{"id":16920,"date":"2011-05-12T13:32:54","date_gmt":"2011-05-12T18:32:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/artofmanliness.com\/?p=16920"},"modified":"2021-05-29T12:22:40","modified_gmt":"2021-05-29T17:22:40","slug":"how-to-make-bar-of-soap","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/skills\/how-to\/how-to-make-bar-of-soap\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Make Your Own Manly Bar of Soap"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Homemade<\/p>\n

\u201cA paste of lye and water can burn through an aluminum pan. A solution of lye and water will dissolve a wooden spoon. Combined with water, lye heats to over two hundred degrees, and as it heats it burns into the back of my hand\u2026on the lap of my bloodstained pants\u2026\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

-Passage from Fight Club<\/span>, by Chuck Palahniuk<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

If you\u2019ve ever seen the movie or read the book Fight Club<\/em>, then you know what a potentially volatile endeavor the making of soap can be. If you are careless with the sodium hydroxide (lye), a poisonous, caustic substance, you risk burning holes in your flesh, blinding yourself, and endangering others. But if you’re conscientious in your work, DIY soap-making can be a great hobby<\/a>. Most soaps out there are designed for the ladies and have foo-fooey scents; making your own allows you to come up with your own manly concoctions. Your signature bars of soap can also make great inexpensive gifts. And most importantly, it provides an opportunity for a man to create instead of consume<\/a> and enjoy some tangible fruits of his labors.<\/p>\n

Today we’ll discuss how to make your own manly bar of soap. This bar of soap has a nice light coffee scent along with deodorizing exfoliates to clean your hands when the grease is ground deep into them  from working in the garage. For the exfoliates, we\u2019ve chosen coffee grounds and ground walnuts.  Here\u2019s why:<\/p>\n

Coffee Grounds: <\/strong>Interestingly enough, the inclusion of coffee grounds makes for a powerfully deodorizing soap. Coffee grounds are a perfect ingredient for removing disagreeable scents from your hands after, say, you’ve been cooking with a lot of garlic or fish, working on your car, or fixing the lawnmower.<\/p>\n

Walnuts:<\/strong> The walnut is a relatively soft nut and acts as a nice counter exfoliate to the slightly sharper, harder grounds of the coffee. Not only that, but the walnut is a rather ugly nut. It is wrinkled and imperfect–and let’s face it, most of us have similar aesthetic qualities–so it seems a fitting ingredient to include in a man’s soap.<\/p>\n

What You Need
\n<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Aside from going around collecting your ingredients and equipment, you will need about two hours<\/strong> to make a batch of soap. This includes the preparation, the heating and mixing, pouring the molds, and the clean up. However, this assumes the use of a hand blender. If you whisk the ingredients by hand at the tracing stage, add several more hours to that.<\/p>\n

The ingredients<\/strong> you will commonly see in bar soaps include oils and\/or fats, sodium hydroxide (lye), a liquid base (which can be water, coffee, beer (if you use beer, make sure it is flat), etc.\u2026), exfoliates (optional), essential oils, herbs, and fragrances (all optional), and so on.<\/p>\n

\"Ingredients<\/p>\n

The equipment <\/strong>necessary for making your own soap includes:<\/p>\n