Making soap can be a complex and quite expensive process but you can make fresh soap from the bits of soap that get left in the washroom. Most of us throw away the end of the soap bar when it gets thin, and switch to a new bar. You can buy very cheap soap and make it into something special, too.
If you don’t want to get involved with all those chemicals, there is a fast and simple way to make your own perfumed soaps.
Save the bits in a container as the base for new soap bars. Grate the pieces and some more cheap unperfumed soap into a container, or use some of those pure soap flakes that you get for washing baby clothes.
Making the soap from here is simplicity itself and you don’t have to handle dangerous chemicals like caustic soda to get your own designer soap. The only thing you need to be careful with is the amount of fluid you add to your grated soap, because some base soap may be harder than others.
Once you have you soap grated, put it into the top of a double boiler, or if you do not have one of those, put the soap in a bowl over a pan of boiling water. Add a couple of teaspoons of boiling water (you can add more if you need to but remember that you cannot take it out.). It usually takes a bit more water than you think to get a good final result. You need to judge amounts for yourself and make a note of what you added so that you can adapt the recipe if you want to make it again.
The grated soap can take a couple of hours to melt. Once it has melted so that it trickles from the spoon, turn off the heat and stir as it cools and becomes thick again. Add anything else you want including essential oil, perfume, sand (good for exfoliating), herbs, or whatever you want to use. Mix very well and then pour into moulds and allow to set.
I used up some perfume that was too strong for me to wear but it made fabulous soap; and then made soap balls instead of putting the soap into moulds. I then wrapped each one in fine pink crepe and tied it with a ribbon. These make wonderful gifts and you know that the person receiving it will never have had anything like it before.
This can save you a lot of money if you like luxury soap, because you can make it for the price of cheap stuff and it will also save you money on gifts. Use up the perfume in those almost-empty perfume bottles and little bits of fragrance oil left in containers. Soap made with perfume is fabulous and feels so luxurious to use.
