| In this section we explain what cold process soapmaking is.
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to Introduction
Soapmaking is a craft and profession which extends back in time for thousands of
years. Today, most people buy their soap from commercial vendors such as Proctor and
Gamble, Ivory, etc. But handcrafted soapmaking has recently seen a resurgence both in
availability and in consumer interest. As with any handcrafted item compared to a
commercially produced item, hand made soaps often use more expensive and exotic raw
materials and result in a soap bar which is unique and luxurious.
"Soap" is created when fixed oils such as palm oil and coconut oil are
blended with sodium hydroxide (known more commonly as "lye"). The laws of nature
demand that you cannot make soap without lye. So, cold process soapmaking involves working
with oils and mixing them with lye which has been dissolved in water. As the two are
stirred together, a chemical reaction sets in which changes everything into soap. A
properly made bar has no free lye in it, and is gentle and cleansing.
Once you get past any concerns you may have about working with lye, Cold Process
soapmaking is a relatively easy process. With the proper tools in hand, you can produce
several bars of soap in a few hours, in the comfort of your kitchen. Here is the basic
process:
Ingredients: fixed oils, water, lye.
Tools: Medium sized pot, candy thermometer, plastic spatula, plastic bowl,
shoebox lined with plastic.
Directions: Pour the water into the plastic bowl, add the lye and stir until
fully dissolved. Set aside to cool. Melt the fixed oils in the pot and remove from heat.
When the lye and the oils are both approximately 100 degrees Fahrenheit, pour the
lye/water into the oils. Pour in a slow and steady stream, stirring all the while.
Continue stirring for about an hour. The chemical reaction will make the soap stock
thicken like pudding. Pour into the mold. Cover the mold with plastic and wrap with
blankets. Leave undisturbed for 24 hours. After 24 hours, remove from mold and slice into
bars. Set bars in a dry place to age for two to three weeks before using.
We provide this basic process to show you how simple it is to make soap. However,
before actually attempting to make soap, you will need a recipe with weights and
measurements. These are available in any of the wonderful books recently published on the
craft of soapmaking.
A variation on the Cold Process soapmaking theme is the Hot Process. In Hot Process
soap, you continue to cook the soap while you stir, you do not remove it from the heat.
Constant exposure to heat makes the oils and lye interact more quickly and more thoroughly
than in the Cold Process method. Hot Process soaps can also be made at home, however there
are no books currently available on the topic.
Large, commercial soapmakers use neither the Cold nor Hot Process methods.
Rather, they have developed advanced means of soapmaking which result in more soap being
produced faster and to their specifications. These methods require expensive equipment and
facilities as any commercial venture would. There are a couple of essential differences
between handcrafted soap processes and those used by larger manufacturers.
One primary difference is the glycerin content. Glycerin is a skin-loving humectant
which is a by-product of soapmaking. When oils and lye are mixed together, they result in
a new chemical which we call soap as well as a by-product we call glycerin (click
here for an article on "What is Glycerin" if you
need more information). In handcrafted soapmaking, the extra glycerin is left in the
soap. Commercial soapmakers use a process called "salting out" to remove the
glycerin from their soap stock. They do this for many reasons. First, glycerin is an
expensive and useful product. Commercial soapmakers can make good money by removing it
from soap (which people like to pay very little for) and putting it into their lotions and
creams (which people will pay more for), or by reselling it to other industries
which use glycerin (candy makers, etc.). Also, commercial soapmakers have developed
processes for making soap which require that the soap stock be ground up, milled, and
otherwise manipulated. They need their soap base to be fairly "plastic" and to
move easily through their equipment. Extra glycerin makes the soap too sticky to do this.
(By the way, commercial soapmakers can skip this process entirely by starting their
soapmaking process with the acid components of oils such as stearic acid and palmitic acid
rather than working with the full oil. These acids do not result in excess glycerin
in the soap base).
Another big reason why handcrafted soaps are different than commercial soaps is that
commercial soapmakers often use detergents and other additives to their bars which many
people find irritating to their skin.
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