Its easy, fun, and you could tell yourself your creation is just as good as store-bought soap.
How you do it depends on how much effort you want to put into the project.
Below are three soap-cycling methods, presented in giving-a-shit order, from hardly to a ton.
Heres the step-by-step:
Gather your slivers of soap.
Put them in a plastic bag.
Stick them in the microwave for a minute or two.
When the softened soap is cool enough, mush it together into a glob.
Put it in the freezer until its hard.
Great for using in the sink in the garage or basement.
Middle-of-the-road soap recycling recipe
Gather your bars of soap.
Grate them with a cheese grater or cut them into small pieces.
Put your soap-shavings in a microwave-safe dish and add water (about a tablespoon per cup of soap).
Microwave for about 30 seconds, then stir.
Repeat as many times as necessary until you have a bowl of mushy-but-chunky soap goo.
Line a small box, like the one your phone came in, with plastic wrap.
Spoon the soap mixture into the box.
This method will likely result in a lumpy, grey soap.
It will get your hands clean, but youre not making the cover ofSoap Monthlyor anything.
So see what works best for you.
The finer you grate it, the less lumpy the final product will be.
Put your grated soap flakes in a saucepan.
Recipes vary as to how much water.
Some say 1 part water to 2 parts soap.
Some say just add enough so the soap doesnt burn on the stove.
Optional:Some soap-making recipessuggest letting the mixture soak for a day.
Turn a burner to low/medium and stir the soap-soup every five minutes or so until its smooth.
This can take a long time, like an hour or two.
Some recipes say to bring it to a boil, but that seems excessive.
The mixture will not fully melt.
It should have the consistency of mashed-potatoes or paste.
Dont let it scorch.
Take it off the heat.
Im not sure of the benefits, but it could counteract the flakiness that comes from recycled soap.
Personalize your soap: If you want an exfoliant, try some dry oatmeal.
Add a little grease to prevent sticking, then spoon the soap goop into your molds.
you might use muffin tins, ice cube trays, or maybe get creative with cookie cutters.
It might take as long as a week, but will probably be ready in a couple days.
A no-cooking method of making soap from scraps.
Thats the idea, anyway.
