Scales / Cup measure
Thermometer
Goggles and Gloves
Thick Plastic Jug / Pyrex Bowl (not metal)
Large Pot
Wooden Spoon / Stirrer (not metal)
Large Box Mold or other smaller molds
Ruler and Cutter
Stick blender (bamix)

To make approximately 24 x 100gm bars

2 1/3 cups palm oil
1 ½ cups coconut oil
1 ½ cups olive oil
2 cups water
2/3 cup of caustic soda

Caustic Soda is available at your local supermarket. Although it an essential ingredient in soap, it is corrosive and unstable until it has gone through the saponification process. Even a tiny bit of caustic soda can do a lot of damage to your skin.

Always mix the water and caustic soda in a well-ventilated area. When it is mixed, it throws off poisonous, harmful fumes. Do not breathe the fumes or let it splash onto your skin. You should wear goggles and gloves. Keep a bottle of Vinegar handy in case you do get it on your skin or feel a funny burning sensation anywhere. Rinse with the vinegar to neutralise the burning. Try not to touch the spoon with which you have mixed the solution. The spoon, thermometer and jug / bowl should be rinsed, washed with hot soapy water and rinsed again. If you are going to make soap often, separate these utensils marked "soap making" and don't use for cooking. Be very careful using caustic soda and keep it well out of reach of children.

Make sure your working area is well ventilated and free of obstacles. Put on your goggles and gloves. Using a scale or cup measure out the caustic soda portion of the recipe and pour into your jug or Pyrex bowl. (IMPORTANT- The bowl should never be metal. Nothing that touches the caustic soda or your soap can be metal!). Now measure out the water portion. Being very careful, gently and slowly pour the water over the caustic soda without splashing. Then using a wooden spoon, carefully, gently and slowly stir the mixture without splashing until the caustic soda has fully dissolved. This reaction will throw off fumes and heat up quite quickly. So try to do it near a window or by turning your head the other way. Now let this solution sit until it has dropped to 37 degrees Celsius. (To hasten this process, sit it in a sink or bucket of cold water).

In the meantime, measure all the fats and oil in a pot (this can be metal, as the solution will never touch this pot.) Heat the oils on mid heat until they also reach 37 degrees. It is very important that both the caustic soda solution and oils are both at 37 degrees when they are combined or your soap won't work. If you accidentally heat the oil too high, you can also sit it in cold water to reduce its heat. (If it gets too cold, put it back on the stove). During this heating the oil and cooling the caustic solution stage, you can prepare your molds.

When the caustic solution and the oils have both reached 37 degrees, you're actually going to do the soap-making part.

Pour the oils into a large glass or plastic bowl. Being very careful, gently, slowly and without splashing, you will pour the caustic soda solution in a thin, steady stream whilst stirring with the wooden spoon. You will see the oil change colour slightly. Saponification has taken place and you now have soap. Well nearly. You will need to stir the mixture until it traces. That means until if you drop a spoonful of soap back onto itself, it sits on the top for a few seconds until it blends in again. In other words when you're stirring, it leaves a trace. (Like when you're whipping cream). This process can take up to hour. But if you have a stick blender (bamix) it will only take 3-5 minutes. Be careful not to over do it. You want a thick conditioner like consistency.

Now is the time to add your other ingredients like colours, additives and essential oils.

Once they are combined thoroughly, your soap is ready to pour into the mold.

It is important to keep the soap warm now. Put the mold on a towel or blanket. Cover again with another towel, making sure the whole mold in fully insulated. Leave it untouched for at least 24 hours. Then turn it out from the mold. If it still feels too soft leave it for another 6-12 hours before you mark out your lines and cut it into bars. The bars will have to be left to cure in an airy position (on a shelf with kitchen paper under - turning every week) for at least 4 weeks. This allows the soap to go hard. Now wrap (to keep the fragrance) or use straight away. Enjoy!

The mold you use can be anything apart from metal. If you want to cut up your soap into bars, try a common kitty litter tray, large tupperware container or large lunch box. You could also use a wooden box lined with plastic. If you want individual molds, you could use chocolate molds, old butter or dip containers, cream containers - basically anything that is not metal and is not smaller towards the top of the mold as you have to turn the soap out.

Almond meal - to unclog pores, absorb excess oil.
Aloe Vera Gel - healing, for burns or abrasions.
Bran - mild abrasive.
Calendula flowers - softens, for sensitive and dry skins, good for facial soaps. Use petals.
Carrots - vitamin A, E, B and C.
Chamomile flowers - astringent. Use tea.
Cinnamon - abrasive, antiseptic, provides longevity. Use ground.
Clay - Oily, dry skin, draws out, absorbs oil.
Cloves - antiseptic, use only small amount, ground.
Cocoa butter - emollient, soothing.
Coffee - absorbs odours, use fresh ground.
Cornmeal - absorbs oils, mildly abrasive, unclogs pores.
Cucumber - mild cleanser, astringent.
Ginger - warms the skin, use ground.
Honey - emollient, softens skin.
Kelp - iodine, vitamins, minerals, ocean scent, use powdered form.
Lavender - finely ground.
Lemon - juice, grated peels, dried granules, antibacterial, vitamin C.
Milk - softens.
Myrrh - antibacterial, powdered.
Nutmeg - powdered.
Oatmeal - soothes sensitive skin, use long cooking or rolled oats, grind.
Pumice - abrasive, use only finely ground.
Rosemary - mild astringent.
Rosin - preservative, good lather, dilute in oil.
Sage - antibacterial, astringent, use powdered.
Sand - abrasive, use fine.
Tea tree - healing.
Vitamin C - soothing, good for wrinkles.
Wheatgerm - mild abrasive, emollient.
Witchhazel - mildly astringent, cleanses, closes the pores.

It is very tempting to put big bits of herbs into your soap to keep the visual aspect, but what happens is as the soap is diminishing, bits of herbs will be half embedded in the soap and will actually start to go mouldy. If you want to put herbs in your soap, do so but first you must grind them up in a blender to a fairly small size. Go for it with mainly any herb grown.

If you want to keep your soap as natural as possible, try to use natural spices such as turmeric for yellow, paprika for orange, cocoa for brown, red clay or cinnamon for pink, green clay or chlorophyll for green. Mix the spice with a little bit of soap to dissolve, then add to the rest of the batch. You can also use standard grade food colouring. A little bit goes a long way. Mix thoroughly before pouring into molds. It will always come out lighter than when mixed.

Undoubtably the best way to scent your soap is with pure 100% essential oils. Use any single or blend of oils you wish. About 20 mls for this size batch.

You could use fragrant oils but they won't give you the healing properties of essential oils.

Try mixing essential oils with herbs, such as lavender oil with dried lavender, patchouli with poppy seeds, orange oil with orange peel, the options are endless and limited only to your imagination.

Use fresh ingredients such as avocado, carrot, cucumber, lettuce, lemon, apricot or strawberry. When using fresh ingredients you will have to add a preservative like benzoin (2 tsp) or grapefruit seed extract. Try to purify each ingredient by using a blender (add a little water if needed). Add after saponification.

Decal your soap with a decorative picture or design.

Make layered soap by colouring and adding each colour in layers. You will have to wait for each layer to go hard before adding the next. Try scenting each layer differently to create a unique soap.

Marble your soap by putting aside a small portion of your soap (still in liquid form) and colouring it. Pour the majority into the large mold and drizzle the coloured part over the top. Using a toothpick or skewer swirl the colour through to create a marbled effect.