The chemistry of soap is so simple that anyone armed with the right knowledge can learn how to make soap at home. There are 2 main soap ingredients - a fat and an alkali - to which scent and color are often added.
The history of soap making
It is not clear when soap was first used for personal hygiene, because primitive soaps may have been deemed suitable only for cleaning or doing the laundry. It is known that the Romans began to use soap in the second century, although its adoption was slow, probably because of the number of public baths available throughout the empire. Instead the Romans bathed in perfumed oils and scraped their skin with a metal device called a strigil to remove both oil and dirt.
The fat used in soap making can be animal or vegetable and a very basic soap the alkali can be the ash left over by burning wood in the following way:
- Wash the ash with water and then strain
- Add the ash to the fat and boil
- Simmer to evaporate excess liquid and allow to cool
As you can see the process is extremely simple, although it should be said that this soap is not antiseptic and if you use too much ash, making the soap too alkaline, it will dry the skin making it sore.
When making soap at home the following ingredients are mixed together, a process commonly referred to as saponification:
- Lye (lye is the chemical sodium hydroxide, sometimes called "caustic soda")
- Animal and/or vegetable fat
- Water
There are several different ways to make soap, although one of the most popular methods is known as the cold press method. You do need to observe safety precautions when handling lye, which means that kids shouldn't be involved in unsupervised soap making.
One of the simplest recipes for homemade soap is known as castile soap, which when correctly made contains just olive oil and lye. You can find recipes for castile soap on the internet, but for full details on soap making, including insider tips, tricks and secrets as well as essential equipment and supplies you can click the link below.
Click here for more tips and expert advice on how to make soap, including soap recipes for you to make at home
