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4.86 from 7 votes

Natural Glycerin Soap Bar Recipe

A natural glycerin soap bar recipe for moisturizing skin.
Prep Time20 minutes
Cook Time4 hours
Total Time4 hours 20 minutes
Author: Laura Ascher

Equipment

  • Immersion or stick blender
  • Digital kitchen scale
  • Safety goggles and gloves
  • Heat resistant jar
  • Crockpot

Ingredients

Part I (steps 1-6)

part II (steps 7-8)

Part III (steps 9-14)

  • ¼ cup sugar
  • ½ cup water
  • 30-50 drops essential oils optional

Instructions

  • Use the digital scale to measure out correct amounts. Add water to the heat-resistant glass. Slowly add the lye to the water (Note: never add water to lye), stir until dissolved, set aside.
  • Melt fats and oils on low heat in either a crockpot or saucepan.
  • Once melted, remove from heat and allow to cool to 100°F.
  • Once the oils have cooled to the correct temp, pour the lye water in with the oils. Mix with an immersion blender until it comes to a trace. Check trace by letting the mixture drip off the blender; it is ready if it pools up on the top.  
  • At this point, if you were using a saucepan, transfer everything to a crockpot.
  • Cover the crockpot with plastic wrap and set it to "warm" for approximately 2 hours. My crockpot gets too hot on the low setting, so I found it best to use the warm setting. 
  • After the 2 hours have elapsed, add the alcohol and glycerin to the crockpot stirring in with the immersion blender until smooth.
  • Allow the soap to sit in the crockpot on warm for an additional 2 hours uncovered.
  • After the final 2 hours, dissolve the sugar in the water.  
  • Remove the pot from the base, stir in the dissolved sugar water.
  • If using essential oils, add them in now. If using any coloring, jojoba beads, or dried flowers, they can be added in now.
  • Pour the soap into soap molds. 
  • Allow the soap to set and harden in the molds before popping them out. This can take 2-3 days, depending on the size of the bars.
  • Once the soap bars are popped out, they will need to cure in a cool dark place for 4 weeks before using them.

Notes

When working with lye, wear protective clothing, gloves, a mask, and goggles. Always work in a well-ventilated room away from children and pets. 
Use heat-resistant and lye-resistant containers for mixing. Not all containers can handle the soapmaking process.
This DIY has quite a few steps! I suggest checking out the process step images in the post above and watching the video before making this soap!