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Whether you are new to soap making or not, this soap making materials guide will let you know exactly what supplies you will need to get started on your soap making journey. We will cover all of the necessary soap making supplies so you can feel confident in your soap making!
When I first started my soap making journey, I felt totally lost on where to begin. I found a few recipes but I didn’t know about a soap calculator or the best materials needed to actually make the soap. I wish I would have had an article like this.
I am going to try to break it up into manageable chunks so you can start where you are! Let’s dive in.
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Table of Contents
Where to buy soap making materials
Most of the soap making materials I have purchased over the years have come from amazon. I do bulk orders of some of the oils from my local soap making supplies company but I have found the best prices for the physical materials comes from amazon.
I will link to amazon for most of these items but you are more than welcome to look at your local supplies stores! Places such as Brambleberry have a lot of supplies to look through too!
Safety materials for soap making
Some supplies lists can forget about the most important part and that is keeping you and your loved ones safe. While soap making can be dangerous if done incorrectly, it doesn’t have to be! Let’s go over the safety essentials here.
- Gloves- When working with lye, you want to make sure no bare skin is exposed. This means wearing gloves and long sleeve shirts to cover the whole of your arms.
- Eye protection- Safety glasses are the obvious choice but you can also use eye glasses or sunglasses. You want to make sure your eyes are covered in case the lye water splashes at you. You can go blind and we do not want that.
- Soap calculator- While this is not necessarily a safety material, you will need to use a soap calculator whenever you find a soap recipe you are looking to try. I will link my tallow soap below but always make sure you run any recipe through a soap calculator before you use it so you can be sure it is safe to use.
- PH testing strips- This is to test your liquid or bar soap for PH safety. To learn more about how to use PH testing strips, check out my liquid soap tutorial linked below.
Caustic Ingredients for soap making
This section is going to be about the oils and lye that you need to actually saponify your soap. Saponification is the process of turning oils and fats into soap using lye.
Whenever you are working with lye or caustic potash, ensure you are in a well ventilated area (outside and upwind) to make sure you do not inhale any of the fumes which can damage your lungs.
If you are looking to make a bar soap, you will need sodium hydroxide (lye) and if you are looking to make liquid soap you will need potassium hydroxide (caustic potash.) These ingredients will keep your soap liquid or solid.
I purchase sodium hydroxide at my local hardware store in the cleaning section. Make sure the only ingredients are sodium hydroxide. I also purchase the type with little beads for easy measuring.
I purchased my potassium hydroxide from my local soap making supply store in bulk and it has lasted me quite a while.
Oils/ Fats for soap making
Tallow- Learn how to render your own by clicking here. Tallow makes a hard soap bar which you want so it can last a long time! Tallow is also very nourishing for your skin so it makes a nice bar of soap.
Coconut oil- I do buy mine from Costco but I will link some here in case you want to put in one giant amazon order.
Olive oil- I used to buy mine at Costco but buying olive oil pomace is a much more budget friendly alternative. I buy olive oil pomace from my local soap making store. Just note, if you buy the stuff from Costco, you can also use it in your cooking. If you buy olive oil pomace, that should be used only for your skincare as it is not necessarily food safe.
Castor oil- Depending on how often you plan to make soap, you could buy this in bulk from your local soap store or from amazon linked here. Castor oil has many skin care benefits and I use it in my whipped tallow sometimes as well.
Saponification tools
As I mentioned above, saponification is the process of turning oils into soap. In order to successfully complete saponification, you will need some basic supplies.
A kitchen scale- This is an absolute necessity as you have to have precise weights of your oils and lye to ensure you do not create a product that burns. I have a cheap scale like this one but it has served me very well!
Heat safe bowls- for both the lye mixture and the soap batter. I like to have a set of multiple sizes and I like to make sure they have lids so I can safely transport the mixes wherever I need them to go. (I make the lye water outside and then bring it inside to saponify.)
Immersion blender- Unfortunately, this is another one that is necessary. You could hand mix but to get the soap batter to trace (pudding like consistency) you would be mixing for a long time without an immersion blender. I have this one and it comes with containers so you can also turn it into a mini food processor!
A spatula- for scraping the bowl and limiting soap waste as best as you can.
Double boiler- I use a pan filled halfway with water and a large bowl over it. This is to melt the oils.
Soap making tools
Now that you have your soap batter all ready to go, it is time to add any scents and colours and then it is time to let it set. For this process you will need a few things.
Essential oils or other fragrances- Fragrance oils last way longer in soap but they can be hormone disruptors. If you want to use them, make sure you find a reputable source. I like soap supply shops for this! I also buy essential oils in bulk at my local soap supply shop which saves me a lot of money! If you plan to make a good amount of soap, I would recommend doing the same.
Soap colouring- I only use natural colours which can be tricky to work with but if I was going to start adding colours, I would use mica powder. Mad micas is a reputable brand and can be used for homemade cosmetics as well!
A soap mold- These loaf molds are the best way to make a good amount of soap and most recipes you find including my tallow soap are made to fit one of these molds. The soap is easy to remove from the mold so I would definitely recommend them!
A soap cutting box- You can use a knife and cutting board but I have found that I am not the most accurate when it comes to cutting. Some are thin and others are thick. This leads to a very inconsistent cut. That may not matter if you are making soap for your family but if you plan to gift it or even sell it, consistency is key. I bought this set that comes with a wavy cutter and I love the look of it!
That is it!
If you are ready to start your soap making journey, try out one of these soap recipes!