I have attended a unique kind of birthday party. The birthday host happens to be a well-known crafts enthusiast. And so her 40th birthday party was themed “learn some crafts”. The party was attended by all her female friends. It was well attended. The party was made such that all attendees were asked beforehand what their favorite craft is. And each of these chosen crafts has a booth wherein the attendees/ participants further enhance their craft. There is crocheting, cross stitch, gardening, sewing and easy soap making. And because my friend knows that I have been into soap making hobby for a long time, she invited me to become the resource person for this particular craft.

I made sure that I will come prepared for this event. And so I prepared the following easy soap making ingredients: glycerin soap base, essential oils for fragrance, and some additives for more exciting soaps. I also prepared easy soap making recipes for each of the participants so that each of them will have a unique soap making experience. One of the recipes that I shared with them is a vegetable base soap. Let me share this recipe.

Recipes for Vegetable Based Soaps

Vegetable are a little bit expensive to use rather than animal fat. Nevertheless, if you want soap for its mildness and odorless scent and not minding the cost, vegetable based soaps are just the right ones for you.

All vegetable soap recipes:

28 ounces of coconut oil (2 jars)

24 ounces olive oil (the cheapest and lightest in Color)

30ounces vegetable shortening (the cheapest, and Purest you can find)

12ounces lye (one standard can of Lewis Red Devil)

32 oz. Cold water (4 cups)

1.5 – 4 oz. essential oils and/or fragrance oils depending on personal preference, if soap is not intended for remelting.

1. Follow the usual soap making instructions with temperatures of each solution before blending is around 95º to 110º (lye solution the cooler of the two).

2. Mixed them together with a hand held mixer for about 20 minutes.

3. Continue stirring every few minutes until it “traced” (which may take from one hour to one and a half hour).

4. When trace is reached, pour out the mixture into a cat litter pan which was lined with a sheet of plastic wrap, long enough to exceed the length of the pan. This will help you to turn the soap and keep it from sticking on the center of the bottom.

5. Then placed into a cardboard box with a warm blanket over the finished product.

6. After 24 hours or so, you may already cut the soap into your desired size.

They all had fun after learning this new recipe. And we all had fun sharing our ideas and tips on how to make our easy soap making experience one of a kind!