Making bathroom soaps in an artisanal way is a great start for anyone who wants to experiment with self-production as it consists of a very easy process that allows you to customize them with your favorite natural ingredients.
You can indulge yourself both in the shapes and in the fragrances by creating handmade soaps that also become an excellent gift idea, not only an original one but above all "made to measure" for the person to whom you give them.
The advantages in the production of natural soaps at home are many:
- It allows for economic savings as the raw materials we use have lower costs than the finished product we buy in the store;
- It represents a moment of personal or even family creativity, especially if children are involved;
- It pays attention to the environment because it is 100% biodegradable products and made at zero kilometer, not to mention the fact that in this way we avoid the purchase of soaps made at an industrial level whose production often involves a certain amount of pollution.
Furthermore, unlike many industrial soaps which sometimes contain skin irritants, homemade soaps are truly natural because we decide the ingredients and follow the entire manufacturing process.
In this article we propose a very simple procedure that does not involve the use of caustic soda (a very dangerous substance whose vapors corrode both the eyes and the skin), but uses pure Marseille soap that can be easily purchased in herbal medicine, at the supermarket or online.
Marseille soap is a type of soap with very ancient origins based on extra virgin olive oil which, in its composition, has no chemical additives or synthetic substances. It is therefore a 100% natural cleansing product.
To recognize the real Marseille soap, you have to look at the INCI (International Nomenclature of Cosmetic Ingredients) ingredients on the label and check that the percentage of olive oil (sodium olivate) is at least 72%, otherwise we are not in front of the product authentic.
Ingredients for natural soap without caustic soda
- 250 ml pure Marseille soap without fragrance;
- 220 ml of distilled water;
- 11 ml of a vegetable oil (of any type such as olive oil, seed oil, almond oil, jojoba oil etc ...);
- 6 drops of essential oil of the fragrance we prefer.
We can make the soap colored and original according to our tastes by adding spices or natural dyes as desired.
Process for natural homemade soaps
Before starting we must equip ourselves with the right tools which consist of a grater, a saucepan, a wooden ladle and molds, absolutely avoiding those in aluminum or more generally in metal.
Plastic molds (covered with tissue paper or parchment paper) or silicone molds are preferred as they allow the soap to be extracted easily and do not alter their composition.
The procedure is really simple and it's a bit like following a cooking recipe:
- We use the grater (or a knife) to make the Marseille soap flakes and let it melt by placing it in a bain-marie in a saucepan, stirring with a wooden ladle until it becomes very thick;
- We add the distilled water a little at a time, always continuing to mix, then also add the vegetable oil and the drops of essential oil. Finally we add spices or coloring substances if we opt to give a touch of originality to the soap;
- When we realize that the mixture is homogeneous and that it has a certain consistency, then we turn off the heat and pour the mixture into the molds.
We cover the molds (e.g. with old blankets) so that they retain the heat as long as possible and leave everything to rest preferably in the dark in a cool and dry place for 6-8 weeks, after which our soap bars will be ready to use.