Do you want to make your first soap? You’re in the right place! In this article, we present 5 soap recipes for beginners. To keep things interesting, we include different types of homemade soap, from that for vegans to classic varieties. From each of these recipes – if you follow the correct technique – you will get a natural soap with cleansing, conditioning, and even nourishing properties. You’ll also be delighted by their fragrance and simply have a great time!

How to prepare for making your first soap?

First of all, prioritize your safety. In soap recipes, you will find lye. This is a specialized name for sodium hydroxide – a corrosive substance that is necessary to start the saponifiation process (the chemical reaction that causes lye and oils to come together to form a new substance- soap!). When preparing to work with lye, be sure to dress appropriately – in an apron or old long-sleeved clothing, rubber gloves, and safety goggles. Also ensure ventilation, easy access to running water, and a tidy work area. Running dogs and tangled cables are not a good idea!

What do you need to make your first (and next) soap?

In a moment we will share selected soap recipes for beginners with you. You’ll quickly notice that they all feature the same groups of ingredients: sodium hydroxide, fats (e.g., olive oil, coconut oil, shea butter, etc.), and distilled water. Additional components could include essential oils, waxes, liquids (e.g., goat’s milk), and natural colorants. Want to make a very basic soap? Skip the additional ingredients and focus on the essentials.

Besides the ingredients, you’ll also need soap-making accessories (👈 click to find out what tools you need). Don’t worry! Most of them you probably already have at home.

One more thing – learn to read soap recipes

Precision is the key to success. So read the recipes very carefully and make soap using EXACTLY the amount of ingredients specified. In the soap recipes from soapmakingfriend.com, you will find grams/oz and percentages.  These are the basic units of measurement in this case. Remember, no matter where you find a recipe, always, but ALWAYS, use a soap calculator to ensure the lye amount is safe and correct to use. While the recipe is given in ounces and grams (or pounds and kilos), notice that all recipes are also given in percentages.  That is an important way to build your own recipe, and useful to see as you learn the basics of soapmaking. You’re on your way!

Here’s what a printed recipe looks like on our website. In addition to the amounts of oils and lye, and other ingredients, it tells you the composition of the recipe’s fatty acids (your oils) and the properties of the final soap. Clear, isn’t it? And notice the check boxes, so when you use an ingredient you can check it off as you go.

Soap making recipes for beginners

Discover these recipes for making soap with lye (sodium hydroxide), a true homemade soap!  The first three are a bit more straightforward, while the later ones are a bit more challenging to make – but you can go straight to the ones you prefer. These recipes will use 25 ounces of oils, and will fit into one regular sized bread pan (please line with freezer paper or use a silicon bread pan!) for a mold.  You want to line your mold for ease of removal once the soap has hardened to be cut. 

Easy Three Oil Beginner’s Soap

Let’s start with the recipe that we have already looked at when learning to read soap recipes.

Ingredients:

• 7.05 oz (199.83 g) distilled water
• 3.52 oz (99.92 g) lye (sodium hydroxide)
• 15 oz (425.24 g) lard
• 5 oz (141.75 g) coconut oil (the kind that melts at 72F/22C)
• 5 oz (141.75 g) pure olive oil

Instructions:

Line your bread pan with freezer paper (shiny side towards the inside) or use a silicone mold. Put on safety glasses and gloves. In a well ventilated area, measure the water by weight and place it in a stainless steel or hard plastic container. Weigh the lye into a small cup. Sprinkle the lye into the water and stir thoroughly. (Safety Note: ALWAYS add lye to water; never add water to the lye! Adding water to lye will create a dangerous boiling hot volcano and do not breathe in the fumes.)   Allow the lye solution to cool in a secure location where it cannot be spilled for 30 to 40 minutes, or until it reaches a temperature of approximately 100 to 115 degrees F.

Measture and melt the lard and other ‘hard’ (solid) oils over heat slowly, to approximately 130F/54C or until melted.   Measure and add  the remaining oils. Don your protective gear and have everything you need at hand.  Very slowly,  pour the cooled lye solution into the fats while stirring with a non-reactive spoon like a wooden or silicone or plastic spoon (no splashing!). After the lye solution is fully added, use a combination of manual stirring and short bursts of your immersion blender to mix the soap until it reaches a thin to medium trace. ‘Trace’ is when you drag a spoon through the soap batter and it leaves behind a trail, or trace, of the spoon’s path.

Pour the soap batter into the prepared mold. Allow the soap to remain in the molds for 1 to 2 days until it feels firm, but not rock hard, like cheddar cheese, and it can be easily unmolded. Cure the soap on racks or on a dry paper in a well-ventilated area for 4-6 weeks before using.

👉 Recipe from Soapmaking Friend: https://www.soapmakingfriend.com/recipes/60564.easy-3-oil-first-soap

Easy Vegetarian (No Animal Fats) Body Soap

Ingredients:

• 7.78 oz (220.54 g) distilled water
• 3.46 oz (98.02 g) Sodium Hydroxide (lye)
• 11.25 oz (318.93 g) Crisco vegetable (solid shortening) or other similar product like Great Value Solid shortening
• 5 oz (141.75 g) coconut oil
• 7.5 oz (212.62 g) olive oil
• 1.25 oz (35.44 g) castor oil
• Optional: .75 oz (21.25 g) of essential oil, like lavender or peppermint

Instructions:

Put on gloves, goggles, and an apron for safety, then create the lye solution by pouring the sodium hydroxide (lye) into the measured water in a well ventilated area. Stir well and allow to cool in a safe place, until the mixture is 110-120° F (43-49° C).

Premeasure your oils.  Heat the solid oils in a small saucepan on low heat until just melted – no longer. Turn off heat and add the liquid oils.  Take the temperature – you’re aiming for around 100°F (38°C) or so. 

When the oils and the lye solution temperatures are around 100°F (38°C) and within ten degrees of one another, it’s time to mix! Add the lye solution slowly while mixing with a wooden or plastic spoon. Use an immersion blender at short bursts to emulsify the ingredients. Mix until you reach a light trace. Stir the essential oil in, quickly while ensuring it’s well-mixed in, and no streaks remain.

Immediately Pour the soap batter into the mold. Leave it on the counter to cool and harden – for up to two days before unmolding, cutting into bars (if applicable) and curing for one month. After a month the soap is ready to use. Decorate as desired, and gift to a friend!

👉 Recipe from Soapmaking Friend: https://www.soapmakingfriend.com/recipes/69544.ozello-soap

Baby Soap

Gentle mostly Castile soap. No fragrances or additives. Great for sensitive skin for all ages. A long cure improves the feel and longevity of the soap.

Ingredients:

• 7.23 oz (204.88 g) distilled water
• 3.1 oz (87.93g grams) sodium hydroxide (lye)
• 7.23 oz (56.7 g) castor oil
• 23 oz (652.04 g) olive oil

Instructions:

Line your mold (a bread pan is perfect for this recipe size) with freezer paper or use a silicone mold.  Prepare your work area and wear safety clothes. Make sure you are in a well ventilated area or next to an open window.  Add the lye to the cold water in a tall pitcher (not glass!).  Add the lye to the water while stirring. Be extremely careful – you don’t want lye to splash out of your container while doing this!  Let cool to 120°F/48°C or so.

Measure the olive oil and castor oil into a heat-safe stainless steel pot or tall bowl. Add your water/lye mixture to the oils slowly, while stirring, until all of the lye water is mixed in.  You can use your immersion blender in short bursts, mixed with stirring with the blender off, until you reach a thin trace. Pour into your prepared mold, and cover with a towel to allow the soap to finish saponifying (turning it a firm soap!) for about 24-28 hours, until the soap feels like cheddar cheese and can be unmolded and cut.  If it still feels a bit soft, let it sit longer until it is firm but not hard.  Then cut into bars and let cure in a cool dry place, on a rack is ideal. This soap is supremely gentle, and will become even more gentle with a longer cure.  Even a year is not too long- if you can wait that long! Castile soap is gentle and safe and well worth the wait.

👉 Recipe from Soapmaking Friend https://www.soapmakingfriend.com/recipes/101.baby-soap

Gentle Milk and Honey Soap

This very gentle and creamy soap can be made with goat’s milk, cow’s milk, coconut milk, or even powdered milk reconstituted.  Milk and honey is a classic soap and well-loved. This is an intermediate soap, due to the special handling of the milk, freezing it in advance so it doesn’t scorch.   It also helps to mix up the soap batter with the bowl in another bowl of ice, to keep it from overheating.

NOTES: Use frozen goat’s milk for ALL of the liquid. Soap cool, with room temperature oils, so that it will not overheat. Add honey at trace- NOT with the oils!

Ingredients:

• 6.55 oz (185.69 g) frozen goat’s milk (or milk of your choice)
• 3.28 oz (93.07 g ) sodium hydroxide (lye)
• 1.25 oz (35.44 g) cocoa butter
• 23 oz (652.04 g) olive oil

Premeasure your oils.  Heat the cocoa butter in a small saucepan on low heat until just melted – no longer. Turn off heat and add the liquid oils.

Put on gloves, googles, and an apron for safety, then create the lye solution by VERY slowly pouring the sodium hydroxide (lye) into the frozen milk while stirring constantly and keeping the milk as cold as possible as you add the lye. Do this in a well ventilated area. Stir well and keep cool. Having the lye/milk container in an underlying bowl of ice (but careful to not spill a drop!) may help avoid the milk scorching and changing color.

When the oils are cooled but still melted, add the cooled lye/milk solution slowly while mixing with a wooden or plastic spoon. Use an immersion blender at short bursts to emulsify the ingredients. Mix until you reach a light trace. Stir the essential oil in, quickly while ensuring it’s well-mixed in, and no streaks remain.

Immediately Pour the soap batter into the mold. Leave it on the counter to cool and harden a bit.  Once it feels like cheddar cheese, firm but not too hard to cut which may take a day, unmold and cut into bars and cure in a cool dry place for one month. After a month the soap is ready to use but will become even better with age.

👉 Recipe from Soapmaking Friend https://www.soapmakingfriend.com/recipes/825.gentle-goats-milk-honey-soap

Shea & Cocoa Butter Lavender Soap

With rich shea butter, and wonderful cocoa butter, this is a more indulgent soap that is simple to make with just a few more ingredients than the earlier recipes. Make sure to check off the ingredients as you go, and measure carefully, and are guaranteed success.

Ingredients:

• 6.84 oz (193.86 g) distilled water
• 3.42 oz (96.93 g ) sodium hydroxide (lye)
• 3.59 oz (101.84 g) shea butter
• 3.59 oz (101.84 g) cocoa butter
• 10.78 oz (305.48 g) olive oil
• 5.03 oz (142.56 g) coconut oil (76 deg)
• 1.29 oz (36.65 g) avocado oil
• 0.72 oz (20.37 g) castor oil
• 1.1 teaspoon (5.5 grams) Brambleberry rose clay or kaolin clay (optional) dissolved in 3 teaspoons (16.5 grams) of distilled water and stirred well
• .75 ounce (21.26 grams) lavender essential oil (optional)

Melt your cocoa butter and shea butter together over low heat.   In the meantime, don protective gear and add your measured lye into the water in a tall pitcher in a well ventilated area and allow to cool. If using clay, dissolve it in three times the amount of water, stirring very well.

After the butters are melted, add your liquid oils to the same tall bowl or pan, and allow to cool while the butters stay melted, approximately 100°F/37°C.   When both the lye water and the oils are approximately the same temperature of 100°F/37°C, or within a few degrees of each other, it’s time to mix them together.  Add the cooled lye/milk solution slowly while mixing with a wooden or plastic spoon.   Use an immersion blender at short bursts to emulsify the ingredients. Mix until you reach a thin trace. Stir the essential oil in, quickly while ensuring it’s well-mixed in, and no streaks remain. Then add the clay and liquid quickly, stir well. The clay an accerate the setting up of the soap so do this part quickly!

Immediately Pour the soap batter into the mold. Leave it on the counter to cool and harden a bit. Once it feels like cheddar cheese, firm but not too hard to cut which may take a day, unmold and cut into bars and cure in a cool dry place for one month. After a month the soap is ready to use but will become even better with age.

👉 Recipe from Soapmaking Friend https://www.soapmakingfriend.com/recipes/79920.lavender-soap

Summary

We hope that the presented soap recipes for beginners will inspire you for your first adventures in making soap at home.

And when you feel more confident in making soap…

Check out our recipe database. It’s a collection of recipes prepared by soap fans and a true treasure trove of inspiration! Thanks to many filters, you can sort available recipes by specific ingredients, soap type (solid, liquid, hybrid), properties and many other categories. Just click on what interests you, and there you have it – a recipe ready for use in your home laboratory. Our database contains over 30,000 unique recipes! You’ll surely find something interesting!

Each recipe contains a clear record of the ingredients needed and information about the soap’s nutritional value. You can read the recipe on your computer or phone screen or print it from the website with just a few clicks!