Homemade Olive Oil Soap
Our First Experiment with Homemade Soap Part 1
In the constant battle of budgeting, one is always looking for places to save money as well as potentially turn that savings into an income stream. We have selected the lowly household item, soap, as our next area to improve on. This was done for a number reasons;
Tips for acquiring basic ingredients
Lipids - Essentially any kind of oil or fat, true soap is made from animal fats but plant produced oils can produce a quality soap too. Technically any oil will do but the quality of your soap will suffer, most recipes call for higher grades of either palm or olive oil as the primary lipid. Other recipes also call for blends of oils.
Lye/Sodium Hydroxide - Our source of lye is a commercial strength drain/pipe cleaner and is in a powdered crystalline form. It is important to be sure the chemical actually is lye (not all drain cleaners are lye) and that the lye is pure/undiluted. Most home improvement stores carry lye priced around $4-6 lb for small quantities with a cheaper rate of $2-4 lb if purchased from a bulk chemical supplier. Another potential source to explore is the use of Potassium Hydroxide more on this in the future.
Extras - Anything else you would want to add from fragrances, colors, and abrasives. I have seen recipes calling for coffee grounds, oatmeal, honey, aloe, and just about every scent of plant extract imaginable. Your creativity is really the limit on this item.
Read: Olive Oil Soap Part 2 For Full Instructions
In the constant battle of budgeting, one is always looking for places to save money as well as potentially turn that savings into an income stream. We have selected the lowly household item, soap, as our next area to improve on. This was done for a number reasons;
- Soap is simple and used everyday. People have been making it for thousands of years, most recipes go like this - Lipids (Fat or Oil), Hydroxide Salts (Lye, Sodium Hydroxide, is most commonly used for its availability), Water, Extras (Anything else you want to add, fragrance, color, abrasives)
- Store markups on soap products are quite high when compared to the value of materials used to make it.
- A lucrative market currently exists on sites like Ebay and Etsy for speciality homemade soaps.
- Homemade soap is better for your skin.
Tips for acquiring basic ingredients
Lipids - Essentially any kind of oil or fat, true soap is made from animal fats but plant produced oils can produce a quality soap too. Technically any oil will do but the quality of your soap will suffer, most recipes call for higher grades of either palm or olive oil as the primary lipid. Other recipes also call for blends of oils.
Lye/Sodium Hydroxide - Our source of lye is a commercial strength drain/pipe cleaner and is in a powdered crystalline form. It is important to be sure the chemical actually is lye (not all drain cleaners are lye) and that the lye is pure/undiluted. Most home improvement stores carry lye priced around $4-6 lb for small quantities with a cheaper rate of $2-4 lb if purchased from a bulk chemical supplier. Another potential source to explore is the use of Potassium Hydroxide more on this in the future.
Extras - Anything else you would want to add from fragrances, colors, and abrasives. I have seen recipes calling for coffee grounds, oatmeal, honey, aloe, and just about every scent of plant extract imaginable. Your creativity is really the limit on this item.
Read: Olive Oil Soap Part 2 For Full Instructions
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