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1 | decide the batch size and determine what oils are being used. place oils/butters in soap pot over medium heat until melted. |
| | again, i'm working with a 1-lb. batch size. this is the smallest quantity you can effective work with. |
| | olive oil, shea
butter, and castor oil (to make a softer pliable soap) make up the soft
oils (12% of the total oils). coconut oil (for lather), stearic acid,
and palm oil (to produce a denser soap), constitute the hard oils ...all
combined to make the 35% (of the total product weight) fatty acids. i'm
aiming for a firm, but semi liquid result as opposed to a fluffy, stiff
soap. |
| | the high percentage of stearic acid and/or palm oil is necessary to make this kind of soap.
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2 | add glycerin to the melted oils and stir until dissolved.
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3 | calculate amount of the two hydroxides, and the water; dissolve the lye into the water. |
| | using your favorite "lye calculator",
determine the amount of sodium hydroxide (no discount) needed to
saponify the selected oils. multiply that amount by .217 ...(ms. failor
never explained how she arrived at this figure.) this is the amount of
sodium hydroxide you'll need. now multiply that figure by 5. this is the
amount of potassium hydroxide. combine these two figures and multiply
by 6. this gives you the amount of water.
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4 | add the lye water to the melted oils and blend (with hand blender) until the mixture reaches a white-honey homogenous state. |
| | the time it takes to
reach this homogenous stage depends on the oil formulation. blends with
low percentages of stearic acid/palm oil and high percentages of soft
oils will take longer to saponify.
note: in such blends, your
mixture will probably "curdle". don't panic! simply continue to blend,
alternating with short periods of rest until the mixture reaches the
desired state. |
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| | the blend used in this
example went to the homogenous state very quickly with no curdling at
all. this could also be due to the small quantity. the mixture resembled
a creamy, frothy vanilla milkshake. before placing the soap pot into
the larger pot, i hand stirred to eliminate some the of the air that had
been whipped into the mixture during blending with the hand blender.
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| | the larger
pot should be large enough to totally contain the soap pot, so you can
place the lid on both pots ...you don't want the condensation from the
outer pot's lid to get into the soap pot. use a sheet of aluminum foil
if no lid is available.
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6 | cook for 2-1/2 hours, lightly stirring every 30 minutes to insure even heating. |
| | check after 10 minutes
of cooking to see if any curdling or separation has occurred. if this
is the case, remove the soap pot [from the larger pot] and blend until
the mixture is homogenous. return the soap pot to the larger pot and
continue cooking.
after 2-1/2 hours, the soap should
be neutral (all the lye has been consumed), and should be translucent.
if opaque, continue cooking for another hour. if still opaque, there is
excess alkalinity probably resulting from an error in calculating the
lye or in measuring the ingredients. |
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| | during this time, the
mixture went from a creamy white opaque liquid to a stiff, dry opaque
paste, to a translucent liquid, to a translucent paste.
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7 | remove soap pot from the water bath and allow to rest (with the lid on) for 24 hours at room temperature.
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during this time, the mixture is
supposed to morph back into a creamy white liquid, the consistency of
heavy whipping cream. if it doesn't, ms. failor recommends adding a bit
of water, making note of the amount so you can include it as part of the
total water added. |
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| | my mixture didn't
liquefy. it turned to liquid around the edges, but the bulk of it was
still semi-solid ...very soft, but not liquid. i added a small amount of
water (it took very little) and blended it in thoroughly until the
mixture reached the desired consistency.
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8 | supercream -- "supercreaming" is to cream soap what "superfatting" is to bar soap. |
| | choosing to supercream at 4% (the recommended ranges is 3% - 5%). i measured the boric acid (2% of the total oils) and dissolved it in hot water. note: in this circumstance, you want boric acid, not borax!
ms. failor's tome covers several
ways to accomplish this and explains the chemistry behind the process.
i've chosen to add boric acid to the cooled mixture ...as opposed to
adding boric acid or melted stearic acid to the hot soap. |
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| | i transferred the
thick flowing soap mixture to a large mixing bowl. using a large spoon, i
incorporated the boric acid into the soap mixture. the mixture doesn't
react immediately, but over the next hour, it thickens and just as you
would beat whipping cream, beating this mixture incorporates air and you
end up with a mass the consistency of whipped cream. the more you beat,
the more air you incorporate and the stiffer it gets.
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9 | add water. |
| | after supercreaming, addition water (or aloe vera and/or glycerin) can be added to adjust the consistency. |
| | as a result of the
water i added in step 7, and the water used to dilute the boric acid in
step 8, i found there was no need for any extra water. if necessary,
however, water can be added during the "rotting" process.
if you're repeating a recipe that
you know requires a certain amount of extra water at this point, you can
add that "extra" water to the lye water at the beginning thereby
avoiding this step. |
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10 | "rotting" |
| | this "unfortunate"
expression refers to the period of time (ranging from a few days to a
week) that the soap is allowed to sit during which it softens and
develops a sheen. |
| | the texture of the
soap changes during rotting and more water can be added to further
adjust the consistency. -- after 24 hours, the texture of my soap
stiffened a bit and i added a very, very, small amount water ...making
note of the amount and adding it to the total "extra" water addition. |
| | i never was any good at this "waiting" thing, so after about 48 hours i proceeded with the fragrancing and bottling.
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11 | add fragrance and color. |
| | fragrancing is done
very much the same as with other soap, but since no alkali or heat is
present, much less is needed. beware that some oils (essential and
fragrance) may discolor the soap so do a test before committing the
whole batch.
any soap coloring will work, but this is perfect in its naturally fluffy white state; it really doesn't need a color.
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12 | put finished soap in containers ...and voila! |
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before
thinning my soap a bit for dispensing from a squeeze bottle (i'm using
this as a body wash), i filled a cosmetic jar with the thick whipped
soap for the purpose of this illustration.
this would be accomplished by placing the whipped cream textured soap in
a pastry bag, (or a plastic bag with a small hole cut in one corner),
and piping the soap into the containers. | |
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