I made this soap in early 2021 but never go round to posting on the blog.

This is an adaptation of a recipe for clear soap I found on the you tube channel SoapnCrafts. I followed her formula almost exactly except for the method used to make the soap. The original required heating the soap solution with high alcohol content in the microwave. Although this is a very fast method, I felt it was a little bit risky for me to do so opted for the safer slow cooker method. I also increased the water content slightly, though this was accidental.

This would be classed as an organic soap bar, meaning if you use an organic oil phase and all of your additives are organic, you can claim organic status. Water and lye can not be organic however, the product as a result of the reaction can be i.e. organic sodium cocoate, organic sodium stearate. And yes, you can get ‘organic’ stearic acid (from this company). You can get organic glycerin and organic grain alcohol and your fragrance at the end can be natural or organic, though I chose to use a coconut fragrance oil.

Notes on Making the Soap

Accuracy is very important; the soaps clarity is reliant on there being no free fatty acids in the formula as this will make the soap cloudy. For this reason you can not get away with adding too much oil, and too much lye will make the soap lye heavy, at best this is harsh on the skin, and at worse dangerous to use. You need a high concentration of lye to speed up the saponification and the soap needs to be formed before adding the alcohol.

Word of warning. There is high strength alcohol in this formulation so there is a fire risk when working with heat. Be very careful with handling and make sure your soaping room is well ventilated. Be aware that flames created by ethanol are invisible. Always keep ethanol away from direct flames and keep a spritzer of water handy to put out any flames (spraying to base of flame). It should go without saying, but make sure you wear your protective equipment (gloves, goggles, mask etc) to protect you from the lye.

Unlike most soaps, this does not need a stick blender to speed up the reaction, gentle stirring with do and the residual heat from the lye solution and hot lye will do most of the work and later, sustained heat from the double boiler will finish the job.

One thing you will notice is that this soap will take about 45 minutes to an hour to set if in individual molds. Using a large log mold will obviously result in slightly longer hardening times. You will also be able to use the soap at this time, though it will be harsh. I would advise to let it cure for a few weeks to one month. This will allow it to become more user friendly.

This makes approximately 500g of soap batter.

The Formula

Phase A

Organic Coconut Oil 70 g

Organic Stearic Acid 30 g

Organic Glycerin 200 g

Phase B

Sodium Hydroxide (NaOH/Lye) 17 g

Distilled Water 44 g (This should have been 28 g)

Phase C

95% Organic Grain Alcohol 156 g

Method:

1. Gather all of your ingredients and equipment

2. Weigh all ingredients and set aside

3. Combine the glycerin, coconut and stearic acid and melt. I melted mine in the microwave and then poured into a hot slow cooker (crock pot). Bring temperature to around 100 c.

4. Make lye solution by pouring caustic soda into water and stirring until dissolved

5. Pour the lye into the oils and stir. Stir for approximately 5 minutes. The oils will react instantly with the lye and create a soap that is floating in the glycerine. Once the soap is formed it will start to dissolve in the glycerine. You can cover until fully or almost fully dissolved.

6. Pour in the alcohol and stir for a few minutes. Cover and leave to ‘cook’ for another 10 minutes. The mixture should be bubbling and crystal clear when you return to it.

7. When the solution is clear you can choose to put in additional additives such as glitter and perfume.

8. As an afterthought I added 8 g of fragrance oil to the soap just before I poured (fragrance optional)

9. Add glitter to the moulds and pour the soap (optional).