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Using an organic natural baby soap on your child is not only safe for them but also for the environment as well. Such products contain no kinds of artificial ingredients, which are likely to cause irritation to their sensitive skin.
Today there are numerous different kinds of natural organic baby soaps that one can buy. But what you may find that where one soap suits one child it may not actually suit yours so you may need to try several before you find the right one. Yet even though you would be mainly using these kinds of soaps on your newborn baby these can also be used by other members of the family also.
The problem with actually purchasing commercially made organic soaps is that they are more expensive than other ones that are not. So if you would like to use only natural products on your child’s skin and save yourself money as well you could always have a go at making your own soap instead. All you will need is a few pieces of equipment including a couple of saucepans, some gloves and goggles as well as the natural ingredients. Below we take you through the steps of making your own natural organic baby soap.
Step 1 – You need to get together all the ingredients to make the soap. For this particular soap, you will need 15 ounces of organic olive oil, 5 ounces of organic palm oil, 5 ounces of organic coconut oil as well as 3.5 ounces of lye and 8 ounces of water.
Step 2 – Once you have already the ingredients together, you need to pour the water into the pan and to this very slowly add the lye. As the lye comes into contact with the water, you will notice that not only does it give off fumes but also causes the water to become hot. After you have added the lye to the water allow it to stand in a safe position under it has cooled down to room temperature.
Step 3 – After the lye mixture has reached room temperature, you now need to add the oils to this. But before you can do this, you will need to heat them up so place them all in the other pan and wait until they have reached the correct temperature. Using a thermometer will help you to know when the right temperature has been reached for the oils.
Step 4 – As soon as the oils have heated up you remove the pan from the heat and then very slowly begin to stir in the cooled down lye mixture. If you want, you can either mix the soap together by hand or use a stick blender instead. Blending the mixture together by hand will take around 1 hour before the mixture is ready to be poured into a soap mold. However using a blender can save you not only a lot of energy but time as well. You know when the mixture is ready becomes it has become much thicker and opaque to look at.
Step 5 – However if you are stirring the mixture by hand it can take up to an hour before the mixture is ready for being able to transfer to a soap mold. But once it is then you will need to leave your organic natural baby soap to stand for the next 24 hours in order for it to harden and then after this you will be able to use it.
{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
Lye? For baby soap? Yikes! I definitely would rather pay for an organic baby soap that have lye in it or use it on the stovetop at home. It is highly corrosive & caustic – not exactly something I’d want near my baby or myself. If you really want to make soap at home, use something gentler like glycerin – no need for protective eyewear, gloves or masks with that.
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Adanma Reply:
July 17th, 2009 at 8:11 pm
Cerise, have you ever made soap? Do you know anything about it? It doesn’t seem like you do. If you’re afraid of lye, soapmaking is not for you. However, if you are interested in using real, natural soap then you must use lye. Even the glycerin melt and pour base that you suggest was made with lye, or it is not real soap.
When you make soap the lye is consumed in the process. No lye is left, so it is not harsh on your skin. You may want to question what is in the stuff that you buy from the store.
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correction “I definitely would rather pay for an organic baby soap THAN have lye in it”.
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Lye is not for everyone. It’s an ingredient used in a lot of homemade soaps for years.
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In response to Cerise,
There is a saying in soap making that is completely true: No Lye No Soap. All soap is made with lye as it has been done for hundreds of years, long before all the chemicals we know today. Commercial soap, Organic Soap, and even your glycerin soap base blocks have lye in it. Those bases (for armatures) are created for people who don’t want to mix the lye themselves and so it’s already in there. The lye in homemade soap is neutralized after the gel phase is completed and has dried for about 4-6 weeks. The desire for homemade soap is not only cause it can be all natural but because it naturally makes glycerin in it. Commercial soaps remove that to make for a LONG shelf life. The lye its self isn’t your concern. What you need to look into with any soap is how much it is scented, are there fragrant oils? Essential oils? For a baby soap I would suggest no scent or limited and diluted scent. Also you need to look at the oils being used in a soap. Some oils in large uses are quite drying. Such as coconut oil (a great lather though). If searching for a baby soap I would suggest looking for one that is simple with ingredients and mainly olive oil bases. I hope this helps you. And in the future before rudely arguing with someone I imagine you don’t know I would suggest you educate yourself on the complete process of soap making, oils used and how they affect the body. I personally think this is a great recipe. I make a soap near close to this. Only I use palm kernel oil instead of palm.
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