How to Make Soap Without Lye

Store-bought soaps that are said to be gentle or safe for sensitive skin are still made with lye. Made up of calcium hydroxide and lime, lye is a caustic chemical that is dangerous and corrosive. Those that are looking for a more chemical free way to live have decided to remove lye based products from their home environment. One of these products is your daily bar of soap. You can replace your store-bought bar of soap with a homemade version that will be lye free and very easy to make. A glycerin based soap is a much healthier replacement for your traditional store brand. The glycerin soaps can be decorated and colored any way you choose. Just follow the easy steps below to make non-toxic glycerin soaps without using lye.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Double boiler
• Glycerin block
• Utility knife
• Embellishments
• Essential oil
• Food coloring
• Soap molds
• Stirring spoon

1. Cut the glycerin block along the premeasured lines with a utility knife . Usually about two to three cut pieces will make one bar of soap, or multiply the cuts needed by the amount of molds that you will be using.

2. Place the cut glycerin into a double boiler. Melt until it becomes a clear liquid. Once melted, remove the pot holding the glycerin from the heat and place it on a hot pad.

3. Add the food dye to the melted glycerin, and stir until desired soap color is achieved. The more dye that is added, the deeper and more opaque your soap color will be. You may also decide to leave the soap clear colored to show more of the embellishments that you may be using.

4. Add a few drops of your favorite essential oil, to fragrance your glycerin bar. The more essential oil you add, the more fragrant the soap will be. You can use aromatherapy essential oils to create a mood, or other fragrances such as florals or fruits for show soaps to scent the room.

5. Add fun things to your glycerin bar. Beads, small trinkets, buttons, anything that will make it look pretty. You can add things that the kids would like, too. Everyone in the house can have their own specially designed glycerin soap bar.

6. Pour your completed liquid mixture into the soap molds, and allow to cool for at least an hour. When it is cooled, you are ready to use your new bar of homemade glycerin soap.

Tips & Warnings

• Silk flowers look beautiful encased in a bar of soap. Look around your house for ribbons, raffias, anything that you think will compliment your desired look for you soap.
• Be very cautious when working with the hot glycerin.

[lifewiththekids]

on 1/23/2009 I have to agree with Margery. You cannot make soap without lye. Even glycerin soap is not free of lye. I do however agree with this article on one point. Glycerin soap is better for your skin than COMMERCIAL soaps. Homemade soaps, however, do not remove the glycerin byproduct so they are good for your skin too. The Lye is a naturally occurring chemical that can be produced using simple rainwater and wood or plant ash. Soap has been made with some form of lye for thousands of years and can be traced back as far as 2800 BC. Here is a website that gives a summary of the history of soap.
http://www.cleaning101.com/cleaning/history/
The glycerin is the byproduct that is left over after the commercial soapmakers skim the soap off the top. What is left is then distilled and becomes what we know as glycerin, but the glycerin is from the original process using lye to make the soap. The removal

[MargeryMcCarthy]

on 12/6/2008 This article is deceptive because glycerin is a byproduct of soap which is made with lye. Therefore, you cannot suggest that one is removing lye based products from their home by using glycerin.