I have to look up this recipe every time I think about making 100% coconut soap so that I can make laundry butter - which I haven't done because I'm waiting for my mold to come in to pour the 100% mixture into to make stain sticks a long with my soap bars. That mold should arrive tomorrow (fingers crossed) so I'm putting this recipe where I can find it - in my blog.
Before someone asks, and they alway do:
YOU CANNOT MAKE SOAP WITHOUT LYE.
YOU MUST HAVE LYE TO MAKE SOAP.
NO LYE = NO SOAP!
Please remember that lye is very caustic so handle it carefully. Wear protective eye wear and rubber gloves. Long sleeves are nice if you are like me and always manage to splash a tiny bit of lye water on your arms. If this happens, rinse with cold water (not vinegar as many like to say), and it will be fine. I mix my lye and oils in my sink so that I can stay away from fumes and in case of a lye eruption or me spilling my oils (frequently) my mess is contained to the sink.
I use plastic pitchers from the Dollar Tree for my oils and for my lye water. I use long handled plastic spoons to stir. I've used small wooden sticks to stir the lye water mixture and the wood bends almost immediately. You should also only use glass or stainless steel or plastic, and please don't use the same items for soaping as you do for preparing food. Why take the chance?
Original post is from
Mommypotamus.
Original recipe called for essential oil but there is no point since the scent will not show up in your clothes.
The recipe is:
Laundry Soap (1% superfat)
Makes approximately 44 oz. of soap.
- 33 oz coconut oil, 76 degree*
- 5.9 ounces lye (NaOH)*
- 12 oz water
Slowly add lye to COLD water (I use half water and half crushed ice). I purchase my lye from Ace Hardware. The brand is Rooto and it is 100% lye.
Melt your coconut oil.
When both your lye water and oil has cooled to 110 degrees - 120 degrees, add lye water to your coconut oil slowly and stir with a stick blender in short bursts until you reach trace. When it is the consistency of thin pudding, pour into your mold.
Coconut oil soap needs to be cut pretty quickly. Instead of the normal 24 hours, you should unmold and cut your soap within a few hours. Otherwise, it will be too hard to cut. Remember, this soap is only 1% superfat so it will be drying to skin but it makes a great laundry soap.
This is the recipe for Laundry Butter.
Original recipe from Fat Farm Girl.
To make Laundry Butter Cream Soap:
*Grate 6 ounces of 0% SF coconut laundry soap
* In a stainless steel pot with a lid, bring 6 cups of distilled water just to
a boil, then take off the heat
* Pour grated soap into hot water and stir to dissolve completely
* *Slowly* sprinkle in 1 cup of borax, and stir until dissolved. *Do* *not* add
to boiling water or with the soap when the water is super hot, or it will
crystalize and you'll never get the crystals out.
* Stir in 1 cup of washing soda (made by baking 1 cup of baking soda @ 400F for
30 min.) and stir to dissolve.
* Cover pot with the lid and let the mixture gel at room temperature for 3 to 6
hours until completely cool and set. Don't try to speed up process, or you'll
end up with more crystals.
* When mixture is completely cool and gelled, use the stick blender to
emulsify, making sure to get the bottom of the pot where some of your borax may
have settled. Blend until the soap is the consistency of thick, creamy
mayonnaise all the way through and all clumps are gone.
* At this time you can add any EOs that you'd like. Some essential oils survive
the washer better than other. Some scents stay better if you use a clothes line
rather than a heat dryer. Lemongrass is my best seller.
* Bottle into 2 one quart canning jars, tamping lightly on a folded towel to
expel air bubbles. Store at room temp.
This recipe can be easily expanded. I make mine in 6 gallon batches to
accommodate five flats of quart-sized jars. From start to finish, I can
turn out
a full batch in a 6 hour day.
The perks of Laundry Butter are:
Compact size: 1 jar washes approximately 160-175 standard loads in either front
loading or top loading. washers. Unlike liquid soaps, you don't need a 5 gallon
bucket to store a year's supply, and every jar weighs right around 3 pounds,
making it ideal for college students and apartment dwellers.
Naturally phosphate free, making it gentle for the environment.
Less messy than either the powdered or liquid laundry soaps.
Very economical: it's not just multi-purpose, it's also super-concentrated. One
Tablespoon washes a standard load of laundry. *And* the jar is recyclable. I
give my farmer's market customers $2 off when they bring their jars back.
It's good for people with skin sensitivity. I have severe skin allergies, and
this is the one soap that doesn't make me break out in hives.
