The oldest of all cleaning products is yes you got it right homemade soaps. Before Proctor and Gamble came along, people made their own soap and were quite serious about it. Soap making, get-togethers were a part of pioneer life. Soap making is a simple process, using very basic ingredients, but it requires complete concentration, time, patience, and practice. It’s very satisfying to use your own homemade organic soaps, and nothing smells or feels quite as clean, They also are great for acne prone skin and make unique gifts for friends and family.

There are many good books on people claiming to offer the best soap making tips. and some community centers offer soap-making classes. The best way to learn about making soap is to keep practicing. I don’t want to tell you what my first acne soap bar looked like, but I can assure you it wasn’t a lovely white bar.

The 2 basic ingredients for making homemade soap are fat and lye. Fat can be derived from a number of sources i.e. beef fat, or tallow, and vegetable oils are the most common. Lye, or caustic soda, can be found in the plumbing section in any hardware or grocery store. Only use products that are 100% lye for soap making. You can also purchase lye from chemical supply houses under the name of sodium hydroxide, but it is more expensive. Always handle lye with extreme care—it can cause severe burns.

The chemical process for making homemade soap is called saponification, and the key to its success is temperature. The lye, mixed with cold water, must cool down to a certain temperature (when lye is mixed with water, the temperature rises to over 200 degrees F.), and the fat/oils must be heated up to a certain temperature. When the temperatures are right, the oil is saponified into soap by the lye.

This process can take hours or even days; good soap is best if aged for at least a month. The recipes I have included in this section are basic soaps to help you get started in the art of soap making. Read through the recipes carefully, and make sure you have all the ingredients before beginning. Be sure to follow the basic storage guidelines provided.




   This recipe makes a good basic bar of homemade soap. Tallow, or fat, can be obtained from a variety of sources.  I like to collect clean fat at home as I cook (before cooking, trim off clean beef or pork fat) and save it in the freezer until I am ready to make soap. You can also get it from your butcher or from tallow shops. The addition of borax is not necessary, although it can improve the appearance and lathering action of the soap.


   The Castile region of Spain is know for its production of fine olive oil. Soap given the castile name must contain 40 percent olive oil. You will see this soap  sold in many natural food and health food stores in both liquid and bar form. It is especially mild and gentle because it is made form vegetable products. I use this soap on my own skin as well, you can also use it to wash your hair.