Lye can be found in some grocery or hardware stores but it's getting more difficult to find. You will generally find it in the cleaning section with the drain clearing products. Before you buy it, read the label and insure it says, "100% lye." If you can't find Red Devil Lye, may I suggest you use one of the many suppliers we have on our soap making home page. Whatever you purchase, insure that it is 100% pure powdered or crystal sodium hydroxide. You don't want any additives in it.
Fat, the other ingredient you will need can also be purchased in the grocery store. I make most of my soap from 100% lard and purchase it in 1 lb blocks. If you plan on making lots of soap, there are cheaper ways of getting lard, however. One possibility is the big boxes used by restaurant or bakery stores. Ask them where they get it and more than likely their supplier will also sell it to you. Several other oils and fats can be purchased in the grocery store as well, such as corn oil, Canola oil, safflower oil, sunflower oil, olive oil and shortening. And don't forget the fully hydrolized vegetable oils used for deep frying foods at fast food joints. This fat makes excellent soap that won't go rancid even after long storage! Coconut oil can often be purchased locally as it's the same fat used in popcorn poppers used at the movies. You will have to settle for yellow soap, however, as this source only supplies yellow dyed coconut oil. Several of the exotic soap making oils have very short shelf lives. I would suggest you purchase fats and oils that have a long storage life if you are planning on putting them away for future soap making projects.
Several other ingredients can be purchased in the drug store. With any luck you will be able to find lanolin, fragrance oils, glycerin, litmus paper and a box of crayons for coloring.
The grocery store is also a good place to get Borax. Look for The 20-Mule Team box. This is 100% pure borax and is many times cheaper than purchasing a small box of some other brand from a specialty house.
Utensils: You probably already have everything at home you will need to make soap. You will need a plastic or glass mixing bowl, a large plastic or wooden spoon to mix it with, and a small food scale.. Don't try and get by without the scale as you really do need it to measure the lye, if nothing else. If you aren't sure if this soap making thing is for you, a small food scale should be enough to get you started. At around $10.00, this may very well be the most expensive item you need to buy. However, if you are going to get serious about this soap making thing, you need a good, precise scale that can accurately measure very small amounts. This is because you need to meticulously measure very small amounts of lye for small soap batches. In my opinion, you don't need an expensive thermometer, either. I use a candy thermometer that starts out at 60 degrees F and goes up to 400 degrees F. This has served me well and cost less than $2.00. For a setting tray I use an oblong, flexible Tupperware container with square sides. It works great. You could use a glass cake pan and line it with plastic wrap just as well. Don't use anything aluminum as lye eats it. Look around the kitchen and see what you have. Your imagination is your only limitation. Worried that the soap might ruin your utensils for later use with food? I have experienced no problems with the stainless steel, plastic, or glass items I have used. This is just my opinion, however, as some soap makers keep their soap making utensils separate. The lye will mess up a wooden spoon. You wouldn't want to use this again with food. Do you need to purchase any of these items? Probably the grocery store is again your cheapest outlet.
If you decide to get fancy and make really nice soap it may be necessary to go to a soap making supplier for some of the more exotic fats, essential oils, soap molds and coloring dyes. But none of these things are necessary if all you want is a good bar of soap for personal use.
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Revised: 16 March 2005