Ever since the period of quarantine began, a lot of us had trouble passing time. Most of us are not used to staying home all day, not doing anything. No more sitting in traffic for hours, no more having to live up to social commitments or even prepare for any exams. Our entire life as we knew it has been flipped upside down. We now spend most of our time on social media, trying to get as much information as we can from the internet, we cannot help ourselves but get paranoid, the feeling of helplessness cripples us. We all need some sort of a distraction or a hobby to get our mind off things that are negative around us. There are plenty of things you can do while staying home. Learning new things could be great for your mental health and also help you stay productive.
Why not learn how to make soap at home? Indeed, it’s something quite essential at a time like this. As difficult as it might sound, it really isn’t. There are many different methods one can use, many different ingredients with which you can experiment. The outcome, however, depends on your level of skill, the best way to start is by making basic bar soap for regular use using household ingredients which are easily available.
First and foremost, you need to make sure you are wearing safety goggles and gloves, and that you are in a well-ventilated room. We are going to make the soap with only three basic ingredients: olive oil, distilled-water and lye (sodium hydroxide). Any spills or drops could be dangerous as lye (one of the ingredients) is very reactive. Other things you will need is a weighing machine/measuring cups, non- reactive glass bowl, stainless-steel spoon and a kitchen mixer (not essential, but it’s good if you use one), and a silicon or wooden mold. It is also important to make sure there are no children or pets running around in the room to avoid accidents. You should never make any compromises when it comes to safety. Here are the steps:
• Measure the distilled-water, 13.2 ounces.
• Measure the amount of lye, take 4.8 ounces.
• Slowly and gently, add the lye to the water while stirring with the stainless-steel spoon. Make sure never to pour water into the lye. The solution will become very warm, so take caution to avoid any spills.The solution will then become clear as it cools and let it rest to bring it down to room temperature.
• Measure the amount of olive oil, take 38 ounces.
• In order to emulsify the oil and lye together, pour the lye solution carefully to eliminate chances of any splashes.
• Mix the solution with a kitchen mixer making it thicker, until a trail or trace of the blend is visible on the surface.
• Now pour the solution onto the prepared mold (preferably silicon), and leave it to rest and saponify for at least 24 hours in a warm place. If it doesn’t harden, leave it there for another 24 hours.
• Once the soap has hardened, it will smoothly pull away from the silicon mold. Cut it in equal pieces, according to your preference.
And that’s it! This olive oil soap, also known as castile soap, can then be used within four to six weeks. You can definitely play around with the ingredients adding essential oils to add fragrance to the soap. Other various kinds of oil can also be used to make soaps, but in a time like this olive oil could be the easiest to get hold of. If you don’t have lye at home, it is available in a few places across Dhaka, for example in Mitford road. But if it is far for you, make sure not to leave your home and wait till the risk of Covid-19 to end, do not put yourself and your family at any kind of risk.
Not only can soap making be a good hobby, it can be very soothing. Once you master the technique, you can show off your skill by making gorgeous artisan soaps, which can be very expensive to purchase from the stores. Also, handmade artisan soaps can be a great gift and what can be more special to your friends if you’re making it yourself?
