im calling you out @vBlake Looking for a simple DIY with just basics, no secret recipes. Anyone else interested?
I made lye soap quite a bit as a kid. Fairly easy using plain spring H20 and lye. We used beef and pork tallow along with poultry grease. Was solid at room temp like typical lards. I am sure there are more pure ways to make it but the recipes are similar. Also, make sure you are not purchasing Sudafed and matches with the Lye. Seriously.
Methheads have screwed up so many things, burns me up that you have to watch everything you buy just to avoid looking guilty. And that's not counting the times I've found "cooking spots" in the different wooded areas I frequent over the last few years. The soap idea seems like a cool skill to learn!
soap queen site has lots of info on hot or cold process -- the hot process soap can be used as soon as it goes in a mold. brambleberry.com has a really good lye calculator if you want to mess with different recipe sizes or oils. simple soap: 12 oz liquid (water, coffee, or beer - it needs to be really cold, and mix coffee/beer with the lye outside, because it stinks during the conversion) 5.25 oz 100% pure sodium hydroxide (lye) - can be found at Tractor supply or Lowes 14 oz coconut oil (by weight) -- pretty close to a pint and 22 oz olive oil (alternate recipe: 16 ounces of tallow or lard with 24 ounces of olive oil) safety note -- do not use any aluminum when making soap -- it does not react well with lye equipment: glass 6 or 8 cup measuring cup measuring bowls (can be plastic) digital postal scale crock pot wooden spoon stainless long handle tea spoon silicone spatula wood skewer/long toothpick some form of soap mold (can be as easy as lining a knife box with butcher paper or a silicone rubber baking pan) optional: essential oils, scents, stick blender wear gloves, goggles, and a filter mask. tare the empty measuring bowl on the scale. measure olive oil by weight and pour into crock pot measure coconut oil in bowl and scoop into crock pot with spatula. heat oil in crock pot until it's melted and no more than 150 degrees - then turn the dial down to low while it melts, pour water in glass mixing vessel tare clean, dry bowl on scale and weigh out lye slowly add lye to cold water, stir until dissolved (will get hot) let it cool until it's below 150. (too hot and you get a soap volcano when you add it to the oil) when all the oil is melted, and the lye mix has cooled a bit, add the lye/water mix stir forever -- until the mix starts to look like vaseline, then test by picking up a little with a wood skewer and touching it on the tip of your tongue - if it "zaps" you like licking a 9V battery, it's not done saponifying, keep stirring. (if you have a cheap stick blender, it will speed this process a LOT) if it passes the zap test, at this point you can add scents, essential oils, etc... stir that all together a bit more until it starts to thicken, then dump in the mold. cover mold and leave it alone for a few hours -- at which point it should be solid bars. you can start using the soap right away or dry it on a wire rack for 2 weeks so it'll last a little longer.
some resources: LYE https://www.brambleberry.com/sodium-hydroxide-lye-p3037.aspx https://www.amazon.com/Lye-Soap-Making-Award-winning-Handcrafted/dp/B00ZTSMMS6 LYE CALCULATOR for soap making https://www.brambleberry.com/Pages/Lye-Calculator.aspx
I just made this batch from rendered bear fat. I’m aging it now. It’s turned out nicely. Making soap is much easier than people realize. I haven’t used store bought soap in years. Getting the lye to fat ratio is the key.
Here is some bars where I tried for some camo soap. Scented with some bug repellent to use for camping.
Here is one of my best sellers, that is a hand & foot Scrub. I used poppy seeds for the exfoliating agent.