Shea Butter Soap Recipe - The Cold Process
Making soap from scratch is an adventure in itself but very rewarding! Learn how to make shea butter soap with the cold process method.
Materials
- 64 g sodium hydroxide (LYE)
- 120 g filtered water
- 145 g coconut oil
- 55 g organic shea butter
- 225 g olive oil
- 30 g castor oil
Instructions
- Protect yourself against lye as it is corrosive. Wear long-sleeves, pants, shoes, eye protection and rubber gloves.
- Put the water in a deep pot. Dissolve the lye (Sodium hydroxide) crystals in the water and stir well. Make sure you do not breathe the fumes as they are toxic and do this in a place that is well ventilated (by an open window for example), away from children or pets.
- Leave the lye-solution in a safe place like your sink filled with cold water so it cools down.
- Melt the butter and oils in a double boiler on low heat. When melted, remove from the heat.
- This is an important step, you need to measure the temperatures of the lye-water and the oils and they should be both around 100°F / 38°C.
- Then, carefully pour the lye solution into the pot of oils where you will be making soap. Make sure the pan is deep enough. Dip your immersion blender into the pan all the way at the bottom to avoid splashes and with it turned off, gently stir the mixture until it is well blended.
- Blitz the mixture for just a couple of seconds. Turn it off and stir the soap batter, using the blender as a spoon. Repeat until the mixture thickens and reaches what we call 'Trace'. This is when the soap batter leaves trails or "traces" on the surface. The consistency should be like thin custard at first but it will thicken quickly so make sure to work fast after this point.
- Pour the soap into the mold and leave it on the same safe surface for a week.
- Please note that soaps that are high in olive oil tend to be soft at the beginning and turn very hard once the curing phase is over. After unmolding the soap, you will need to cure them for six weeks. Do not touch them and leave them alone in a dark airy place so the soap hardens.
- Once the 6 weeks are over, you can then cut your soap and enjoy them! If they are still a bit wet, then leave them for another 2 weeks to dry.
Notes
IMPORTANT: Always put the sodium hydroxide in the water, never the other way around! Do not inhale the vapors. The liquid quickly becomes very hot and the cup should be placed in a cold water bath in the sink, to cool the lye solution.