BEGINNER: A really good soap recipe for your first soap of your own!

This recipe is perfect for those of you who are new to soap making and the quantity is adapted to fit the FLOWER Silicone Mold 6 pcs.


If you want to make a loaf pan, these usually hold about 1500 g of soap batter, which is double the recipe below. You can find out the volume of your desired soap mold by filling your mold with water and then pouring into a measuring cup or weighing the amount of water to get an estimate.



Total weight of soap batter: approx. 750 g

PHASE %	INGREDIENT	AMOUNT
WATER & LYE
10%	Sodium hydroxide	75g
20%	Water	150g

OILS & FATS
21%	Coconut oil ECO	157g
49%	Extra virgin olive oil ECO	367g

ADDITIVES (FRAGRANCES, MICA & CLAY)
	* Essential oil or fragrance	9g
	Mica powder (optional)	1/2 tsp
	Sodium lactate

*The amount of water in this recipe is quite high which is good for beginners as the soap does not streak (thicken) as quickly. It is fine to reduce the amount of water to 140 g in this recipe. Lower water content will make your soap harden and dry faster.

DO THIS:

You need an accurate scale to weigh out the ingredients, and a hand blender to mix the soap.

Weigh the room-temperature coconut oil and olive oil into the container you will be making the soap in. The container should hold at least twice as much as the amount of soap batter, and it is an advantage if it is relatively tall and narrow, as you want to avoid mixing air into the batter. We usually use measuring jugs made of food-grade laboratory glass that can withstand the heat the lye develops.

Weigh out the additives (You can also skip the additives and make a completely “pure” bastille soap without purple mica, lavender flowers and fragrance).

Weigh the water into a heat-resistant beaker.

Weigh the lye in a chemical-resistant beaker (NOT METAL, stainless steel works well. Use gloves and safety glasses ).

Mix the lye solution by pouring the measured lye into the measured water. Stir thoroughly with a glass rod, for example. The lye develops strong heat (max 100°), avoid inhaling the fumes. Let the lye stand for a few minutes and stir from time to time, so that you are sure that all the lye has dissolved and that the lye cools down a little.

Now pour the hot lye solution over the oils and fats in the manufacturing container and stir with a glass rod or stainless steel tool. Let the heat of the lye melt the coconut oil completely. (You can also melt the coconut oil in the first step if you find it easier, it already melts at 25 degrees.)

When everything is melted, the mixture will have a temperature of 40-50°. Now place the mixing stick into the mixture and angle the mixing head to release any air trapped under the mixing head. You want to avoid mixing air into the batter, as air will show up as unsightly dots in your finished soap.

Mix with the mixing stick in short intervals. Stir occasionally with the mixer head without running the mixer, to ensure that the batter does not thicken (curl) too quickly.

When the batter starts to thicken a little, lift the mixing stick and let a little soapy batter drip from the stick onto the surface. If the batter leaves a trail on the surface for a few seconds, the batter has started to trail and is ready! If it drips down without leaving a trail, mix for a while longer, just don't forget to let the air out under the mixer head to avoid getting air in the batter. As soon as the batter starts to trail, stop mixing.

Now it's time to mix in the essential oil and stir thoroughly with, for example, a spatula. If you want a completely uncolored soap, pour the soap batter into the mold now. If you want to color the top, as in the picture, pour about 3/4 of the batter into the mold, and mix in the decadent plum Mica into the remaining batter and stir thoroughly. Then fill the mold with the colored batter, and top with some dried lavender flowers. Use a spatula to stir the lavender flowers a little into the top of the mold.

Now the soap will go through the gel phase and harden. It is advisable to wrap the mold with some insulating material, for example cover it with some baking paper and then a soft blanket, so that the heat that develops can take effect properly.

After about 24 hours, this soap is ready to be removed from the mold and cut into slices. If you have used lavender flowers on top, cut the soap upside down, so that the flowers do not make streaks in the soap when you cut.

Then store the soaps on a rack under an airy cloth, such as muslin cloth, in a dark and airy space for at least 4 weeks before use.

* Manufacturing container: We usually use 3-liter measuring jugs in laboratory glassware that can withstand the heat the lye develops.