Making soap can be a great craft for families, and the result is unique soap that can be used, or given as gifts to friends and family.  You can make soaps with different scents, and personalize the shape to reflect your personality or the soap’s use.

Unfortunately, using lye to make soap makes it difficult to make homemade soap.  Lye is a very corrosive alkaline substance.  It can cause chemical burns, injury, scarring, and even blindness if proper safety precautions aren’t followed carefully.  And as dangerous as lye is, it’s included in all soaps, both homemade and commercially made.  So how can you make homemade soap without exposing yourself (or your children) to lye?

Fortunately, there are homemade soap recipes you can try that use shredded Ivory soap (unscented) instead of making the soap from scratch.  This method allows you to add your own flair to the soap, and involve your children in the process, without using lye.

Of course, even using this method, you should be sure to wear an apron, gloves, and eye protection.  When you add essential oils to the soap, you’ll need to protect yourself from the irritant qualities some oils have if they come into contact with your skin.

Simple homemade soap recipes can easily be adapted to your preferences.  Here’s an easy homemade soap recipe that can be changed easily depending on what you want.

For this recipe, you need a quarter cup of water, dried, and pulverized herbs (such as lavender), essential oil (such as patchouli), two cups of shredded Ivory soap (unscented), a large mixing bowl, a wooden spoon, a glass plate, and a soap-making mold.  However, the mold is not necessary to make the soap.

Pour boiling water over your pulverized herbs and add five or six drops of your essential oils.  Let the mixture boil, stirring regularly, then pour it over the shredded soap.  Mix it well and let it sit.

After twenty minutes, divide the mixture into several small balls or press into the soap-making mold.  Let the soap dry for three or four days on a glass plate in a cool, dry place in your home.  Once the soap is dry, it’s ready to enjoy!

If you’re giving the soap as a gift, you can cover it in clear plastic wrap, then use a decorative ribbon to make it look like an expensive, boutique soap.

With this homemade soap recipe, you can decide what herbs you want to include.  Lavender and vanilla are popular together, and oatmeal has skin care benefits, but you can choose whatever you want to personalize your homemade soap recipes.  One of the great things about this easy recipe is that once you’re comfortable with it, you can experiment with it and try new things each time you make homemade soap, and since it doesn’t use lye, it’s something you can do with even your young children on family night!