Soapmaking
Practical Action
Citron soap
Mix 180g shaved soap with 300g attar of citron, 15g lemon oil, 120g attar of bergamot and
60g attar of lemon.
Medicated soaps
Camphor soap
Dissolve 0.5 kg hard white soap in 1 cup boiling water. Continue boiling over a low heat until
the soap is the consistency of butter. Add 180g olive oil, mixed with 30g camphorated oil.
Remove it from the heat and beat until an emulsion forms. This soap can be used to clean
cuts and scratches.
Sulphur soap
Shave 60g soft soap and add 8g Flowers of Sulphur. Perfume and colour may be added as
desired. Mix the ingredients thoroughly in earthenware bowl.
Iodine soap
Dissolve 0.5 kg white, finely shaved soap in 90g distilled water or rose water. Add 30g
tincture of iodine. Put in double boiler, melt and mix by stirring.
Glossary
Lye, Lye water, potash lye - interchangeable terms for alkali made from wood ashes soaked
in water
Potash (caustic potash) - lye water evaporated to a powder.
Lime (or stone lime) - ground or agricultural limestone.
Quicklime - lime that has been baked.
Soda lye - quicklime slaked in water and heated with soda.
Soda - hydrated sodium carbonate.
Caustic soda - soda lye evaporated to a powder.
Commercial lye - usually caustic soda and is the equivalent of 'lye' in most recipes.
Equipment list
The following equipment is needed to make soap:
1. a large iron soap kettle for making soap in commercial quantities.
2. a long-handled wooden ladle to stir the soap.
3. a kitchen grater or a meat grinder to make soap flakes for laundry use or to grind soap
for some recipes.
4. flat wooden boxes, moulds or tubes, cut plastic bottles or plastic tubs, to mould the soap.
5. pieces of cloth to stop the soap sticking to the wooden moulds.
6. a plate on which to cool and test a few drops of the liquid soap.
Web resources
Soap-making: A short guide to the technical constraints. M. L. Allen, University of Auckland,
New Zealand.
Create a Basic Soap Recipe Starting From Scratch by David Fisher
Homemade Soap Recipes
Soap Production – Technologies Series Guide No 3, Centre for the Development of
Enterprise, Brussels, 1994. Free download available at:
Home Soap Making
Soap-Making Technology
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