Black Soap Base: A No-Lye-Handling Alternative to Melt and Pour

You can use Baraka's Black Soap Base instead of melt and pour soap base. It is traditional African black soap that is already made with lye, sold as crumbs and made by hand at the Konjeihi Women's Enterprise Centre in Wa, Ghana. You soften it with a little water and press or mould it into bars, so you never handle lye yourself.

What can I use instead of melt and pour soap base?

There are several routes, and the right one depends on what you want from the finished bar.

• Cold process soap. You make the soap from scratch with oils and lye. It gives you full control, but you handle lye and wait through a long drying time.
• Rebatching. You take soap that is already made, soften it with a little liquid and reshape it. The lye work is already done. Black Soap Base is made for this.
• Lotion bars and butter bars. These are made from butters and oils and contain no soap, so they are a different kind of bar. They are not a cleansing substitute.
• Other ready-made bases. Castile-style and synthetic detergent bases exist, each with its own texture and ingredient list.

If you want a soap base that is a traditional plant-oil soap and does not ask you to handle lye, a rebatch with Black Soap Base is the simplest of these.

Is there a natural alternative to melt and pour soap base?

Yes. Black Soap Base is a traditional African black soap sold as crumbs. It is made from shea butter and palm kernel oil, saponified with traditional potash made from cocoa pod and plantain peel ash, with a little red palm oil, raw honey, and small amounts of turmeric, cocoa, moringa, neem, hibiscus, baobab, lemongrass and aloe. It is soap, which means it was made with lye, and the lye has already reacted with the oils by the time you have the crumbs. What you do at home is shape it.

Traditional Ghanaian black soap is made by saponifying plant oils with potash produced from plantain skins, cocoa pods and shea husks. It is usually soft, slightly crumbly and dark, with a colour that varies from batch to batch. That character carries through to the crumbs. You are working with a rustic, handmade soap rather than a smooth, uniform block.

The word "natural" is used loosely in soap making, so here is the plain version. The ingredients are listed above and nothing else is claimed. The base is not a glycerin block, and it is not a clear, bright, fragranced base. It is a traditional black soap that you can shape.

How is black soap base different from melt and pour soap base?

They are two different kinds of material, and it helps to know that before you buy.

• What it is. Melt and pour is a glycerin soap base made to liquefy cleanly when heated. Black Soap Base is traditional black soap in crumbs. It does not melt clear.
• Texture. Melt and pour is smooth and even, and usually translucent or opaque white. Black Soap Base is soft, a little crumbly and earthy. Softened with water it becomes a workable, pliable paste, and your bars will look handmade.
• Colour. Melt and pour starts clear or white, so it takes colour and embeds well. Black Soap Base is dark and opaque. It will not take bright dyes, and you cannot embed shapes in it to show through, as you can in clear base.
• Set time. Melt and pour sets as it cools after you pour it. A black soap rebatch is pressed or moulded, then needs drying time. In soap making this drying time is called curing, and it is what firms the bar up. You plan for it rather than waiting for it to cool.
• Lye. Neither asks you to handle lye. Both are ready-made soap. The difference is the kind of soap you are starting from.
• Method. Melt and pour is melted, poured and set. Black Soap Base is softened with a little water and pressed or moulded (a rebatch), or dissolved into liquid or paste soap.

If you are choosing between them for a project, ask what the finished bar should look like. A clear, glossy, brightly coloured bar with a pattern inside points to melt and pour. A dark, plant-oil bar with a hand-pressed look points to black soap base.

How do you make soap bars from black soap base?

You make them by rebatching: softening the crumbs with a little water, pressing them into a mould and letting the bars dry. Baraka's Black Soap Crumbs are the base for this. They come already made into soap, so you can go straight to shaping.

1. Weigh the crumbs. Decide how many bars you want and weigh out the crumbs for them. A scale makes the batches repeatable.
2. Add a little water. Use only as much as you need to make the crumbs pliable. A small amount goes a long way, and too much makes a wet, sticky mixture that takes longer to dry.
3. Work it until it holds together. Knead or stir the crumbs and water until you have a soft, even, workable mass with no dry pockets.
4. Press it into the mould. Pack the mass firmly into a soap mould, or shape it by hand. Press out air pockets so the bar is solid.
5. Unmould and let it dry. Turn the bar out once it holds its shape and leave it somewhere dry with air around it to cure. Black soap absorbs moisture from the air, so once the bars are dry, store them wrapped or in a closed container.

The exact quantities of crumbs and water, and the drying times, are set out in the 20 Black Soap Bar DIY eRecipe Book. It gives you the method for each bar, so you do not have to guess at ratios. Use it if you want a tested route rather than trial and error.

Baraka also publishes a guide to making bars from the crumbs and recipes for liquid black soap, if you would like to see the method written out step by step.

Do you need lye to make soap with black soap base?

No. You do not handle lye at any point. Black Soap Base is soap that was made with lye already, and the reaction that turns oils into soap is finished before the crumbs reach you. All you do is soften it with water and shape it.

This is the main reason people look for a rebatch base. Working with lye needs protective gear, careful measuring and a well-ventilated space. Starting from finished soap leaves all of that to the people who made the base.

One point on the chemistry is worth knowing. African black soap is alkaline, as all true soap is, and Ghana Standard GS 289:2021 sets a pH of 6 to 10. That is true of any real soap, and it is why soap is different from a detergent bar or a lotion bar. It also means that even though you do not handle lye, you are still working with soap, so rinse your hands and tools after you finish.

What is black soap base made of?

It is shea butter and palm kernel oil soap, made with traditional potash from cocoa pod and plantain peel ash, with a little red palm oil, raw honey and small amounts of turmeric, cocoa, moringa, neem, hibiscus, baobab, lemongrass and aloe. The potash is used up in turning the oils into soap, so it does not appear in the ingredient list. Because it contains a small amount of raw Ghanaian honey, it is not vegan. The soap is made by hand by the women of the Konjeihi Women's Enterprise Centre in Wa, Ghana.

Black soap is a different thing from the bright, uniform bars you find on most shelves. The colour of traditional black soap varies between batches, because it comes from the ash, and it is soft by nature. A soft, dark, slightly crumbly base is how it should look.

Can you make liquid or paste soap from black soap base?

Yes. Besides pressed bars, the crumbs can be dissolved into water to make a liquid or paste soap. This is a traditional use of black soap in Ghana, where it is used as a base for liquid soap, shampoo and shower gel. It is also an easy way to use up the crumbs if you do not want to mould bars.

Black Soap Base is not a food product, and nothing on this page is a claim about what soap does for skin. It is a cleansing soap base, and the recipes on the Baraka site show the method step by step.

Why would someone choose black soap base?

• Traditional recipe. Shea butter and palm kernel oil soap, made with traditional plant-ash potash.
• No lye handling. The soap is already made, so you can rebatch it in an ordinary kitchen without caustic chemicals.
• Made by hand. The soap is made by hand at the Konjeihi Women's Enterprise Centre in Wa, Ghana. Wayne Dunn of Baraka has worked directly with the Centre for over 15 years.
• Fair trade. Baraka's work with the Centre is Community Certified Fair Trade. The Impact Report sets out what that looks like in practice.
• A good project for gifts. Pressed bars take little equipment, and each batch looks hand made, which suits the gift season.

When is melt and pour the better choice?

Melt and pour is the better choice when you want clear, bright or glossy bars, when you want to colour and fragrance them freely, or when you want to embed shapes or layers. It sets quickly and gives a very uniform result, which suits craft projects with children and detailed moulds.

Black Soap Base is the better choice when you want a traditional dark plant-oil soap, with a hand-pressed look, and no lye to handle. If you are not sure, start with a small batch of crumbs and see whether you like working with it. It is a different material, not a stand-in for a clear base, and it is easier to enjoy when you accept that.

How should you store black soap bars and crumbs?

Keep the crumbs and finished bars wrapped or in a closed container. Black soap absorbs moisture from the air and will soften if it is left uncovered. Once your pressed bars are fully dry, keep them somewhere dry with room for air around them between uses, and they will last well.

Where can you get Black Soap Base and the recipes?

The crumbs are on the Black Soap Crumbs product page, which is where to start if you want to try a rebatch for yourself. The 20 Black Soap Bar DIY eRecipe Book gives the quantities and the method for each bar.

Quick answers

What can I use instead of melt and pour soap base?

You can use Baraka's Black Soap Base, which is traditional African black soap sold as crumbs. It is already made with lye, so you soften it with a little water and press or mould it. Other options include cold process soap, which needs lye, and lotion bars, which are not soap.

Is there a natural alternative to melt and pour soap base?

Yes. Black Soap Base is a traditional black soap made from shea butter and palm kernel oil with traditional plant-ash potash. It is made by hand at the Konjeihi Women's Enterprise Centre in Wa, Ghana. It is not a clear glycerin base, so it gives a dark, hand-pressed bar.

How is black soap base different from melt and pour soap base?

Black Soap Base is traditional black soap in crumbs, and it does not melt clear. It is soft, dark and opaque, and it is softened with water and pressed or moulded, then left to dry. Melt and pour is a smooth glycerin base that melts, takes bright colour and sets as it cools.

How do you make soap bars from black soap base?

Weigh the crumbs, add a little water until they are pliable, and work them into an even mass. Press the mass firmly into a mould, then unmould it and let the bar dry. The 20 Black Soap Bar DIY eRecipe Book gives exact quantities and drying times.

Do you need lye to make soap with black soap base?

No. Black Soap Base is soap that was made with lye already, so you never handle lye. You only soften the crumbs with water and shape them. African black soap is alkaline, as all true soap is, and Ghana Standard GS 289:2021 sets a pH of 6 to 10.