Make Your Own Soap Without Lye (You’ll See What I Mean)
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If you've always wanted to make soap but are worried about working with lye, here's your answer. This homemade lye-free soap is truly the “I'm scared to work with lye” version of How to Make Homemade Soap.
Homemade soap is great for many reasons, but it can be a bit daunting to make. One of the reasons is the need to work with lye. It's definitely not something you want to be working with when you have little ones running around.
Thankfully there's an answer for that and I'm sure you'll be surprised at how easy it is and how gorgeous the results can be.
I Was a Lye Scaredy Cat
For years, I've wanted to make my own soap, but I've never done it.
I've drooled over others' homemade soap creations and felt deficient in my thriftiness, craftiness, and domestic skills, simply because I'd never. made. soap.
I have fond memories of a dear friend in the Chicago area who made HUGE batches of olive oil soap that was TO DIE FOR. She had enough money to buy whatever soap she wanted, but she just LOVED making soap and well, her soap was skin nourishing gorgeous.
She gifted me this soap when I was pregnant with our first child, but I wrote off making it because no way was I going to use lye in a kitchen where I'd have to time things so I didn't have a busy and inquisitive infant or toddler underfoot.
So I basically gave up all the soap-making dreams, and they never really came to be.
I even found the very book that my friend's soap recipe came from at a second hand store (and bought it), but I STILL never made soap.
So when a friend approached me about sharing a recipe for melt and pour soap that was easily made into “homemade soap” style, I was thrilled.
I assumed many other busy “lye scaredy cat” moms would love the chance to be crafty without being around something that might be a problem for their children's safety.
Lye-free Soap. Is It Possible?
Would you like to create an all natural product, free of harsh chemicals, that radiates your personality and taste? Consider hand-milled soap!
Also known as melt and pour soap, this method allows you to forgo the hazards of working with caustic lye, while enjoying the creativity of soap making.
This is why the title of the post includes the words “you'll see what I mean.” The lye work has been done for you already in making the melt and pour soap base.
Why You'll Love This Soap
There are simply so many reasons to love this soap. Let's count the ways, shall we?
No Toxic Additives
So many soaps on the market are loaded with artificial colors, artificial fragrances, and preservatives. If you make your own melt-and-pour soaps, you can use quality ingredients without the toxins.
Saves Lots of Money
Of course, if you make your own melt and pour soap, you will save a bunch of money over store-bought fancy soaps. With all the great melt-and-pour bases, you can make exquisite soaps to rival any “artisan” type of homemade soap.
Avoids Allergens
More and more people have sensitivities these days. Making your own soap allows you to customize ingredients to your needs.
Directions
Grate the soap base.
Add oil to soap, if desired.
Heat on low setting in a double boiler or crock pot. Stir frequently.
When liquefied, remove from heat.
Add desired ingredients.
Stir to desired consistency. Pour (or spoon) the soap mixture into molds. I placed some dried rose petals on the bottom of this flower mold.
Cool and remove from the mold. Cut into desired sizes and shapes using a soap cutter or a food scraper/shovel if needed.
Allow soap to dry.
Important Ingredient Information
1. Soap Bases, Including One That Really Stands Out
First of all, look for soap that is free of chemicals and fragrances. The simpler the better when it comes to hand milling. White or cream-colored work best.
Some of the more trusted online sources include:
- Brambleberry
- Bulk Apothecary
- Amazon
Here are some options for melt-and-pour soap bases with my favorite highlighted at the end.
- Goat's Milk Soap Base – this is a pretty nice base
- Glycerin Soap Base – makes a traditional clear melt-and-pour soap
- Cocoa Butter Soap Base
- Shea Butter Soap Base – this one seems to perform very well and has great reviews and the ingredients are really clean for a melt-and-pour base. If you want an artisan-type soap that's easy to make, this is a great way to go.
Shea Butter - 2 Pound Melt and Pour Soap Base
This Shea Butter Melt and Pour Soap Base is one of the cleanest soap bases out there. Plus it helps you create soaps that look very close to artisan soaps -- all without handling lye!
It's made from 5% refined shea butter, and is soy free, lathers well and is made in the USA.
2. Molds
A simple bread loaf pan will work depending on how much soap you're melting. Line the mold with parchment paper for easy removal.
Silicone molds work really well too. These come in fun shapes and sizes like this flower mold (similar to the one used for the soaps in this post).
Note that you'll need parchment paper if you choose the bread mold pan option.
3. Herbs and Plants
Do you love lavender? Dried lavender or fresh lavender makes a perfect addition.
Roses? Dried rose petals or even fresh rose petals work beautifully.
Plant powders can add not only skin benefits but double as natural colorants. Turmeric, for example, turns the soap a lovely orange while adding nourishing anti-inflammatory qualities. Spirulina powder makes a lovely green. Beet powder adds a nice pink color.
4. Pure Fragrances
Forgo the petroleum-based fragrances and add scent using 100% natural essential oils. Essential oils carry through the hand milling process quite well – so pick a scent you enjoy and have fun!
Herb/essential oil combinations that work well include:
- Thyme Oil with turmeric powder
- Plumeria Oil with dried lavender
- Peppermint Oil with activated charcoal for a deep cleansing experience.
How Much Essential Oil Should You Add to Soap?
How much essential oils you use in homemade soap depends on several things including how strong of a scent you would like, and the oil you are using.
For a strong scent, 0.7 ounces of essential oil per pound of cold process soap is a good amount. For melt and pour, you can typically add 0.3 ounces per pound.
Cold process soap is more of a harsh process and there are a number of chemical changes that occur when making the soap, so you can use more oils.
To avoid skin irritation it's important to not use too much of an essential oil in your soap. This fragrance calculator can help you choose the right amount of essential oils to use.
5. Liquids
You'll need to add a slight amount of liquid to keep the soap from burning during the melting process. While water works fine, possible liquids that add some nice benefits and make your soap special include coffee, green tea, kombucha, infused herbs, coconut milk, and floral hydrosol.
6. Fun Add-Ins
Besides things like herbs and plants, there are so many other fun add-ins. The sky is truly the limit!
How about:
- coffee beans
- cacao nibs
- coffee grounds—smell great and are great for exfoliating too
- citrus peels
- seeds (chia, poppy, apricot, flax)
- matcha powder—adds a lovely green color
- Himalayan salt—adds a nice pink hue
- tea leaves
Ingredients
- 8 ounces Natural Soap Base
- Molds (I love these flower molds, circular molds, or these simple bar molds)
- Herbs or flowers (like these lavender flowers), rose petals
- .15 ounces Essential Oils (about 90 drops)
- Parchment Paper (depending on what mold you use)
- Grater (a cheese grater, salad shooter, or food processor are good choices)
- 1/2 teaspoon oil (optional)
Instructions
- Grate 8 ounces of the soap base (two regular size bars.) A cheese grater works well, as does a salad shooter. A food processor also works.
- Add the oil, if desired, to thin the soap.
- Heat on low in a double boiler or crock pot. You can also place in oven-safe pot and heat in the oven at lowest setting. Stir frequently to avoid burning. This can take anywhere from 15 minutes to an hour.
- When soap is liquefied, remove from heat. It will be somewhat lumpy and translucent.
- Add desired ingredients.(For the main photos here, I used Pink Himalayan salt and dried rose petals from my daughter's wedding. I added Rose Geranium essential oil which created a lovely rose scent.)
- Stir to desired consistency. Pour (or spoon) soap mixture into molds. I placed some dried rose petals on the bottom of this flower mold.
- Cool the soap and remove from mold (place mold into freezer for up to 1 hour to make this easier). Cut into desired sizes and shapes using a soap cutter or a food scraper/shovel.
- Allow soap to dry for several days or more.
- Dry the soap thoroughly between uses to extend its life.
More Easy DIY Personal Care Products You'll Love
How about trying out the following DIY Personal Care Products too? These are great ways to take more steps towards clean living.
- Nourishing Sugar Scrub
- Homemade Lip Scrub – your lips will love this!
- Homemade Moisturizing Foaming Soap– a super frugal alternative to store-bought foaming soap
- Homemade Body Wash – smells and works great
I'd love to hear how this goes for you!
Andrea is a former journalist and the mother of nine children ranging in age from 28 to 12. Following a toxic mold exposure, Andrea and her family discovered the wonders of natural living. Andrea is the founder and president of momsAWARE, an educational organization designed to empower others to live healthy in a toxic world. You can follow her family’s journey at It Takes Time.
Hi there, Andrea. Another vote here for you to change the misleading title of this blog post. If it hadn’t been so blatantly misleading I probably would have been more drawn to look at your other posts. I know you probably get a lot of hits this way, but you’re not coming by them honestly. I think a post title that talks about re-batching soap or re-purposing soap using molds or something like that would give the true flavor of this post’s content much better. All the best.
Hi Laila – I am sorry that you feel that way. I really don’t get a lot of hits on this post, but I did want it to be something that would interest people. I think that the title on the post –“Well – you’ll see what I mean” — sufficiently lets folks know that there is something more to the story.
There are other blogs and even a very well-respected site doing a similar thing, but it you’ll note, Livestrong doesn’t even have a hint of a disclaimer in its title.
I hope you’ll reconsider and come back. I do not try to mislead my readers at all.
https://www.livestrong.com/article/171209-how-to-make-natural-soap-without-lye/
https://thenerdyfarmwife.com/making-soap-without-lye/
https://www.countryfarm-lifestyles.com/soap-recipes.html#.VVnl9dNVhBc
Thanks much and I would love to hear what you think.
You are misleading. The lay is in the melt and pour but you are not making the melt and pour. You can’t make soap without lye. Lye is all natural. It is made from ash. You should add it in your post stating that melt and pour has lye if not you are lying.
Hi there, Holly. This isn’t about lying (I guess I should say no pun intended), but it’s about making a homemade soap without having to work with lye. I hope that clarifies :).
How many bars of soap does this make? And will this recipe fill a 9″x13″ pan?
Melanie,
I usually do 4 bars or more at once, but if you use 2 bars it will make 2 small bars. It might take 6 bars to use a 9X13 pan. Lots of trial and error, but fortunately you can’t go too wrong with melting and re-molding soap.
Lye is a chemical that can burn you if you get it on your skin. But it doesn’t have to be scary. It’s like using fire. Respect it and it can be a useful tool. Use gloves, long sleeves and eye protection while handing. Use ventilation while mixing with water. If you get some on you, white vinegar will cancel the chemical reaction. Making soap from scratch requires lye, period. Rebatching and melt and pour doesnt. Craft at your own comfort level but don’t be afraid to try new things.
Thanks – I, for one, am motivated to try it.
Melt and pour soap is soap. Soap is made with lye, except in this case, someone else handled the lye. It’s a myth that lye will burn or hurt you if you get it on you. In fact, bleach and ammonia are just as dangerous and you’ve probably touched both in the past week while cleaning the bathroom or kitchen floor. I’ve gotten lye on my skin and the worst it did is itch for a little while until I rinsed it off. Everyone! Lye is not that scary, I promise! Sure, you wouldn’t want to drink it or dump it on a baby or a pet, but that goes for any cleaning product.
So why all the caution about working with it? I have been nervous about it for a long time.
Dscully, what the h…eck kind of lye were you using, that you were able to “rinse it off”? That is a WICKEDLY dangerous thing to be saying where people might see it and take it at face value.
Lye is incredibly corrosive and it IS a dangerous chemical to work with… if you’re careless or don’t know what you’re doing. It doesn’t burn your skin on its own, true… but if you get any part if your skin wet, and the lye comes into contact with it… You’re going to be hurting. I once had to go to the hospital for silver nitrate treatment due to a patch of lye from soap-making on the back of my hand that got wet. It burned through three layers of skin like a hot iron. There’s a reason labs and places that use it post huge “USE EYE PROTECTION” signs; that’s no joke.
Now, if it’s correctly handled/stored/disposed of, it’s not really more dangerous than any other corrosive chemical, but God. Care should be taken! Adrienne, you shouldn’t be afraid to try it, just use caution and common sense. Like everything!
That’s why they use lye in DRAIN CLEANERS. Mixed with water, it DISSOLVES THINGS.
Thanks, Erik. I need to give it a try!
I make my own soap, with lye, and have never had a chemical burn. Because I treat it with the respect it deserves and follow safety measures. But another thing you must watch out for is the fumes it gives off when water is added…it is VERY irritating to the lungs. You must have proper ventilation and keep your face away from the fumes. Also the lye heats up the water to a very high temperature, very quickly, that can scald you. So you dont want to be splashing any of that on you either. .
Thank you for the tips. I so want to make this soon!
That speed-heating is an excellent point. Thanks for putting that in there!
Don’t listen to this! Lye is dangerous if handled improperly! I have been a soap maker for 6 years! I know this for a fact. Don’t mislead people!
Thanks for a great blog. I’m “attempting” to make homemade soap for gifts. I love the great descriptions and pictures. Great pictures!!!
I hope they worked well for you!
I am not trying to be harsh and I am saying the following in the nicest possible way…
I must say also that this is highly misleading. All soap is made with lye whether it’s a handcrafted cold process soap that is made with NO synthetic detergents but has a glycerin content of up to 20% when the cure has finished, and NO lye in the finished product, hot process soap which is also handcrafted and has about the same percentage of glycerine in the finished product and NO lye in the finished product, or M & P commonly know in the industry as SYNDET bars which stands for Synthetic Detergent Bars. It is by NO MEANS HOMEMADE SOAP. No, you don’t have to use lye in the making of M&P in your home but make no mistake, it started with lye. Anyone who says they can make soap with lye. lies.
And it’s not ONLY that this bothers people who actually make “homemade” soap, your title is extremely misleading. It’s putting that little dis on soap that is handcrafted using the same type of lye your Syndet Bars are started out with in the manufacturing process.
“How to mold pre-made soap without using lye directly” would be accurate and a more truthful statement than “how to make homemade soap without lye”. It is offensive to those of us who have spent YEARS and thousands upon thousands of dollars developing actual homemade soap formulas that are very gentle to the skin and do not have the harshness of M&P bars, or SYNDET bars.
Wondrous things happen when a blend of fabulous oils and butters, clays, milks, botanicals, and essential oils come together with NaOH and water! It is VERY misleading to say you are making “homemade” soap. Saponifiers, Soap Artisans – people who have spent years and thousands upon thousands of dollars (yes, I am stressing that point), to make the best soap you will ever put to your skin are making “homemade” soap! Actually the appropriate word for us is not “homemade”, it is “handcrafted”.
Therefore, that is why it is bothersome, offensive, and yes, misleading, to give your article this title. This “soap” is not soap. It is synthetic detergent bars. It is not homemade. It is made for you and you melt it and pour it into molds.
I understand people having a problem or fear of using lye in their homes. I have had raw soap come in contact with my skin, lye solution come in contact with my skin, and lye beads fly around and I have no scars, I have had no burns. IF you know the proper precautions, use proper safety equipment, GMP, and use the knowledge that is all over the internet, it is actually not a bit more dangerous than using drain cleaner.
It really bothers me when Soap Crafting is presented as Soap Making. You are not making soap you are simply reshaping and coloring soap. While there is nothing wrong with that as a fun craft idea, I feel it is misleading to the general public that doesn’t know about soap making. Especially when it is presented as a lye-free alternative.There is no caustic free alternative to making soap, but there are lots of fun introductory crafts so why not call it that? Also what you are describing sounds and looks more like Re-batching then Melt & Pour. M&P bases are specifically formulated to melt and re-harden as one solid unit. They look more like a commercial bar of soap and it would be impossible to spoon it into a mold because it will be too liquid at trace. Most M&P bases are also chocked full with synthetic hardening agents so you are not getting a more natural product by using a base. The look of your raw soap, your melt times and final process looks like Re-Batch. This is when cold or hot processed soap is melted down and reformed. It is crumbly, doesn’t hold color well, and absorbs water like crazy(i.e the worst kind of soap). I rebatch my leftover shavings too, but these are soapballs to give to the kids for bath times. I would never sell rebatch or give it as a gift because it is not good quality (and I know the quality of the soap that is getting rebatched). I think it is important to note that even if the soap you are rebatching is listed as natural, in the US, a cosmetic product does not need to list all of their ingredients if it is not intended for internal consumption. So you don’t really know what is in it. Soap Crafting is a fun project, a great introduction to working with soap and its great to do with kids. But there is nothing inherently more natural about it and it is not soap making.
HI Nuri. I am sorry you feel bothered by this. After Andrea presented the post idea to me I looked and saw other posts similar to it on the internet. I hear what you are saying but it seems my readers are mixed….some feel that it isn’t really soap making and others are thrilled to have a new option. But I do appreciate your comments very much.
I personally would prefer to make “the real stuff” from scratch and hope to do it soon when my life calms down a bit. Thanks and hope to see you around again.
I found these directions from 1833 on how to make soap.
https://www.epic-soap.com/how-to-make-organic-soap-1833/
So to make soap we must first buy soap?
Hi there. Well, I see your point for sure. The post is a way to solve a problem, however, for those who would like to make soap but are concerned about the safety issues involved with using lye. I have been in that camp for a long time and when I first wanted to make soap I had a 1 year old so knew there was no way I could get it done :).
Hope that helps!
hello. i think what needs to be said is this. to make soap lye must be used. when it has been mixed with the oils, water, ect. it is no longer the “pure/dangerous lye”. it has turned into glycerine through the chemical reaction that produces soponification. the reason i read this article was to find a way to make soap without lye, which is what the title is implying. now i realize that lye must still be used, but you can let someone else handle the lye part of the recipe for you and buy it in bar form to melt and create your own fragrance and shapes. (soap crafting, not making.) hope this helps. all of this has helped me. thanks for all the info. 😉
Thanks!!!