Make Your Own Stain Removing Soap

We make a great stain buster soap. It is the perfect soap to have on hand to get out stains. I use it on carpet spots as well. Today we are going to share how to make it, what could be better than that?!

First let me get any warnings out of the way. Soap is rather easy to make, but that does not mean it is totally harmless. To make soap, you must use lye. Lye reacts with oils in a process known as saponification, to create soap. I will say, you should not fear lye, but you must respect it. It has to be handled properly. You should always wear protective gloves and eyewear when working with lye. It is also a good idea to have some vinegar on hand, because vinegar will neutralize the lye if you happen to spill any. It should ALWAYS be kept away from children. If you take these precautions, then it is really fun to work with.

So let's get started. First you must purchase your supplies. For this recipe you will need:
an empty container (I find the cream containers work well for this purpose)
8.41 ounces of Palm Oil
4.20 ounces of Coconut Oil
4.20 of Olive Oil
2.36 ounces of Sodium Hydroxide
.1 ounce of borax
and 5.85 ounces of water.

You can buy the  Borax, Coconut oil and Olive Oil at most grocery stores. You can get the Palm Oil and Sodium Hydroxide from thechemistrystore.com.  They run a great business and have good prices.
There are other soap ingredient suppliers like brambleberry.com or wholesalesuppliesplus.com if you want to shop around.

Other items you may want to consider if you don't have them are disposible or soapers gloves, a stick mixer,  a thermometer (even though temp. does not have to be exact) a scale that weighs ounces, and protective eyewear.

Once you have all your items collected you are ready to begin.

 You will also need two seperate containers to mix your lye/water and oils and soap in.  These must be plastic, silicone, glass, or stainless steel. You MAY NOT use any other metals as they will react to the soap.

Start by putting on your protective gear.




Measure your water out into one container and your lye in a small dish.

Add your Lye to your water..... Never the other way around. If you add water to lye you will get a mild explosive reaction which you do not want.
When you add the lye to water, stir until dissolved.  This mixture will turn hot  (over 200 degrees) so
have it sitting on the counter, do not hold the container. Be sure your spoon is not metal.

Let that sit.

Weigh out and melt your oils together in a separate container (oils can be melted in the microwave or over a double boiler).

When both your lye/water and your oils are about 110 degrees, add your borax to the lye/water mix and stir, then  you are ready to combine the oils and water.
*If you did not buy a thermometer, you can tell when you can put your hand on the outside of their containers and they feel warm but not too hot.

Pour the oil into lye/water mix and stir with a stick blender. If you opted not to buy one, don't worry you can mix with a spoon (non metal) it will just take longer. You mix until it looks a bit like thin pudding. You can tell this buy lifting the mixer up and you should be able to just see a slight ring from the mixer.  This is called the trace.

Then pour this mix into your empty cream container or mold of your choice. I slit the box at the corners so I could fold down the top and tape shut. Cover with a blanket or towels to keep warm. Let this sit in a warm place undisturbed for 24 hours. Then Voila!! You have soap!! Really quite easy once you get the hang of it. And for those who love the idea, but don't have the time, we do sell the soap in our shop.