How to make homemade soap - 33 Homemade Soap Recipes (2024)

By Stacy Williams

This site uses affiliate links and may earn a small commission when you click on them. For more information, please see our Disclosure Policy.Six Dollar Family also participates in the Amazon.com/Amazon.UK/Amazon.ca affiliate program and as such may earn a commission when you shop on Amazon through our links.

A couple of years ago, I discovered the joy of learning how to make homemade soap. Not only does it save you significantly, but it’s also pretty relaxing. As far as savings, learning how to make homemade soap was pretty high on the list of things to stop buying and make that we began making way back in 2014 when our budget was in serious trouble. What started out as a way for us to save money soon morphed into a hobby that I really enjoy now.

How to make homemade soap - 33 Homemade Soap Recipes (1)

Since 2014, I’ve come across a ton of different homemade soap recipes, but there are very few that I absolutely love. Some are for bar soap, some are body wash, some are for kids. No matter what kind of soap it makes though, these 33 homemade soap recipes are the best of my favorites! They’re perfect for using to cut your household expenses, for living a more natural lifestyle or as a great homemade gift idea!

How to make homemade soap – 33 Homemade Soap Recipes

Most of these can be made either on the stove in a heavy bottomed pot or in a basic crock pot<. I keep an extra pot and an extra crock pot that I picked up thrift store shopping on hand for making my soaps. It keeps my soap supplies separate from my cooking supplies so that there isn’t any chance of the two being cross contaminated. If you do need to use pots and things that you cook in, be sure to rinse them extremely well and to soak them in white vinegar to help remove any residues.

Tired of paying hand soap at $1.00 or more each? You’ll love this DIY Liquid Hand Soap then!

Ready to get rid of nasty chemical filled shampoo? This DIY Coconut Shampoo is all natural and works amazingly!

Skip the expensive tablets and give this Homemade Dishwasher Soap a shot. My dishes have never been cleaner!

If laundry soap is killing your budget, this Homemade Powdered Laundry Detergent may just become your favorite! Make it for pennies on the dollar!

Most Natural DIY’s need Castile soap to be made, but it can be super expensive. This Homemade Castile Soap is cheap to make and works just like the expensive stuff!

I love a soft and creamy body wash, but I hate the cost that they have and how chemical laden they are. This Homemade Body Wash leaves your skin super silky and is incredibly cheap to make!

If you like Earl Grey tea, I have one just for you! This Homemade Earl Grey Scented Body Wash smells just like the tea is leaves your skin amazingly soft!

If liquid detergents with harsh soaps aren’t your think, you’re going to want to give this Homemade Liquid Laundry Detergent with Castile Soap a chance. It’s super cheap to make (make it cheaper by making your own Castile using the recipe above) and smells great!

Love cooking? You’ll love this Rosemary Soap from Kids Activity Blog! It smells amazing and carries all of the healing properties of rosemary!

Little boys love all things dino and this Jurassic Amber Bug Soap from over at Parenting Chaos will be no different!

Make bathtime fun naturally with this Bath Crayon Soaps from Parenting Chaos! They’ll have so much fun!

Milk and honey has been used for centuries for it’s known healing and beauty benefits. Making this Milk and Honey Soap from Happiness is Homemade is just another way to use this old time favorite!

Trouble sleeping? Take a long soak with this Lavender Soap that A Pumpkin and a Princess brings us! You’ll be calm and relaxed before you know it!

Citrus is a great way to wake up in the morning and this Citrus Shea Butter soap from Food.Fun.Family will help make your morning bright!

Want even more? Check these out!

Orange Flaxseed Soap from Confessions of an Overworked Mom

Brown Sugar Scrub Bars from A Cultivated Nest

Coconut Shampoo Bar from Mommpotamus

Lavender Honey Soap over at Live. Laugh. Rowe.

Grapefruit Mint Poppyseed Soap over at A Beautiful Mess

Jasmine Dead Sea Salt Soap over at Essentially Eclectic

Rosewater Pink Clay Soap from Hello Glow

Sweet Almond Poppyseed Soap from Glue Stick Blog

Spiced Apple Goats’ Milk Soap from over at Confessions of a Plate Addict)

Aloe Vera Soap from Soap Recipes 101

Pecan Rooibos and Orange Soap over at Offbeat and Inspired

Olive Oil Soap over at Sierra Club

Coffee Bean Soap from Living Well Spending Less

Charcoal Clay Facial Soap from over at Wellness Mama

Earl Grey Tea Soap from Cucumbersome

Peppermint Charcoal over at Bulk Apothecary

Felted Soap from On Good Thing by Jillee

Ginger Spice Cookie Soap from over at Feathers in our Nest

Orange Clover Soap from A Cultivated Nest

How to make homemade soap - 33 Homemade Soap Recipes (2024)

FAQs

What is the recipe for 34 33 33 soap? ›

You can never go wrong with a 34/33/33 ratio. That's 34% olive oil, 33% coconut oil, and 33% palm oil. It creates a firm, moisturizing bar with great bubbles. From there, you can start experimenting and adding your favorite oils.

What is the best super fat percentage for soap making? ›

To create a superfat in your soap, you need to use the right amount of sodium hydroxide to saponify most of your oils but not all. Generally we superfat to around 5%, which means that every bar of soap will have 5% of excess oils.

What are the basic ingredients required to make soap? ›

Soap Ingredients. The two base ingredients for homemade soap are fat and a form of lye, a caustic chemical.

What ingredient makes homemade soap lather? ›

Oils such as coconut and castor oil help create a bubbly, foamy, rich lather. On the other hand, soaps made primarily with olive oil, such as Castile-type soaps, will produce a rich and creamy rather than bubbly lather. The naturally retained glycerin in handmade soap also helps create a lovely lather.

What is the best ingredient for soap making? ›

So, the simple answer is, for a very basic soap you need oils, water and sodium hydroxide. You can add essential or fragrance oils for scent and other ingredients for colours if you fancy being creative but these are all optional.

What is the easiest type of soap to make? ›

If I were to choose a simple soap recipe that you can make at home it would, without a doubt be 100% coconut oil soap. I love this stuff, not least because you can make it from just 3 ingredients, one of those being water.

Can you make soap without lye? ›

But there is a way to make soap without lye: it's called the melt and pour soap method. The melt and pour soap making method is perfect for beginning soap makers. There is no need to handle lye.

What is the formula for making soap? ›

What is the formula for soap. For centuries, humans have known the basic recipe for soap — it is a reaction between fats and a strong base. The exact chemical formula is C17H35COO- plus a metal cation, either Na+ or K+. The final molecule is called sodium stearate and is a type of salt.

What is the best lye ratio for soap making? ›

5% lye concentration: This lye solution is typically used for making cream soaps. Often recipes rely on lye solution strengths ranging from 25% to 28%. This means lye can make up 25 to 28 percent and the remainder (78.3% to 77.7% of solution). The 5% Lye Solution contains 25 % Lye with 75 % water.

What is the ratio for making soap? ›

The oils and fats used in soap-making fall into three categories as shown in the table below: An example of a suitable blend is 24 parts Category A oil, 24 parts Category B oil, 38 parts Category C fat, plus 12 parts caustic soda dissolved in 32 parts water.

How do you make 33% lye solution? ›

A 33% lye solution is made of 33% lye and 67% water. Most recipes and tutorials here on Modern Soapmaking use a 33% lye solution, as it's typically a manageable water discount during the soapmaking process, but also hardens up a little quicker to get the soap out of the mold!

What is the ratio of fragrance oil to soap? ›

For hot process soap, we recommend 15-20g of fragrance oil for every kilogram of fats/oils in your recipe. For melt and pour soaps, we recommend 10g of fragrance for every kilogram of melt and pour soap base. For lotions, creams, balms, shampoos, bath gels, etc, we recommend between 1-3% by weight.

References

Top Articles
Latest Posts
Article information

Author: Tish Haag

Last Updated:

Views: 6130

Rating: 4.7 / 5 (67 voted)

Reviews: 90% of readers found this page helpful

Author information

Name: Tish Haag

Birthday: 1999-11-18

Address: 30256 Tara Expressway, Kutchburgh, VT 92892-0078

Phone: +4215847628708

Job: Internal Consulting Engineer

Hobby: Roller skating, Roller skating, Kayaking, Flying, Graffiti, Ghost hunting, scrapbook

Introduction: My name is Tish Haag, I am a excited, delightful, curious, beautiful, agreeable, enchanting, fancy person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.