A while back, I started making my own soap; mostly due to the fact that I could no longer use any commercially made soap.
At first, I thought cold process was the only way to go as once you reached trace, you may simply “dump” it in a mold and forget about it. However, with a wolf who loves to eat soap, I didn’t want to risk her getting into it while there may still be “free lye” in the mold.
After some experimentation, I discovered that oven process was just as easy. You reach trace, put the pot (I always use stainless steel so as to make it easy to put in 175F oven) in the oven for an hour or two until the gel stage was reached, take the pot out, stir in super fat, “scoop” it in the mold.
And you are done.
Or, if you really like “polished look” of your cured soap, you may want to “flatten” the surface a bit. Personally I prefer the “rustic” “bumpy” look so I don’t bother with this step.
In any event, anxiety no longer visits me when I catches my wolf with a piece of soap in the curing process in her mouth, directly “stolen” from one of my molds. 🙂
Some of my favorite homemade soap are made with:
1. 100% olive oil (extra virgin cold pressed)
2. 100% coconut oil (organic raw)
3. 100% palm oil (organic raw)
4. 65% palm oil and 35% peanut oil
5. 65% coconut oil and 35% olive oil
Adding some borax, one can also make an effective laundry stain remover bar that’s devoid of all unnecessary chemicals.
Recently I added some activated charcoal, organic Sacha Inchi  extract and tea tree oil to a facial soap and it turn out great!
Personally I do not usually add anything for scent, natural or artificial, except lemon or lemongrass essential oils for some “gift hand soaps”.
I believe any homesteader should give this a try. It’s in my “easy and fun” “healthy living” “meditative activity” list. 🙂