Ways To Make Glycerin Soap At Home

Glycerin is the most important ingredient of any soap.⁽¹⁾ When water and lye are combined with oils, they saponify and turn into a soap.^{(1, 2)} In fact, you get 1/3 glycerin and 2/3 soap by it. The glycerin is generally taken out of it and sold to the explosives and fertilizing manufacturing industries.⁽³⁾ If you purify the solid soap and mix alcohol and sugar into it, you can get decent homemade glycerin soap.

You can make your own chemical-free glycerin soap at home. It needs only a bit of practice, but once you understand the process, you can make it very easily. Let us look at the ways to make glycerin soap at home.

• 8 Oz oil of castor.
• 14 Oz oil of vegetable, tallow, lard or you can take other oils.
• 5.5 Oz oil of coconut.
• 5 Oz distilled or filtered water.
• 4 Oz lye, which is also called 100 percent sodium hydroxide.

Here are the simple steps that describe the way to make glycerin soap at home.

• First of all cover the work surface or area with a newspaper. Never forget to wear safety goggles and gloves while handling lye. Apply vinegar on your both hands if lye spreads or splashes on hands.
• Take a heatproof bottle or container and pour measured water into it. Now slowly add measured lye into the water and stir well until both get dissolved. Let this lye water cool down to 155°F.
• Combine all the oils and heat them to 135°F or you can use a slow cooker for this. Now slowly mix the lye water into the oils.
• Then combine this mixture properly. You can use a blender for this.
• Heat this mixture at medium flame until it turns into a gel. The process can take a few hours. It will start looking like petroleum jelly. Do remember to stir the mixture while heating. This is an important part when you make glycerin soap at home.
• After some hours, try to dissolve a small part of the soap into a bowl of warm water. You can go ahead if it dissolves. In case it doesn’t dissolve, means it requires more time to cook. Allow it to cook for a further 30 minutes and try again. This time if it dissolves, mix 3 Oz glycerin and 13 Oz alcohol (not rubbing alcohol), 70 % or higher into this gel.
• Be careful while using alcohol, as it has a very low flash point (4, 5, 6). Try to use a crock pot for heating this. Now mash the soap in some intervals, if you mash it completely at a time, it can get develop too much suds. Be patient as the process can take some hours.
• After dissolving the soap completely, a small number of particles can float on the upper layer. These particles are nothing, but the impurities which need to be removed. You can throw them or can store in a container with some hot water. You can use it as a dishwashing soap also.
• Now add 5 Oz water and 8 Oz sugar in this dissolved soap and boil again until the sugar gets dissolved completely. Make sure that no crystals remain undissolved. Now pour this liquid into a soap base and allow it to cool down to 145°F.
• After cooling it down, pour this into your desired mould. Now cover it with a plastic wrap and leave for a week or more. Then cut this into pieces and keep them in a glass container.

While this is the commonest way to make glycerin soap, you may add variations to it as per your choice. Adding color and fragrance to glycerin soap is also a simple task, if followed methodically.

With this process, you can make glycerin soap at home with your favorite colors, fragrance and shapes.

• Prepare your own moulds. Put them on a plane surface and get your colors and fragrances ready.
• Now estimate how much soap you need. Generally, an average of a soap bar is around 4-ounces. Every mould has its different ounce capacity. Use a little bit more because some part remains with the spoon and container.
• Melt the soap base as per your need in a heatproof vessel or you can take a pint jar for this. Stir it once in a while but not continuously. After melting this completely, you can add some drops of food color (if you wish) and stir it properly. You can add more drops if required. Now add a few drops of your fragrance or essential oil at a time.
• Usually, 10 scent drops are sufficient for a 4-ounce soap bar. Further, you can add dried herbs as per your choice, one teaspoon will be sufficient to add in a 4-ounce soap bar.
• After adding all the desired additions to your glycerin soap, pour it into the moulds. In case the base becomes too cool, just melt it again and stir well. Now leave it to cool down completely.
• Now take out the soap from the moulds carefully and wrap it in wax paper or plastic wrap. It is very necessary to wrap it in a proper manner, as it accumulates the moisture quickly from the air. Although it indicates that the prepared soap is good.

Cleaning the moulds is a very easy task. Simply soak the moulds in warm water, wash them and dry properly.

Here are some important tips that may help you to make glycerin soap at home easily:

• Always be careful while using alcohol, as it can catch fire very easily, that is it is very flammable.⁽⁷⁾
• Properly maintain the herbs and always try to use dried herbs.
• To get a clear and white soap, add some zinc oxide or titanium dioxide powder in it, as it generates pastels when colored.
• It may be difficult to find 70% alcohol; never use rubbing alcohol, as you cannot get rid of its smell. Optionally, you can use a 75 percent everclear, it can be found in most of the areas. In case, you don’t find it too, contact any local liquor store or shop. They can easily suggest you other options. Keep it odorless and clear.
• Try to use silicone moulds because they can easily peel off the soap.
• White sugar is good to use for making glycerin soap at home, as raw sugar can make the soap more yellowish.

After knowing the above methods for making glycerin soap at home, you can now enjoy chemical free. Homemade Glycerin Soap to achieve that super soft and glowing skin.

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Also Read:

• Benefits of Glycerine and Rosewater Combination For Your Skin and Hair & Ways to Use It