Are you ready to make soap the easy way? How about this creamy oatmeal soap recipe? You’re going to love it. The best part…you don’t have to worry about working with lye. Yep, this is a no lye soap recipe.
I am an advocate of vintage skills; skills that are slipping away into history books but rarely used anymore. Soap making is certainly a vintage skill; but one even homesteaders often avoid. I know that lye can be scary to work with the first time – it took me a long time to finally do it. It truly isn’t as bad as I made it out to be but you can make soap this way for awhile until you’re ready.
Using this creamy oatmeal recipe will give you all the suds and artistry you’re craving – fear free. In fact this is so easy you can make this with your kids!
Make Soap the Easy Way
Supplies Needed:
- 2 lbs of Goat’s Milk Soap Base (I recommend this)
- 1/2 cup of Old Fashioned Oats, not instant and preferably organic (run through food processor for finer grain)
- 5-6 teaspoons of fragrance oil, optional (I love this one)
- Rectangular Soap Mold (Like this – you’ll need 2 for this recipe)
- Small Spray Bottle with Rubbing Alcohol (Like this)
- Plastic or wooden spoon for mixing (dedicated to soap making)
- Double boiler
Directions:
- Prepare your double boiler
(don’t use a bowl or pan you’re going to use for food, this should be soap dedicated only) - Put your molds on a cookie sheet (cover to protect from spills)
- Cut the soap base into chunks
- Slowly melt the chunks in your double boiler – you don’t want to scald your base
- Remove from heat and quickly mix your oatmeal and fragrance oil into the melted base
You’re going to love the pleasant exfoliant the oatmeal offers in these bars - Pour into molds, nearly to the top
- Spray, generously, with the rubbing alcohol to prevent air bubbles
- Allow bars to harden for a few hours – if you’re in a hot climate you can pop them in the fridge for an hour to speed this up.
- Once completely hardened pop them out of the molds and store in air-tight containers.
- They are ready to use immediately, unlike hot or cold processed soaps the require curing for several weeks.
- Enjoy them all yourself or share with friends and family!
Now you are ready to make soap the easy way. This will build your confidence until you’re ready to make your soap the old fashioned way (or cold process, like me). You can play with this recipe by changing up your add-ins; how about some ground coffee or shredded luffa? Go forth and customize!
Never miss a post ~ Sign up for the Imperfectly Happy Newsletter
This will be my first time trying to make soap. I’m wondering if I can use essential oils instead of fragrance oils? Would essential oils ruin it? For example, make it so it won’t solidify? Thanks!
You can definitely use oils but the scent won’t be as strong.
Where do you get the goats milk stuff, as you can see I have never made soap.
I buy mine mainly on Amazon – the links are in the post. I hate shopping. 😉
I make soap but my fragrance doesn’t state but the time I get to use my soap the fragrance is gone what am I doing wrong
Tiffany’, have you read the ingredients for the goat milk soap … ? it has lye.
So this is not a lye free soap!!!!
You don’t have to deal with lye while making this soap – much longer title. Sorry that this upset you.
You actually should change the title. There are so many people out there that think uou can make soap without lye. NO LYE, NO SOAP.
I agree with you over the no lye soap heading. Pre mixed lye soap wold sound better
As I’ve stated before, it is simply too hard to make a title that fully describes it. I’m sorry that it upsets you, my intention is to be educational and helpful.
This basically sounds like a melt-and-pour soap. It is a great start to soapmaking, even though one has to step back a little further to actually make soap. Maybe it will lead someone to really make soap.
I have made cold process and hot process soaps, both of which use lye. After the CP or HP soap has cured, the lye is saponified (a chemical reaction that turns the item into what we know as soap). That soap, in turn, can be remelted (just like melt-and-pour soap from the craft store or your goat’s milk soap base) and repoured or shaped. “Smell-good” can be added as well as other ingredients. The fancy name for this soap is Hand-milled Soap or French-Milled Soap, I believe.
French-Milled Soap is a way of “making ” soap without actually making soap, unless you truly create your own soap base in the first place.
That is not true!!! There are people making soap with out lye. Use Vegetable Glycerin
I am not going to argue this point but rather say, here is an interesting article for everyone to check out – https://botaniesoap.com/blog/the-truth-about-lye-and-organic-soap/
There is no such thing as no lye soap. melt and pour soap has already went thru the lye process but that is all soap. without lye there is no soap.
Can you omit the oats and oatmeal scent and use a different scent?
Yes, absolutely. You can use the recipe as a base to make your own creations.
Love this, I use sweet almond scent. Lovely
I love almond scent with oatmeal!
Me too! I find it very relaxing.
How long will this soap last on a shelf?
Honestly I’ve never had it on the shelf longer than 6 months. But I don’t see there being a reason it would last a year.
Hi I have been wonting to make my own soap for a long time. I was wondering will it save me money by making my own soap besides it being better for my family.
Thank you for your time.
Heather Haley
Technically, this soap is still made with lye. Just because you’re using a soap base doesn’t mean no lye. All soap is the result of a reaction between oil and lye. No lye, no soap.
It’s hard to make a title explaining how you can make soap without having to deal directly with lye. Yes, soap has lye; but not all people want to or feel comfortable dealing directly with lye. This gives those people an option. Thanks for your input.
I just had a look at the goats milk soap base you recommend and it has sodium hydroxide in to with is lye. The title of your post says no lye, it does have lye.
The post says, make soap the easy way. The pin says make soap w/o lye because you don’t have to work with the lye itself. If you look into the other comments you can see more of an explanation.
I hope you don’t argue with people that are trying to debate the whole no lye part. You’re not dealing with the lye itself. All soap does have lye, but throughout the whole process the lye is actually gone. Just like cooking with alcohol, once the heat reaches a certain level. There is no alcohol, just flavor. Hope that’s a good example.
I gave up that fight. 😉
Good Girl!! 😊 Thank you for sharing your acquired knowledge on soapmaking! It is greatly appreciated.
Great Explanation!! I researched the topic of lye in soaps before and read about the process of saponification. I am going to use your example when people don’t understand what “no lye” means in soap production. THANK YOU!
I make soap this way all the time, everybody loves it. Of course technically you are using lye, but the point is you don’t have to deal with the dangers of the caustic effects of lye which is great for me. I don’t want the hassle or possible accidents that using lye can cause. Thanks for your recipe!
<3
This looks lovely! I’m excited to try it. I appreciate you posting this because the one thing that has stopped me from ever trying to make soap is having to deal directly with lye. Finally, not to be a Debbie downer, but you might want to check out the MSDS sheet for the fragrance- it says it’s harmful if absorbed into the skin. ?
I definitely will, thanks
I just read on Brambleberry.com that fragrance oils and essentials oils are both safe for use on skin and in bath and body products.
What is MSDS SHEET?
Thanks.
Material Safety Data Sheet
How does this need to be stored? Does it need to stay airtight? Thanks!
It really depends on how long it will take you to use them up. I like to use a tupperware like container.
I know this is a small thing but I thought you might want to fix it. Your wrote spay instead of spray.
Thank you! I will fix that. Sometimes when I write something my brain sees what is supposed to be there… 😛
I love your recipe it’s so simple I made it and it turned out great! Thank you
Can I use an oatmeal soap base instead of goat milk?
Shouldn’t be a problem.
Does this soap sud?
Yes, but less than commercial soap.
If you add a tablespoon of sugar per pound that makes it sud like commercial soap. At least in my experience it has.
Really? Thank you for the tip! Always something new to learn. 😉
WOW!! I didn’t know that. Thank you for sharing, I will try it!
How many bars would I be making with 2 lbs of soap base?
Should be at least 9 but depends on the mold you use.
Sodium hydroxide is in the goats milk base which is lye.
Yes but you are not having to deal with it directly, which is something that intimidates most beginning soap makers.
Poor you!
Have to explain it so many time.
You are good soap maker and a patient person too..:)
Thanks for your recipe I can’t wait to try it out! …and your graceful response to all of these know it alls!😊
I’M A NUBEE AND AM VERY INTERESTED IN TRYING THIS SIMPLE RECIPE. I WOULD LIKE TO ADD HONEY . CAN YOU RECOMMEND ON HOW MUCH TO ADD?
I have never added honey to this recipe so I can confidently advise you.
I would like to comment that in fact the title of this post is very correct in saying no lye. When lye and oils combine, this caustic reaction creates a sapification process and leaving you with the end product, which is soap. Once the soap cures in 4-6 weeks, it becomes alkalized and safe to be used on skin. So in fact, using the melt and pour soap product for making soap at home, the handler is in no contact with lye at all, as this caustic reaction had already occurred in the initial chemical exchange between lye and oil. The lye is now altered and has no caustic reaction. So the user of this recipe is indeed not working with lye at all.
Yay!!! Finally someone who gets it!!!
Basically, in melt and pour soap base, the lye is in the ingredient list, but technically no longer exsists in the final product, due to the fact it has reacted with the oils, saponfied and the lye has been permanently altered to a non caustic state after a full curing process has occurred. I was just wanting to clarify my statement in the said above.
Nubee here and I must say I’m very excited..all your comments and explanations about lye is very helpful definitely giving it a go?
Can you use Shea butter instead of Goat’s Milk?
Any soap base will work.
Regarding using lye: if made the old fashioned way, it a little dangerous to mix at first, but as mentioned above, it doesn’t stay that way long. You can also use bees wax as a base with the old fashioned method. You can find it in a bag of tiny dried pellets at some hobby stores. They also sell how-to books with recipes.
Hi, I’m new to soap making when I make it it comes out dry not luxurious as I would like it to be can you please tell me what I’m doing wrong and how I can change that? Thank you.
You can try add more oil to it but go slow because you want the bars to set up.
This looks like more trouble than making lye soap. I mix my lye and water outdoors, and that’s where it stays until it’s ready to mix with the melted lard. No trouble at all.
This was so easy. Thank you. One question- my oatmeal didn’t seem to incorporate well. What did I do wrong?
Could be the type of oatmeal.
Thanks for helping us through the beginner’s soap making process. I’ve followed the instructions & it set up nicely I was able to to unmold in an hour or so. My problem is the surfaces of the bars feel very greasy. Any idea what went wrong. (I didn’t add scents or colors). Thanks in advance for any advise.
You followed the directions and ingredients exactly?
I have never made soaps before, but because I am using more and more essential oils and natural products I am excited to try this recipe, as it seems to be the easiest. My question is that on other soap recipe sites, it states that we could pour the liquid into say a one liter milk jug or even a pringles container to cool and set. Then peel that off and using a scalloped cutter, cut the soap. Do you think this is possible with this recipe?
I have never done that but it would probably work. But be very careful you don’t cut yourself in the process. Silicone molds are much easier to use and get a nice shape.
I have been making melt and pour soap for awhile. I use essential oils, oatmeal, poppy seeds and other exfoliating natural materials in my soap. I think that this recipe for soap is great. The sky is really the limit with what fragrance you like. If your thinking about just trying it out, you should at least do it once. You will be addicted to making more. Your friends and family will beg for more.n
My thanks to Tiffany for sharing the basic recipe.
Angie
Can you melt it 30 seconds at a time in the microwave rather than using the double boiler?
Yes but I have to say, I’ve never done it that way.
Thank you
Melt and pour is not helping you get closer to a vintage skill. I love your blog but this is misleading.
I’ll have to disagree with you there. Anything that gets people making instead of buying is heading in the right direction. Not everyone feels comfortable working with lye right out of the gate; melt and pour gives them a way to start crafting with the hopes that they’ll go deeper into in the future.
Can I use cow milk instead? If so liquid?
No, this requires a melt and pour base.
This is the best and easiest recipe for soap making for beginners. I am going to try it.
Thank you for all your advice.
Gail
Gail, thank you so much! <3
You know I am so sorry that some of these people are nit picking you to death. You are kind enough to give us some wonderful recipes to make easy yet delightful soaps and all they can do is fuss about the title. Perhaps it should have said M&P soap or something like that. Yes, all soap has lye but your recipe teaches how to make soap with handling lye directly. I for one thank you and enjoy your instructional.
Ah, thank you Lois. It’s ok – I know people always sound worse than they mean to on the internet. I’m so glad you’ve enjoyed the “recipe”. 😀
I have trouble with this type of soap getting additives to evenly distribute and not fall to the bottom of the mold thus actually the top when unmolded. Any suggestions to prevent this?
Hello Tiffany, do you have lemongrass soap recipe? With or without lye?
I do not, but you’ve given me a great idea! Would you like it with lemongrass oil or the actual herb?