From the moment you discover some of the main advantages of using a homemade soap, it is most likely that from that moment on you will never stop doing it. It is an unbeatable option, not only for the fact that it uses mostly natural ingredients, but also because you can make it yourself at home. Also, once you try how it is and what it is made of, you discover that soap making tends to be quite addictive. There are, in fact, countless recipes and useful options to fully customize the soap, useful to suit our needs, tastes and desires.
(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});
In this sense, for example, it is perfectly possible to make a soap with a masculine smell or aroma, ideal especially if you are not so enthusiastic about the homemade soaps that you can find in the supermarket (with much softer and more delicate fragrances). Do you dare to make some recipes with us?
The help of bleach
Before proceeding to offer you some of the most useful and interesting recipes, we must bear in mind that lye becomes an essential part of the soap-making equation, since this is, ultimately, the result of a chemical reaction between lye (which has been activated by the presence of water), and an oil or animal fat. It is a chemical process known as saponification.
(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});
In fact, in most cases it is not possible to make our soap from scratch without bleach. But if you’re worried about using it, the reality is that with a well calculated and planned recipe, there will actually be absolutely no lye left in the final product.
Of course, it is necessary to take into account some safety precautions before getting down to work. And, basically, here we summarize some of the most important ones:
- If you have children at home, the best thing to do when you go to work with bleach is to wait until they are not at home or are sleeping so that you can handle it without distractions. In fact, it should always be used when they are not around.
- Use, always, always, protective glasses and rubber gloves, as well as shirts that cover the arms (that is, with long sleeves).
- It is essential that you have a clean work space.
- Always mix the bleach in an area with good ventilation. For example, you can do it on your terrace or in a backyard.
- Always add the bleach to the water, and never the other way around.
Useful ingredients to make our men’s soap
As we have mentioned before, there is actually a huge variety of ingredients that we can use when making our soap. But, this time, we have chosen some that not only have moisturizing capacity, but will also offer you a lot of foam when you bathe:
- Tallow (animal fat)
- Olive oil
- Castor oil
- Coconut oil
- Beeswax
- Essential oils: essential oils of cinnamon, orange, patchouli and clove.
And what qualities do these ingredients offer us when we apply the soap to our skin?:
Olive oil. It is a classic soap ingredient. It helps give the bar of soap a somewhat smoother texture. In addition, it stands out for being very moisturizing.
(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});
Coconut oil. Provides a wonderful foam. Plus, it’s equally moisturizing.
Castor oil. It is ideal to use in any soap recipe when using coconut oil, as it helps stabilize the lather produced by the coconut oil.
Beeswax. It brings some sweetness to our bar soap.
Essential oils. Free selection that will provide the desired aroma to the soap. On this occasion we have chosen a much more spicy aroma for our soap, ideal for men.
(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});
kaffir lime bergamot soap shampoo in bottle
Supplies needed to make soap
The best thing is to try to avoid not using kitchen utensils, and if you plan to make soap from time to time, choose to have them individually, so you never use them in the kitchen again:
- Large, high-quality plastic container for mixing bleach and water.
- A second disposable high-quality plastic container to measure the lye.
- Slow cooker to heat the oils.
- Small glass container to measure essential oils.
- Digital infrared thermometer.
- Moulds for soap.
- Immersion blender.
- Spoon to mix the bleach.
- Spatula.
- Protective gloves and glasses.
- Vinegar (for final cleaning).
So, how to make my men’s soap? Recipe for our spiced soap for men
Ingredients:
- 340 gr of olive oil
- 127 gr. coconut oil
- 56 gr of castor oil
- 42 gr of beeswax
- 309 g of distilled water
- 124 gr of bleach
- 42 gr of orange essential oil
- 11 gr of patchouli essential oil
- 22 drops of cinnamon essential oil
- 15 drops of clove essential oil
Preparation:
(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});
- We will start preparing our mold. To do this, if for example you are using a wooden mold, you should cover it with waxed paper (ideally, especially for comfort, is to opt for silicone molds).
- Using your protective gear, place the container on the scale. Pour distilled water into the jar. Book it.
- Place the second bottle on the scale. Wearing your protective gear, carefully pour the bleach into the container. Take the two containers and the spoon out of the house. Carefully slowly pour the lye into the water. Shake the mixture well. It will get quite hot so be careful. Then let the mixture sit and cool to about 100 degrees.
- While the lye is cooling, measure out all the ingredients except the essential oils. And put them to heat in a slow cooker. The beeswax will take longer to melt, but when it does, remove the oils from the heat and allow them to cool to 100 degrees. With the help of an infrared thermometer, check the temperature every 5 to 10 minutes. Ideally, the lye water and oils should be around 100 degrees.
- When the temperatures match, slowly pour the lye/water into the oils. With the help of an immersion blender mix a little. It should be slightly thick, similar to a cake batter.
- If you are going to use essential oils, now is the ideal time to add them.
- Mix the essential oils with the help of a blender.
- Pour the soap mass into our silicone molds. Then place a cardboard box on top of the soap, and cover it with a towel. Let stand for 24 hours. Then you can unmold the soap and cut it.
- Finally, place the bars in a dry area with some space between them, and let them rest for 4 to 6 weeks.
