Soap Making – Cold Process

I’ve been making soap for years, but living in Thailand has given it a whole new flavor—literally and figuratively. With local oils, tropical scents, and fresh ingredients at my fingertips, soapmaking has become more than a craft. It’s a way of connecting to where I live.

It turns out, soapmaking isn’t nearly as complicated as it seems. At its core, it’s just oils, water, and lye. The magic happens through a process called saponification—where lye transforms oils into soap.

What changed everything for me was discovering SoapCalc.net. It breaks down what each oil contributes to your bar—things like:

Hardness: Will your bar be firm or soft?
Cleansing: Does it wash well… or too well?
Conditioning: Will it leave skin feeling dry or nourished?
Lather: Big bubbles? Creamy foam?

In Thailand, I use what’s local: coconut oil, palm oil, rice bran oil, mango and shea butters. Making tea out of ginger, fresh turmeric, fresh aloe juice and more

Coconut and palm oils make a bubbly, cleansing bar—but they can be drying.
Rice bran oil is gentle and skin-loving, helping to balance the formula.
Mango and Shea Butter add creaminess and moisture.

Living in Thailand has changed the way I formulate. With the heat and humidity, I sweat a lot—so I actually prefer soaps with a higher percentage of palm and coconut oils. They’re more cleansing and mildly drying, which suits my skin perfectly. But not everyone loves that. The water here is hard, which can be drying enough on its own—especially for women, who tend to prefer a more conditioning, gentle bar. That’s where balancing the science comes in: adjusting the oils, superfatting the formula, and considering who the soap is for, and where they’ll be using it.

Because cold process soap can be drying, I always superfat—leaving a small amount of extra oil in the mix to nourish the skin. SoapCalc helps me get that balance just right.

One of my favorite experiments was a bar I called “Jimmy Buffett”—coconut milk, coconut oil, lime zest, and fresh lime juice. Using real juice was risky (acid can interfere with the lye), but with some math and a little trust in the process, it worked. Creamy, bright, and beachy. Someone figured out the ratio, all I needed to do was the math. Whallah! It worked.

If you’ve been curious about making your own soap, I can’t recommend it enough. Once you get started, you’ll wonder why you waited so long. It’s fun, creative, and surprisingly empowering to make something this useful with your own hands.

I wouldn’t want to go back to store bought soap after I saw how easy this is to do. I’d highly recommend giving it a try. It’s really not that complicated.

When using caustic soda, called lye, it is dangerous and causes severe burns. Take all the safety precautions.
Did you ever see the movie “Fight Club”?
They made soap in that movie…