Making Soap

Last week I told Matt I was going to make soap and he laughed at me and said, “That’s a very Portland thing to do.” Maybe it is but I thought I’d give it a try. I took a recipe I found on pinterest and altered it because of some of the comments. I’ve been trying to get the ingredients to make the soap for weeks but everywhere I went to find the glycerin to put in it I found blank stares. The original blog said you could find it at any drug store or Target but apparently not in Portland. One lady at Target said they had glycerin enemas to which I promptly said “no thanks, not exactly what I’m looking for.” Yikes. Who knew making soap could be such an adventure.

I finally found my glycerin at New Seasons. I forgot to look at how much I needed before buying it so now I have a lifetime supply I think, but that’s okay; I can make soap for years now.

All you need to make hand soap is:

2 tablespoons glycerin

8 cups water

1 cup grated bar of soap (I used a lavender bar I had been given)

So easy! I used my Salad Shooter to grate the soap, put all the ingredients in a pot on the stove, cook it over Medium until all the soap is melted and pour it into a jug for storing. I of course used a juice jug (recycling is key) and let it set a few days before using. It thickened up after sitting.

It’s not as thick as some soaps and doesn’t foam up when using it but I’m pretty sure it’s not the bubbles that clean your hands anyway. Cheap, Easy, and smells terrific.

To go with my new hand soap I also made a new soap jar that you can find instructions for here.