Soap Making
Soap making is an age old endeavor. By following a few simple steps that having a few ingredients soap making can be quite simple. Some type of fat and caustic agent with water should be.
If it is possible, use distilled or rain water. While it is important not to use too much water estimating how much water used is fine. You want to shoot for about 0.38 water to fat ratio. Lye can be a very dangerous chemical so it is essential that anyone using it familiar with it. Keep lye away from the skin, children and pets. When mixing lye it is important to use the right utensils. Wooden spoons are good for stirring the mixture and a glass bowl is a safe place to mix lye.
When mixing lye and water the lye should be slowly dissolved into the water. Stir the lye as soon as it is in the water. Dissolving the lye should not take long. Heat the mixture until it is around 85 degrees.
Different fats require a different amount of lye when it comes to soap making. The fat must be at the melting point, which will vary. Once the fat is at the correct temperature you can pour the lye water into the fat slowly and stir the mixture in one direction.
Finding fat or oil for soap making is very easy. Just about any fat or oil that is one hand can be used. Use the fat from cooked meat or any hydrogenated oils. If a very hard soap is desired, use oil from beef. If softer soaps are being made, use chicken fat. Be sure that whatever fat is used that it is clean and does not have a bad smell.
The actual soapification process takes a while. Depending on the fat that is used, soap making can take anywhere from about twenty minutes to hours. Use a blender for quicker soap making.