spoon
- saucepan
Method
- Put ivory soap into the mixing bowl.
- Place herbs into the pan and cover with boiling water.
- Bring to a boil, stirring regularly.
- Add five or six drops of essential oil.
- Pour mixture over the shredded Ivory soap.
- Stir well to ensure an even distribution of the ingredients.
- Wait 20 minutes.
- Divide the mixture into several small balls or press into a soap making mold.
- When the soap is set turn it out onto the plate and leave to dry for three to four days in an cool area. The soap will take several weeks to fully cure.
I hope you enjoy this simple soap making method. As mentioned above there is no way of making natural soap without lye. If you would like to know how to use lye safely, so that you can progress to truly luxurious natural soap making, just follow this link lye for soap making.