Soap Making For Beginners: 7 Easy Soap Recipes

Do It Yourself / Frugal Living / Homemade Natural Beauty Products

homemade soap

Soap Making

Simple easy to follow beginner soap making recipes. Soap making is an easy DIY craft for beginners and advanced crafters alike. 

Soap

Soap is something we use everyday to wash your hands, clean your laundry, your dishes and your body.  You can save a ton of money by learning how to make your own soap.  Plus you could start making money with your homemade soap creations. 

How To Make Natural Soap

Homemade soap, soap made by hand or natural soap is made from water, lye, essential oils, as well as oils like olive oil and coconut oil.  Colored clay and herbs or flower petals can be added as well. 

DIY Natural Soap

Natural soap is made by cold press or cold process meaning the soap is mixed warm, poured into molds and cooled.  Once cooled and set the soap forms to the mold creating a soap bar or a soap slab which bars are cut from. 

Natural Soap Making

Making soap takes time and patience.  The chemical lye used in soap is caustic so please take precautions when following the recipes below. Melt and pour soap is also a homemade soap option if you do not want to mix chemicals.  You can still add essential oils, colors and flowers to melt and pour soaps. 

DIY Soap Making

Turning raw ingredients into beautiful homemade soap.  Anyone can learn to make soap in their kitchen.  Below you will find 7 beginner soap making recipes you can try. 

Soap Making Tools

You will need different pots and containers for your ingredients.  A thermometer and a food scale are required.  Gloves, towels and a clean work area is needed. Plus you will need soap molds.

Making Soap For Beginners

Lovely Greens has an amazing step by step introduction to soap making for beginners. 

Handmade Soap

In my opinion there is nothing better than a well crafted handmade bar of soap.  A bar of peppermint soap in the shower or a crushed coffee bean exfoliating bar of soap for the tough mornings, lavender chamomile soap to help get the little one to sleep.  The list can go on and on.  Your options for homemade soaps are endless and plentiful. 

Soap Making For Beginners

Soap making is not complicated it does require you to follow a recipe and to be creative.  It also requires patience.  Your soap will need time to cure so it won’t be ready right away. This is why soap is generally made in batches with several bars made at one time. A basic soap recipe requires soap making supplies. 

Ingredients In Homemade Soap

Essential Oils Used In Homemade Soap

Essential oils give handmade soap it’s scent and it’s added healthy benefits.  Like peppermint soap to help wake you up in the morning. Or lavender to calm a child at evening bath time.  Or lemon to help cut through the kitchen grease. 

Homemade Soap Recipe

Castile soap is a simplistic use for anything bar of soap.  Think Dr. Bonner’s castile soap.  It has only a few ingredients but cleans well naturally. And can be used in the kitchen, the bathroom, the baby’s bath, the laundry room and in the mudroom. The Soap Queen has a great homemade castile soap recipe you can make at home. 

beginner soap making recipes

7 Easy Soap Recipes

Lovely Lemon Balm Soap – Garden Therapy

Manly Soap – Three Boys & A Dog

Rosemary Citrus Goats Milk Soap – Living Well Mom

Aloe Vera Facial Soap – Nerdy Farm Wife

Citrus Summer Swirl Soap – Humblebee & Me

Earl Grey Soap – Lovely Greens

Lavender Oatmeal Soap – Heather LeGuilloux

Easy Melt And Pour Soaps

Melt and pour soaps are the best way to make homemade soaps without using lye. And it’s real easy to do. You simply melt your soap base, add the essential oils and other additives you want like herbs or flowers, pour into the soap molds and let it cure. Melt and pour soaps are perfect beginner soap recipes. 

Best Soap Making Kits

DIY Soap Bars

Making your own bars of soap allows you to pick and choose the scents, the ingredients and the color.  It also gives you a creative outlet, a way to make extra money and a great way to save money.

Does Making Your Own Soap Save Money?

Yes, when natural bars of soap cost $5.99 and up in the grocery store and you can make your own for less.  You are saving money making your own soap from scratch. 

Popular Melt & Pour Soap Bases

Goats Milk Melt & Pour Soap Base 

Shea Butter Melt & Pour Soap Base

Clear Glycerin Melt & Pour Soap Base

Natural Soap Versus Commercial Soap

Do you save money when you compare the cost of natural soap to the cost of main stream commercial brands of soap?  No, but the quality of commercial bar soap is nothing compared to the small batch natural soaps you can make at home. Natural soaps are better for you and your body.

Making Your Own Soap

Above we listed off some amazing beginner soap recipes.  If you are looking for more soap recipes to try The Natural Soap Making Book is a great book for beginner soap makers.

Making Your Own Laundry Soap

Did you know you can make your own laundry soap and it will save you a ton of money?  There are numerous DIY laundry soap recipes out there with this recipe being one of the most popular. 

Making Your Own Foam Soap

It is not uncommon for people to use liquid hand soap in the bathroom and kitchen but this can get expensive.  Swapping over to a foam hand soap dispenser can save you money and soap. 

Foaming Soap

Making foam soap is real simple you need to add a small amount of any liquid soap to the foam soap dispenser bottle and fill remaining with water leaving room at the top for air and foam action.  Screw the lid on and give the bottle a shake and you are good to go.  Dollar for dollar you will save money and use less soap.

Does DIY Soap Save Money?

From a frugal stand point making your own DIY bars of soap, laundry soap and foam soap will help you save money, live cleaner and cut down on waste. 

Making Extra Money With Homemade Soap

Once you have learned how to make homemade bars of soap you can begin selling them at your local farmers market, to friends or online to make an extra income.  Soap making is a great business for moms to make extra money.  

Selling Soap

I have also seen some people make a great business out of homemade laundry soap and other bath and kitchen related products.  People love homemade natural products. 

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Updated July 4, 2021

Soap Making For Beginners: 7 Easy Soap Recipes