Here is the recipe for a typical batch of soap. Not listed are the scent(s) added. This batch was scented with orange essential oil.
To make soap, the oils and fats are heated until they melt, then cooled to under 100 degrees F. The water (always first into the mixing pot) and then the lye are mixed and also similarly cooled (the dissolving lye generates a lot of heat - be careful). The liquid fats and the dissolved lye are mixed together and poured into mold(s) when the mixture starts to thicken.
Batch #214 Date: August 21, 2012
Castor Oil 2
Almond Oil 6
Sesame Oil 6
Coconut Oil 16
Mango Butter 8
Shea Butter 8
Olive Oil 10
Lye 7.72
Lye Discount 7.0%
Water 20
All fat and lye weights are in avoirdupois ounces.
The water is in liquid ounces.
Castor oil makes lather.
Coconut oil makes suds.
The rest of the oils are good for the skin.
Note: Always use the most accurate scale you can afford. I paid $180 for my triple-beam balance, and no one has ever been burned by my soap.
Plus I test it on my own hands before giving it away.
The Powderscales-deluxe-plus will probably cause a visit from the drug squad. (Joke).
We used scales like that when we used to load our own Ammo.
A project for next week. :D
Anyone else considering making their own homemade lye soap should probably follow the advice given decades ago in The Mother Earth News, and wear rubber gloves when washing their hands.
With this formula, TOL, you could have been the Bill Gates of the Roman Empire! You could have even founded a soap company called Micro Soft.