Make natural handmade soap from scratch using pure oils and equipment you already have. Includes a beginner soap making series, videos, and loads of natural soap recipes.
Are you interested in learning to make natural soap as a hobby or for a business? Lovely Greens is here to help with soap making instructions for both the complete beginner and those interested in making soap with all-natural ingredients. Soap making is a little like cooking, chemistry, and crafting wrapped into one. If you’re interested in gardening and beekeeping you can add them into the mix too! Not only is natural soap making a creative and rewarding skill but you’ll get a useful product at the end too.
Over the years I’ve had a lot of people come to Lovely Greens for soapmaking instruction. To guide you on your journey I’ve created a 68-page Guide to Natural Soapmaking ebook. You can view it on your computer or print it out if you wish, and it includes all of the basics of beginner cold-process soapmaking and instructions on how to use different types of natural ingredients in six soap recipes at the end.
Natural Soap Making for Beginners Series
Though the soapmaking ebook has far more information, and all in one place, there’s also loads of free tips here on the website. I invite you to browse natural soap recipes and ideas and to read through my free natural soapmaking for beginners series:
- Natural Soap Ingredients
- Soapmaking Equipment & Safety
- Beginner Soap Recipes
- The Soap Making Process
The most popular soap making resource on Lovely Greens is the Natural Soap Making for Beginners series. It includes the above four articles which you can use to help you make any Lovely Greens soap recipe. The thumbnails below will take you to some of them but you can browse all soap recipes too.
Become a confident soap maker
I remember the early days of teaching myself how to make soap and the failures I had along the way. With that experience, I’m here to help you move as quickly as possible from complete novice to confident soap maker. Lovely Greens soap making instructions come in various articles and recipes. Here are some popular soap recipes and ideas:
Check out the Ultimate Guide to Soap Molds including wooden, silicone, and custom soap molds
- Guide to Using Herbs & Flowers in soap recipes
- 5 Ways to make Handmade Soap
- How to Naturally Color Handmade Soap
- How to use Essential oils to scent Handmade Soap
I’ve been making soap as a business since 2011 and have shared a lot of what I’ve learned here. I have dozens of soap making recipes for you to browse along with tips on how to grow your own herbs and flowers for beauty potions.
Natural Handmade Soap Making Series
The best place for beginners to start is with the four-part natural soap making series. It’s a very popular (and free) introduction to natural cold-process soap making. The basics are fully covered and the series has launched quite a few crafters on their handmade beauty journeys. I know how delighted you’ll be to see your first batch thicken into handmade soap.
The learn to make natural soap series begins with an introduction to ingredients, continues to Equipment and Safety, follows on with Basic Recipes and Formulating your own, and ends with the full Soap Making Process. Use the series as a guide and foundation for all other cold-process recipes.
Natural Goat Milk Soap Recipe
Cold-process Soap Recipes
There are a lot of soap recipes that I’ve shared on Lovely Greens over the years and I invite you to use them. It can be complex creating your own recipes and a real headache as a beginner. My opinion is that when you learn to make handmade soap, it’s best to begin with tried and tested recipes like these. Both the eco-friendly soap recipe and the lemongrass soap recipe have DIY videos too.
- Eco-friendly Natural Soap Recipe
- Natural Goats Milk Soap Recipe
- DIY Cedarwood Soap Recipe with an ‘Etched’ Leaf Design
- Gardener’s Hand Soap Recipe
- Natural Lemongrass Soap Recipe.
When you’re ready to progress with creating your own recipes, you can begin by reading this article. Until then, have a browse of the soap recipes on Lovely Greens. I also have recipes for liquid hand soap and a simple hot process soap recipe that cold-process soap makers will feel comfortable with.
Herbal soap recipe with calendula flowers and rosemary and peppermint essential oils
Soap making instructions
Once you’ve had a thorough look through the 4-part Natural Soap Making series it’s time to make soap. I always tell the students in my soap making lessons that the biggest challenge to getting started is the fear of handling Lye. Though you need to respect this ingredient, it’s in no way scary if you’re wearing the proper protection and working in a well-ventilated environment. Watch my soapmaking videos to see exactly what to expect.
Afterward, you’ll be on your way. Each recipe that I share on Lovely Greens comes with detailed instructions including any special steps and differences in ingredients and temperature. So get your station set up, read through the instructions, ask a question if you’re not sure about something, and make handmade soap.
Learn how to naturally scent and color soap
One of the most creative parts of making your own handmade soap is adding color and scent. Most bars of soap on the market are scented with artificial fragrances and tinted with dyes. As a natural soap maker, you learn to use minerals, flowers, plants, and even food to do the same job. There are literally dozens of natural colors that you can use to get nearly every shade of the rainbow!
There’s madder root for pinks, woad for grey-blues, alkanet for purple, charcoal for black or blue, and spirulina for green. The selection of natural colorants you can use in soap is extensive and sometimes surprising. It’s the same story when using essential oils. In natural soap making, you learn to use and blend the natural extracts of plants to add a beautiful scent. There are dozens of essential oils to choose from including floral rose geranium to herbal peppermint and woodsy cedar.
