Here is an easy recipe I love.
3 pints ice cold milk (slushy)
1 12 ounce can Red Devil Lye
5 1/2lbs of Lard
2 oz glycerin
2 Tbsp borax
1/3 cup honey
Oatmeal and essential oils if you like
1. Out milk in a stainless not aluminum pot
2. Very slowly pour lye in.
3. Stir constantly
4. Add honey
5. Let cool to 85 degrees
6. Warm lard to 90 degrees
7. Pour in lard into lye/milk mixture
8. Stir constantly with a spoon
9. Add borax & glycerin
10. Keep stirring till thick like pudding. It could take quite a while. I now use a stick blender with a metal shaft to save my arm from falling off.
11. Now add essential oils or ground oatmeal if you like.
12. Pour into molds.
13. Cover molds with a rag
14. Next day cut soap with a thin wire. Guitar strings work best.
15. Stack soap so air can flow around the soap. Cover with light rag. I use a pillowcase to keep the dust off. Let cure six weeks.
Make sure you use 100% Lye.
This is what 5 1/2 pounds of lard in a pot looks like. Just in case you are wondering. Lol
This is the milk lye mixture. It turns yellowish tan to caramel color as it reacts to the sugars in the milk. The colder the milk the lighter the color.
Here is the peppermint soap in it’s lined box mold. I got fancy and sprinkled peppermint tea leaves on top. Kinda looks like banana pudding with pepper.
Here is a batch of the lavender I did. I tried coloring with paprika. Didn’t add much color to it. I sprinkled oatmeal on top.
And here they are the next day when I cut them to cure.