Liquid Soap Making - A Great Starter Soap For Beginners

The art of liquid soap making is probably one of the easiest ways to make your own soap at home. It's easy because melting down old pieces of soap, or even an entire bar is quick and simple. Liquid soap in it's simplest form is bar soap that has had water added to it, until you have nothing but liquid left. The only tools you will require are a pot, a measuring cup and a stove to heat everything.

You can also take it up a notch yet still keep it simple, by adding some fragrances to your soap or essential oils along with a bit of coloring. For the most part though, liquid soaps are usually put into a container where you use a hand pump and for the most part these are not normally see-through, so color does not necessarily have to be a consideration.

The first thing you do for liquid soap making is to take a bar of soap, or even old pieces, and grate them as finely as possible. When they get too small use a knife to cut them up, making sure to get it as fine as possible. The next step is to put the grated soap into a cup with measurements on the side and add water to equal the amount of grated soap.

The most difficult part of liquid soap making is the diluting process. If you use too little liquid then you may see your soap start to form a skin or it globs up in the bottle. If you add too much liquid then you won't see a good lather.

It's important to make sure you follow your recipe to the letter or you will run into problems. For the most part liquid soap making is the easiest of all the soaps that you can make at home. Knowing this, you will probably be fine and your recipe will work each time.

One of the most common reasons these days to use liquid soap is to help stop the spread of germs. With the recent flu scare, people in Mexico City started using anti-bacterial soap and washing their hand as often as possible. The result, besides helping to stop the spread of the flu germ, was a forty percent decrease in gastrointestinal problems. Nowadays it should be common practice for every sink to have some kind of liquid soap on the side for cleanliness as well as protection during flu seasons.

With liquid soap you can add any number of essential oils that also serve as anti-bacterial agents. Oregano and tea tree oil are both great for this, but there are also many others to choose from. You can even blend them with other essential oils for an even more pleasant smell and yet still have an effective product. One note of caution.

It is not advisable to use perfumed fragrances in combination with essential oils and still expect to have an effective product. You also need to take into consideration that if guests are using the liquid soap, and they have skin problems, then perfumed soap may not be to their liking. For guest bathrooms it is suggested that you stick to all-natural ingredients whenever possible.

One thing that recently has become very popular is liquid face soap. My favorite is goat's milk. A simple recipe is to reduce your water content by about eight ounces, then add 0.2 ounces of potassium hydroxide for every twelve ounces of goat's milk. This will cause the goat's milk fat to saponify. It's that simple and you will have a fantastic face soap that can easily be used on a daily basis.

The main thing to remember with liquid soap making is that it is the simplest technique around and probably the most foolproof. It's a great way to get started making soap, or introducing your children to the wonderful world of soapmaking at home.

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