Planning can save you time and materials.
Making soap at home requires two types of ingredients — an acid and a base. These chemically react together in what is called “saponification” and produce the soap along with glycerin as a byproduct. No commercial or homemade soap can be made without these two ingredients. The soap you make won’t kill germs, but it will certainly wash them away as well as any other bar soap you might buy..
Should you use lye to make soap at home?
Many DIY soap recipes call for using lye (the common name for sodium hydroxide) as the base. But lye can be hazardous to work with at home. “Lye is caustic not only when it touches skin, but the fumes it generates when mixed with water are caustic to your eyes and mucous membranes. So, you’ll need to work in a very well-ventilated area,” says Charmaine Rodriques, a former chemist in the GH Beauty Lab and current Regulatory Affairs Manager at Parfums Christian Dior.
If you do choose to make soap with lye, follow this recommendations:
- Appropriate ventilation is the most important thing to have before embarking on making soap from scratch.
- Personal protection gear, such as goggles, a mask and heat-resistant gloves are also “musts” according to Rodriques.
- Rodriques keeps raw materials in a locked cabinet in her basement, which also doubles as her soap-making laboratory.
How to make soap without lye:
We’ve come up with a simpler and safer method for making your own hand or bath soap at home without lye. For safety reasons, our Institute experts recommend following “melt and pour” soap-making recipes from reputable retailers. These recipes are easy and fun to make at home — even with kids — and you won’t have to deal with the potential dangers of working with lye or learn the chemistry of the saponification process.
Pro tip: When buying fragrance oil online, make sure it is cosmetic grade (or use one of your own favorite fragrances). We like the Made Safe certified essential oils by Radiance.