Soapmaking
Three Oil Soap
hi everyone, this is holly
instagram - @kapiamerasoap
in this video, I’ll be making a basic unscented cold process soap
using 3 oils I was able to purchase at my local grocery store
olive oil, coconut oil, and lard
If you’d like to see a lather test, I’ll include that at the end of this video
If you’d rather not use lard, I’ll list an alternative recipe below
and also link my simple soap video where I used shea and cocoa butters instead
I’ll also list some helpful videos and articles on basic soapmaking,
lye safety, and how to use a soap calculator
Just remember that lye and raw soap can burn your skin and damage your eyes
so always wear gloves and eye protection
and be sure to keep children and pets at a safe distance
I first created a mold for this soap using a quart milk carton that I had on hand
I wanted to try using a carton as a column mold
instead of a horizontal loaf like mold that I’ve done in the past
so i simply opened the top of the carton
and cut down the sides a bit so I could close the top
It was a bit too wobbly to risk standing on its own, though
You’ll see when I pour the soap, that I ended up placing it inside a pot for stability
If you’d rather just make the carton into a loaf type mold
my simple soap video that’s linked below shows how I did that
My next step was to create a lye solution
by dissolving sodium hydroxide in distilled water
After I had both ready
I slowly added the sodium hydroxide to the water
while gently stirring and continue to stir until it’s dissolved
I’m using room temperature distilled water for this soap
but you can use frozen or refrigerated if you like
A considerable amount of heat and fumes
are created during this process
so I always work in a well ventilated area
and am really careful never to breathe any of the fumes
You’ll see here that the temperature rose quickly
reaching around 200 degrees Fahrenheit
How you mix lye is very important
due to the considerable amount of heat that is generated
Remember to always add the sodium hydroxide to the water
NEVER add water to sodium hydroxide
because doing so can cause splattering or even a violent eruption
If you’re a beginner or have never made soap,
I highly recommend watching the video on lye safety
that I always link below my videos
Once the sodium hydroxide had completely dissolved
I sat the lye aside to cool and moved on to preparing the oils
for this recipe, I measured out 266 grams of lard
and 168 grams of coconut oil
I placed them in the microwave just long enough to melt
while they were melting, I measured out 266 grams of olive oil
I chose a light olive oil so my soap would be really light in color
but you can use a darker olive oil if you like
when the solid oils had melted
I poured them in with the olive oil
you’ll see me almost always pour everything
onto a spoon, the blender shaft, or even the side of the bowl
It’s generally for two reasons
to reduce air bubbles as much as possible
and more importantly when I pour the lye, it's to reduce the chance of a splash
when the oils and lye had cooled down to about 100 degrees Fahrenheit
I was ready to mix them and make the soap
I continued to blend until reaching a medium trace
The consistency was similar to cake batter
and you can see when I drizzled the soap back onto itself
it left a trace on top that didn’t sink back in quickly
To keep the mold from wobbling or falling over
I placed it in a pot for stability
I closed the lid with some tape
and added a piece of plastic wrap over the top just as an added seal
I placed a dish towel in the pot for even more stability
and then wrapped it up in a towel
I left the soap covered on the table for about 48 hours
I decided to use some cookie cutters to make some round soaps
This did leave me with some scraps
but I always use those for various soap projects
My favorite way is to incorporate them in a design
like I did with the falling snow in this soap
(link below to this video)
or to just use them in a confetti type soap
(link below to this video)
I hope you found this video helpful in some way
and I really appreciate you watching
lather test at 4 weeks
