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.
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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.
Here is Adrienne’s source for “the best” essential oils, or click here to read the whole series about how she chose them.
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
Customize your scrub to your liking and it makes a great gift too!
Healthy Lip Scrub
your lips will love this
Homemade Foaming Soap
a super frugal alternative to store-bought foaming soap
Homemade Body Wash
smells and works great
That’s it! Easy as, well, melting and pouring.
These would make a fabulous gift for almost any occasion.
Have you made soap using the melt and pour method?
What herbal combinations would you like to try?
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.
Thanks for the article. As for the angry readers, well, they are just completely uneducated. If they had half a brain they would know that soap without lye is not technically soap. I haven’t made my own soap yet, however, I’m doing research, and I knew what your title meant.
Ignore the haters. Maybe if they shut their mouths for a second and actually read something they may learn a thing or two.
Keep doing your thing soap lady. Take care. 😉
You are so welcome!
I’ve done a melt and pour soap with leftover organic coffee grounds in it and a little cocoa and vanilla.. Smells absolutely awesome but it is also very useful in the kitchen… The coffee takes the garlic and onion smells that don’t want to leave your skin right off your hands in one wash.. Plus it exfoliates..
Sounds fabulous!
Got in my mind I could make homemade soaps as gifts. Can I use shea butter in recipe and will it lather?
Yes you can use it and I think they should lather b/c of the soap base. 🙂
I need some advice! I made this soap over the weekend–followed your directions precisely. Made 2 batches–one with just lavender essential oil and some dried lavender buds that I sprinkled in the bottom of the loaf pan before pouring the soap in–and one colored with some turmeric powder and scented with grapefruit eo. Both batches, after slicing into pieces the next day, were flakier than I had hoped. Definitely NOT like the original bars of soap I used (which was Trader Joe’s Oatmeal & Honey Soap, btw). Now I’m seeing in your photos that yours are a tad flaky as well. And yet, the handmade soaps I’ve purchased aren’t flaky at all. Is this typical of “rebatching”? If you add more water to the crockpot, would that help? Or is less water better?
Also, I’m thinking of rebatching these soaps I made and starting over. Is that recommended?
One thing I am going to do is buy some cute little silicone molds. I think they would look better. I really wanted them to be awesome, but I’m a bit underwhelmed. I could use some advice!! Thanks. I appreciate your tutorial.
Hi there. I will pass your comment on to the author and hopefully she can respond. Thanks!
Yes, I think you can melt it again and be sure it’s truly melted to a liquid. Add a bit of glycerin possibly and try pouring into molds. You can then try refrigerating the molds and see if it’s less flaky.
Dear
I make natural soap from aloevera but I didn’t put lye in it and my soap always grow mold on it .How can I do with this problem ?
Are you asking me or the person you replied to? I am sorry but I don’t know.
https://www.chagrinvalleysoapandsalve.com/idascorner/soap/is-there-lye-in-your-soap-wont-it-harm-my-skin
Please note that without lye there is no soap, so what you’ve created isn’t soap !
It’s not that serious. It’s her article and her recipe. She can name her title any way she like. I’m new to soaping and didn’t get offended and if you did get offended. Ummmmm!!! So what! Who cares! Soap goes on!! Some of you all are taking this too personal. Pump your breaks folks. Keep Soaping lady!!!
Thanks for the encouragement, Krystal. I was a bit confused about all the hubbub myself. 🙂
um so when your finished is the soap going to lather /produce foam
Yes, it should. Hope it works for you!
Can beeswax be incorporated? I have excess wax from my hives this year and would lov3 to use the lye less recipe but worried I may ruin it if I add the honeycomb
I would think so. Enjoy!
I make lots of different types of melt and pour soaps. They still have lye in the base but you just aren’t handling it directly and I’ve made lots of beautiful soaps with this method. They are still handmade and look wonderful, the only difference is that all of the butters and oils and lye are already there. It makes it easier, safer, but exactly the same, only difference maybe would be that you could decide what oils you wanted, like extra moisturizing or extra lathering. Melt and pour makes it easier for us homemakers with young children. Keep up the good work!
Thanks, Kelly! Hope to see you around again and thanks for the encouragement!
There is no lye in the base. The base was made with lye, but the base does not contain lye unless the base was made horribly wrong (too much lye and not enough fats) in which case it will burn your skin when you use it. Saponification is a chemical reaction that turns lye and fat into soap. The lye isn’t there anymore. The fats aren’t there anymore either, unless you added a bit extra for superfatting. The fudge factor in the title isn’t the “without lye”, it’s the “make soap”. M&P is “without lye”, but technically not “making soap” since you’re really “decorating” existing soap (which the author explains in the article).
goodness! i thought people were only mean to me for no reason! your title was not deceptive. i know nothing about concocting soap, and i knew what you meant. your article was great, plus you taught me a valuable lesson about not incredible hulking out on people, because that’s probably their desire! i am going to attempt to create some soaps, probably using the olive oil melt and pour base. i have some organic handmade soaps that i love, and it seems like an easy way to make a few bucks! going to start simple and see how it goes! thanks for sharing!
Thanks much and enjoy the soapmaking!!
Thank you for posting the recipe! Very helpful to a new beginner learning how to craft soap.
Glad to hear it – thanks!
Reading the comments was a little annoying cause I think anyone with any interest in soap making get that it involves lye they just have no interest in handling it. My question is had anybody on this blog ever did the melt and pour method with black soap?
I’m a soap maker, traditional and I do melt and pour. If you are looking for the African Black soap, BrambleBerry has a Black Soap Melt and Pour Base, made by Stephenson. I haven’t tried it, but just happened to notice it.
They also carry the best M&P bases I’ve found, the low sweat, Like Cold Process bases are the best. I live n Florida and they all sweat here. Good Luck and Happy Soaping!
Thanks for the suggestions!
Do you think Fractionated coconut oil could be used as the liquid or even melted normal coconut oil? I already buy bars of natural soap to make my washing powder, but didn’t think of using it to make my own soaps.
I would stick w/ the water based liquids as outlined, but you could try it…..hope it works for you!
I was so excited to stumble across this recipe online. I have a very small space to work with and multiple ingredients is not ideal! Getting a recipe like this for homemade or semi homemade soap, that can save both time and money for a full time working mom who is health contentious and trying to pinch pennies is both ideal and greatly appreciated 🙂 Thank you
So glad – thanks for taking the time to comment!
Thank you so much for this great and very helpful article. I did not want to have to handle lye around my little ones.The perfect step by step tutorial. Thanks again!
You are so welcome!
Hello! I saw people here being upset, also I got your point. Maybe you were not bad intentionaly, but maybe the title should be something like: ”How to make your own soap without working with lye yourslef…” (something like that….) (otherwise people misunderstand and they get upset because they have different expectations…) Other than that, the recipe is good and easy to use! I make my own soap with lye, but I think this is also a good way to fix some failed soaps 🙂
Thanks, Angela. I think maybe it’s the folks coming from Pinterest. I’m working on redoing all kinds of images and haven’t gotten to all of them :). Great idea on the failed soaps.
hello, I have a question, doesn’t the “natural soap base” have Lye in it?…if so, then is it really “making soap without lye? Just because you didn’t place lye in it yourself doesn’t mean it is “without lye”
“Ingredients:
Common Name: Coconut Oil, Palm Oil, Safflower Oil, Glycerin (kosher, of vegetable origin), Aqua/Water/Eau, Sodium Hydroxide (saponifying agent), Sorbitol (moisturizer), Sorbitan oleate (emulsifier), Oat protein (conditioner), Titanium Dioxide
Botanical Name: Cocos Nucifera Oil, Elaeis Guineensis Oil, Carthamus Tinctorius Oil, Glycerin, Aqua/Water/Eau, Sodium Hydroxide, Sorbitol, Sobitan Oleate, Avena Sativa Protein Extract, Titanium Dioxide” is the ingredients from the company Brambleberry you listed. “Sodium Hydroxide”, or “Sodium Hydroxide (saponifying agent)” is lye, is it not? I am not trying to be mean, it is just I am just very tired of people not being truthful
Hello there. We wrote the title the way we did to make that point – that the soap base used lye, but you didn’t have to use it to make the product in your home. So we weren’t being misleading at all. Hope that helps. It’s an easy way to do a crafty project w/ soap without having to use lye.
I think that the title is a great idea, especially as there’s not any soap making classes in my area. I desire to make my own soap for shampoo bar (still not sure what to do to achieve that), however I like the castile soap recipe and think it “might” be a good start. I’m so sick and tired of chemicals that I cannot recognize or read names of on commercial products.
Thank you so much.
You are so welcome. Ditto on toxic chemicals. Yuck.
Did you even read the article in its entirety or just a few sentences here and there then leav a ridiculous and embarrassing comment to the author?! You hate when people lie, WE hate people who leave stupid and uneducated comments.
Saponification is a chemical process that turns fats+lye into soap. Lye is an ingredient in the soap, but it does not exist in the soap anymore. If it did, it would burn you when you tried to wash with it.
Can a person use castile bar soap as the “base soap”?? Thank you!!
I think it should work – hope it goes well!
Yes you can. I have done that. The amount of lather depends on the amount of castile soap you use. I used a cheese grader, my soap was more of a cream though. My mother loved it; add sugar ir Epsom salt for exfoliating affect.
I really do not understand the superior and condescending attitudes of the ” it’s not REALLY soap making ” crowd. I think everyone understands that this is a shortcut method of achieving a CUSTOMIZED batch of soap without really “making” soap from scratch. What’s the big deal? I for one, am happy to have the option of combining a natural soap base-yes there are plenty out there that are organic/ natural/no icky stuff- with other natural ingredients that are good for my skin needs and scented naturally with scents that I enjoy! I see no reason to act all judgy toward someone who is happy to do that, or the person sharing with others how to do that. I make my own pie crust… If someone else wants to buy the refrigerated kind, I COULDNT CARE LESS…. nor am I offended or threatened in any way if they happen to say they “made” the pie! Thanks for a good starter recipe! Going to go “make” some citrus/ coconut milk soap now:)
Thanks so much, Cindy :). I was a little shocked too, particularly since I gave a hint in the title that it wasn’t really making soap. Thanks and I would love to try your soap!
Well, it’s done and it smells amazing! Started with organic castille soap base, added coconut milk as the liquid, some pink sea salt and used lemon, orange, grapefruit and clary-sage essential oils. Can’t wait to use it!
Wonderful. I haven’t done anything w/ Clary Sage – need to try as it’s one oil of the oils I haven’t used much. Thanks for taking the time to respond.
Thanks for the info gonna try it
Totally agree with Cindy. This is great. Having a lot oc young children around crying, laughing, running etc. I want something like this to let them make a mess and be totally fine getting it all over thier bodies. (We should ake it near the pool or at the beach) lol I too will start with Casitle Soap as it is the cheapest and easiet for me to find. Thank you o much for this!!!!!!! I cannot wait to get messy and creative. LOVE IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Thanks Amanda! Hope you have fun doing this with your kids!
“Update 4/16: Please note – I have gotten a lot of comments from angry readers insinuating that I made this post in a deceptive manner. I wrote the title as I did so that it wouldn’t seem to be something that it wasn’t so please take that into consideration before making any more accusations. Thank you!”
Hope you see this
It’s more like buying an undecorated cake at the store, decorating it and calling it baking. The person who buys a frozen pie crust is still doing the baking, but with M&P you are not doing the soapmaking (saponification).
The motivations of people who want to do M&P soap for themselves are different from the motivations of people who want to make homemade soap for themselves. One is decorative and the other is functional. If you want to make your own soap then finding articles about rebatching existing soap would be really frustrating. But yeah, if you want to “really” make your own soap you need to use lye.
I have a lot of leftover soap flakes of different bath soaps , I used to store them in container, now I can use them as a base.
:)! Great!
No lye, no soap, no lie 🙂
MP soap bases are just premixed so YOU don’t have to use the actual lye, but it’s still there! 😉