How to Make Homemade Olive Oil Soap

Olive oil is ideal for skin since it contains ingredients to make skin soft and supple. Olive oil is rich in antioxidants which promote healthy skin.

If you’re suffering from dry rough skin then you should consider using soaps or body washes containing olive oil. Usually these types of soaps and body washes can be quite expensive. Because of the high cost some people make their own olive oil soap at home.

When making olive oil soap its best to use Grade A olive oil since this type of olive oil does well in soap making.

Before making the soap you should always wear gloves to protect your hands since you will be handling an ingredient which has the power to burn your skin. This ingredient is sodium hydroxide. In soap making sodium hydroxide is known as lye.

Ingredients:

• 5 cups water
• 2 ¼ cups lye (sodium hydroxide)
• 1 Pyrex or Stainless Steel bowl to mix the lye and water
• Wooden spoon
• 20 cups olive oil
• 1 (2 Gallon size) stainless steel or enamel pot

Method:

Mix the water and lye in the bowl using a wooden spoon. The mixture will be quite hot and produce fumes so be careful when stirring and handling it. Set aside in a safe place to cool once all the ingredients have been mixed.

Take the olive oil and heat in the pot until it reaches 100 degrees F. Use a thermometer check the temperature. If you’re unable to find a thermometer then turn the heat off when the outside of the pot feels warm.

Then gently pour the lye into the olive oil stirring the mixture continuously. Again be very careful and do not spill any of the mixture on your skin. You will have to stir until the mixture is of a smooth cosistency and is nice and thick. Unfortunately this can be time consuming when stirring by hand. The best alternative is to use a hand mixer or blender but you should use these appliances with care when mixing these ingredients. Take short breaks between each blending process so that the appliances do not get heated. Once you get a nice thick colorless mixture your ready to pour it into moulds. You can use a plastic container for a mould but make sure it has been greased with olive oil and it has a lid.

Pour the liquid into the plastic container and close with lid. An age old practice is to cover the container with a blanket. Once the soap has set remove from the container and cut into desired pieces. Wait for about 4 to 5 weeks before using the soap since it needs to age and be cured before it can be applied to the body. You can store the cut pieces of soap on a shelf which has been lined with brown paper. Make sure to keep the soap pieces in an area where there is good ventilation. This recipe makes about 4 ½ kilos of soap.