“Homemade” soap is a project I’ve been doing for about 6 years and I make it almost annually. It’s overall a fairly easy, albeit messy, project and I love that the outcome is both useful for me and as gifts. That said, I call this soap “homemade” (note the quotes) because it’s really more that you’re adding scents, colors and shapes at home but not actually making homemade soap – that is a project a bit outside my scope of capabilities!
Quick project summary: For making soap, I personally prefer to keep it simple because I usually make large batches. That said, you can do a ton of really fun and creative infusions with soap if you feel so inclined. For starters, I typically buy either glycerin or shea butter soap in large blocks from Michael’s – it’s expensive so wait for the coupons!
From there, I actually use a soap kettle to melt the soap until it is fully liquid (I also got this on super sale and it was under 25 dollars and was well worth it for the amount of soap I’ve made over time). You could use just your regular pot on the stove, a slow cooker or a rice cooker to do this.
After the soap is fully liquid, I add scents and color (also both bought at Michael’s – my favorites scents are the sandalwood or lavender). From there, if I’m adding anything into the soap (for example, actual culinary lavender pieces or rose petals), I add them into the soap molds. And finally, I pour the soap over. For molds, I like either some of the special shape silicon molds that are sold for baked goods or chocolate making as well as using just a typical loaf pan.
About 12-16 hours later, I will pop the soap out of the molds or if in a loaf pan, pop them out and then slice the soap into individual bars. I then usually use the small treat bags and a tie (pictured above) to wrap and gift.
Things I loved about this project: As mentioned, this is pretty darn easy and also pretty simple to mass produce. We gave bars of soap in our wedding gift bags and to make over 200 bars, it only took one weekend. Additionally, the soap never goes bad or expires so you could make a bunch of soap to be a year supply for you or for gifts.
What I would do differently: I’ve seen some really awesome soap on Etsy or on other crafters’ blogs with beautiful patterns or with loofah included in the bar. If I was a more patient person, I would most definitely try this!
Things I also enjoyed while doing this project:
-Listening to the Hamilton mixtape
-Avoiding the summer heat by crafting inside
100 Little Projects 