The Perfect INS 160 Soap Recipe

It took me half an afternoon of trial and error on this soap calculator to derive this recipe a couple of years ago. This soap recipe is vegan. www.thesoapcalculator.com

If you are living with a parent or guardian make sure that you get permission first.

Warning:

1. Lye or Sodium Hydroxide and Potassium Hydroxide is corrosive and very dangerous. Always wear gloves, protective eye wear and protective clothing including closed shoes when handling lye. Mix your lye solution outside to avoid toxic fumes and vapours.

Make sure you do Not get it on your skin or eyes or any part of your body. Have a bottle of white vinegar on standby as lye is corrosive.

1. Never Use Metal bowls, metal spoons, metal utensils that involves lye or in this recipe, (to use for) the lye solution. Metal reacts badly with the lye and heats up which will cause a hazardous situation.

2. Please follow all the instructions with caution and having an accurate set of scales or digital scales is crucial.

3. Do not make soap around children or unrestrained pets.

Ingredients

Coconut Oil, 76°F 41 grams
Olive Oil 36 grams
Rice Bran Oil 23 grams
Water (bottled) 33 grams
Aromatherapy essential oils of your choice
Lye
(KOH) Potassium Hydroxide ash crystals 21 grams
OR
(NaOH) Sodium Hydroxide 15 grams
Ice cubes

Please note for above ingredients that the oils are specifically coconut oil and not virgin coconut oil, olive oil and not virgin olive oil etc. Do not substitute other oils for this recipe as it will not work the same. The recipe needs this specifically because of the consistency and constitution of the soap.

Also do not use tap water to use in your soap, as it will likely have metals in it. Use bottled water or rain water that contains zero metals.

There are 2 types of lye. Potassium Hydroxide and Sodium Hydroxide. Make sure you use the right measurement for the type of lye you are using. Choose one type of lye only. There are two different measurements of lye in the ingredients. You will use one measurement or the other according to the type of lye you have.

Equipment and utensils

Correct closed in foot wear
Protective eye goggles
Gloves
Protective clothing
Bottle of White Vinegar in case you get lye on you

Soap moulds or loaf tin
Baking paper
1 large plastic or glass bowl
1 casserole glass dish (or another large plastic or glass bowl)
1 medium glass bowl (glass for double boiler method)
Scales for weighing ingredients
2 Spatulas (preferably different colours)
Medium Smallish Saucepan (for heating oils using double boiler method only)
Infrared thermometre
Electric egg beater or electric hand mixer

1. Put protective gear on
2. Line soap moulds or loaf tin with baking paper
3. Prepare the saucepan with water in it, about half way or a little less. You can use tap water for the saucepan as it will not be going in the recipe.
4. Measure out the 33 grams of water (not containing metals) into the large plastic or glass bowl. You may also make it a tea solution but it has to end up as 33 grams of solution.
5. Measure coconut oil, olive oil and rice bran oil into the medium glass bowl.
6. Measure the lye crystals out and keep it separate from your water.
7. Take the bowl containing 33 grams of solution, the casserole dish (or other large bowl) outside with the measured crystals.

Meanwhile... Outside: Making The Lye Solution

Casserole Dish or other large bowl
Large bowl with measured water in
1 Spatula
Measured Lye crystals
Ice cubes
White Vinegar bottle

1. Set up your ice bath. Fill the casserole dish or other large bowl with ice and water.
2. Place the large bowl with the 33 grams of measured water into the ice bath. And wait a few minutes. The water has to be cold because as soon as the lye is added to the water it heats up very quickly and dangerously.
3. Sprinkle a very small amount of lye crystals into the 33 grams of water and stir in thoroughly with the spatula and slowly until you can tell it has cooled off. Continue doing this in very small amounts at a time until all dissolved. Remember to add slowly and wait each time.

Once you have dissolved all your lye crystals in the water it is still highly dangerous. Take caution and clean up the area.

1. Lid is on the bottle of lye tightly
2. Hose down the area or neutralise with bottle of white vinegar.
3. Clean off all utensils

Once you are satisfied with restoring your work space to a safe environment, set aside the lye solution to cool off. Make sure that the lye solution you have just made is within your vicinity of supervision. (Continue wearing your gloves and protective gear until the end of the method).

Melt Oils

Medium Smallish Saucepan half filled with water
2nd Spatula
Medium glass bowl
Oils

1. Pour the measured oils into the medium bowl.
2. Place saucepan with water in it over stove and medium glass bowl of oils onto the brim of the saucepan. The bowl should not touch the bottom of the saucepan. (Otherwise the bowl is too small)
3. Bring the water to a boil under the bowl and then turn it down to about medium in order to heat up the oils in the bowl. Stir the oils gradually with the 2nd spatula while they warm and blend. This is the double boiler method. Do not bring oils to a boil. Warm using this method gently.
4. Set aside to cool once all the oils have melted properly and are very warm. Turn off stove.

Make sure that both lye bowl and oil bowl doesn't cool off too much so as to prevent a false trace.

Check on the temperature of both bowls from time to time. When they have cooled down to about room temperature check the temperature so that it is within 10°F of each other. Add your aromatherapy essential oils and food or soap dye to the melted oils bowl.

Add Oils to Lye Solution

Infrared Thermometre
Electric Beater or Hand Mixer
2nd Spatula
Oils bowl
Lye solution bowl

1. Use the 2nd spatula to scrape the contents of the oils bowl directly into the lye solution and without delay. Use your electric beater or hand mixer while NOT switched on to stir the solutions through initially.
2. On a low setting, start mixing the solutions together and gradually increase the speed. This should only take 5-7 minutes if you checked the temperatures properly.
3. You are looking for a pudding type consistency. A trace is where you can trace the beater through the mixture and there will be a mark or trace left over briefly for a couple of seconds.
4. Once pudding consistency has been reached, pour mixture off into the lined soap moulds or lined loaf tin. Allow to set for 24 hours.

Storing Your Soap

After 24 hours, transfer your soap out of the moulds or loaf tin into plastic storage containers. If you are using a loaf tin, cut your soap into bars and then store away.

Store in a cool, dark place like a cupboard to cure for 2 months. Do not use before this time as the soap will continue to saponify (saponification process) for the 2 month period. It will still be alkali rich and not suitable to use.
N.B. Some other soap recipes can take between 4-6 weeks to cure but not this recipe.

Saponification is a process that involves conversion of fat or oil into soap and alcohol by the action of heat in the presence of aqueous alkali (e.g. NaOH).

For hypersensitive skin moisturising bars you should try to keep it between pH 5.5 -6.5
The difference between a laundry bar and a moisturising soap depends on the cleansing action of the soap. The laundry bar has a harsher and cleaner cleansing action to use for your laundry. Whereas a moisturising bar is more suitable for bathing and using on your skin.

You can add herbs, oils, tea leaves, aloe vera, honey, aromatherapy essential oils etc. to this soap recipe to compensate the bars cleansing action with a moisturising component. The soap calculators usually do not take into account any extra ingredients like these to calculate the INS value of a soap. For example, The Soap Calculator calculates the amount of lye needed for saponification according to the base oils:

Coconut Oil
Olive Oil
Rice Bran Oil

and the amount of water used

Then it calculates the amount of lye needed for your recipe. Add extra ingredients of your choice. Sailor soap is a soap that you can use to wash with in the sea. It has a very high moisturising action.