This is the type of soap I make most often. The beauty of good basic opaque soap recipes is that you can change your soap very easily by varying the fragrance and colour or by adding additional ingredients after tracing to change the texture of your soap.
But before you can modify your recipe to ‘individualize’ your soap, you are going to need a basic recipe for your soap. On this page, you will find three recipes for basic white soap, one with a lard base, one with beef tallow, and one with a shortening or solid vegetable oil base.
Opaque Soap Recipes
Basic Lard Soap Recipe
This recipe will make approximately 20 x 140-gram bars of general-purpose soap. I use this recipe for the soap that I use every day in the shower.
The soap has good moisturizing properties and stable if somewhat subdued lather.
Ingredients
1000 grams of Lard
1000 grams of Olive Oil
256 grams of Caustic Soda (NaOH)
2.7 cups of Distilled Water
To make this soap follow the directions on the cold process soap-making page.
Basic Beef Tallow Soap Recipe
This recipe will make approximately 20 x 140-gram bars of general-purpose soap. This soap is slightly harder than the lard soap and has similar lather properties.
The soap also has good moisturizing properties although not quite to the same degree as the lard soap.
Ingredients
1000 grams of Beef Tallow
1000 grams of Olive Oil
258 grams of Caustic Soda (NaOH)
2.7 cups of Distilled Water
To make this soap follow the directions on the cold process soap-making page.
Basic Shortening Soap Recipe
This recipe will make approximately 20 x 140-gram bars of general-purpose soap. Like the soap made with beef tallow, this soap is slightly harder than the lard soap and has a slightly fluffier lather.
The soap also has good moisturizing properties although not quite to the same degree as the lard soap.
Ingredients
750 grams of Shortening (Solid Vegetable Oil)
750 grams of Olive Oil
250 grams of Coconut Oil
237 grams of Caustic Soda (NaOH)
2.5 cups of Distilled Water
To make this soap follow the directions on the cold process soap-making page.
Comparing the Basic Recipes
Each basic soap recipe produces soap with different properties, although not significantly different.
If you are looking for a hard soap, use the shortening or beef tallow recipe. For the soap with the best moisturizing properties, make a batch of lard soap.
If the ‘fluffiness’ of the lather is more important to you, the shortening recipe is the way to go, but if you want a soap with the most stable lather, select the recipe with a coconut oil base.
