Beyond. Health and Wellness Magazine May 2016 | Page 13

First, protect everything. It is a good idea to make sure that you only use all of this
equipment for soap making since it will come in contact with lye. Some people will
say that you can wash it well and still be okay, but we recommend only to use this
equipment for soap making. Cover your work area with newspaper. Put your gloves
and other protective wear on.
Measure your water into the glass bowl. Have the long handle spoon ready. Measure
your lye exactly. Go outside or in a well ventilated area and slowly pour the lye into
the water, stirring as you go. Make sure not to breath the fumes and stir slowly. It is
very important to make sure to add the lye to the water and not the other way
around. The mixture should go from cloudy to clear. Put it aside for 5-10 minutes.

When both the lye and oils are at the right temperature, pour the oils into a mixing
bowl. Slowly add the lye, stirring until it’s all mixed. Stir by hand for a full 5
minutes. It’s very important to get as much of the lye in contact with as much of the
soap as possible. After about 5 minutes, you can keep stirring or you can use an
immersion blender. The soap mixture will lighten in color and become thick. When it
looks like a light pudding it’s at “trace” and you’re good to go.
Add your herbs, essential oils or other additions at this point. Stir thoroughly to
combine. Pour the mixture into mold(s) and cover with plastic wrap. Set in an old
towel and wrap it up. This will keep the residual heat in and start the saponification
process. Saponification is the process of the base ingredients becoming soap.