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| 1 | decide the batch size and determine what oils are being used. the "oils chart" lists the ins and iodine values that are used in formulating a recipe that is balanced and produces a hard bar. |
| | i've decided to work
in small 1-lb. batch sizes. this will produce one plain bar (for testing
and evaluation), with the rest being grated for milling into 2 to 3
bars with various design-additive-color configurations. |
| | the oils being used
for this [initial] soap base are 47% olive oil (to produce a mild,
gentle bar), 23.5% each coconut oil (to produce a robust, rich lather),
and palm oil (to produce a hard, long-lasting bar), and 6% castor oil
(emollient). |
| | if the oil/butter is
in solid form, it can be weighed in solid form, unless, like palm oil,
it doesn't solidify in a homogeneous state and the fats are not evenly
distributed. place the oil container in a hot water bath until
completedly and uniformly liquid; then weigh. other solid oils, (e.g.
coconut oil), can be heated this way for convenience in handling.
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| 2 | determine
and measure out the amount of water. place this in freezer to chill. it
is okay if ice starts to form, but do not freeze solid. |
| | when you add the lye
to the water --(never add the water to the lye)-- a chemical reaction
takes place and the mixture gets hot. for this reason you should never
mix lye with hot water, 'lest the mixture "boil over". even with the ice
water, the mixture will still get really hot. |
| | in the regular cp process, the amount of water [i'm using] is constant 37.5% of the total weight of the oils.
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| | when
making goat's milk soap, one method is to substitute the [liquid]
goat's milk for the water. with this method, it's a common practice to
freeze the milk into ice cubes or an ice slush before adding the lye.
this way, the lye doesn't caramelize (read burn) the milk, consequently
producing a honey-colored bar ...although there are those who actually
prefer this. see "making goat's milk soap" for more on this aspect of soapmaking ...with my personal results and observations.
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| 3 | using your favorite "lye calculator", determine and measure out the amount of lye needed. cover container and set aside. |
| | there are slight
variations in the different lye calculation charts available, so i
choose to discount approx. 7% - 8% to assure all the lye is being
consumed in the saponification process. this is a safe range since the
sap for a given oil is a general value for that oil and may not be the
exact sap value of the oil you're using. never calculate below 5% unless
you are positively sure of the sap value of the actual oil you have on
hand. discounting also adds an emollient quality to the soap, which is a
good thing. |
| | note: there is a
difference between the an oil's sap value (e.g. olive - 190.0), and the
lye factor which is derived from this value (e.g. olive - .1354). don't
confuse the two. many sap tables are in fact a list lye factors, (the
figure by which the weight of an oil is multiplied to determine how much
lye is needed for saponification with no lye left behind in the soap).
the formula for converting one to the other is built into the various
lye calculators, which all use the same formula, but different sap
values, so they may generate slightly different results. it's a good
practice to pick one calculator [you like] and used it consistently.
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| 4 | mix
in the lye, pouring slowly and stirring constantly until all the lye is
dissolved. pour the lye into the cold water ...not the other way
around. this mixture will heat up. cover and set aside to let cool to
desired temperature. |
| | do this outdoors or
with plenty of ventilation, being careful not to inhale the fumes and
dust from the lye. lye is caustic. never use aluminum utensils since the
lye reacts with it ...use high density plastic or glass. wooden spoons
are also not appropriate since the lye eventually corrodes and splinters
the wood.
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| 5 | prepare mold(s). if using a tray mold, line with plastic wrap. if using individual bar molds, coat lightly with a cooking spray. |
| | even when using a tray mold, spray the mold so the plastic wrap will stick to the sides and stay in place.
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| 6 | melt
solid oils in pot, heating just enough to liquefy. add to other oils.
if all liquid oils are used, heat to desired temperature. |
| | you'll want to have
your oils and lye/water close to the same temperature before mixing. you
can accomplish this by heating the oils, heating the lye (by sitting
the container in another contain of hot water), or letting each cool
down. you'll want both to be in the 120° f - 130° f range. |
| | note that some recipes
don't require the mixtures to be in the same range, suggesting the lye
water be at room temperature while the oils are to be in the 120° f
- 130° f range. |
| | in any case, you don't
want to work at too low a temperature or this may impede the
saponification process which, (although it produces heat), needs to take
place in a "heated" environment.
| when using the cold process oven process (cpop) method , i process with lye water and oils at 100°f.
processing at higher temperatures will cause the soap to overheat [in
the heated oven] and start to foam. this surface foam layer doesn't ruin
the soap, but your soap will harden with an unattractive foamy layer on
the surface. |
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| 7 | place
pot in sink. very slowly pour lye mixture into the oils ...stirring
slowly (in a figure-8 motion). once all the lye is incorporated,
alternate between stirring with a [plastic or stainless steel] spoon and
using a stick blender until mixture reaches light trace. |
| | "trace" is where the saponification is beginning, a point where a bit of the mix drizzled on the surface leaves a trace. |
| | do not use the blender
beyond the point of "light trace" or you run the risk of whipping air
bubbles into the mixture. these bubbles could result in the formation of
pockets of un-saponified lye in the hardened soap. you could do this
without the blender at all, but it would take forever to trace. also,
don't use the stick blender continuously, 'lest you burn out the motor. |
| | at this point, you
would add any fragrance, colorant, herbs, or other additives. i add
nothing because i plan to add these other ingredients during the milling
process. |
| | finish by spoon
stirring to incorporate any additives and to eliminate any air bubbles
that may have been created by using the blender.
| to employ the hot process method, at the point of light trace, you would place the soap pot in a preheated oven (200°f) for one hour, and stir the soap mixture every 15 minutes or so. |
| after an hour, your soap should be in "gel" stage and have a
translucent appearance. remove the soap pot from the oven and let it sit
for 5 minutes or so. when the soap has cooled a bit, you can then
incorporate your additives, color, and fragrance. since the soap has
saponified and there's no lye present, you can use less fragrance, and
any [powdered] goat's milk added at this point won't turn the soap
brown. | | pour the finished soap into your prepared molds, cover, and let sit for about 24 hours. skip step 8; go to step 9. |
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| 8 | pour into mold(s) and let sit undisturbed for 48 hours. |
| | during this period,
your soap may or may not go through a "gel" stage, the point at which
the mixture turns transparent. there are those whose soap never goes
through this phase but still saponifies. gelling is caused by the amount
of heat produced by the saponification process in insulated molds,
(e.g. large, wooden, enclosed, block molds). this amount of heat isn't
generated (and there is no gel stage) when soap is made in individual
molds or shallow trays. |
| | should you or should
you not insulate your mold (i.e. wrap in towels)? there are proponents
on both sides of the argument. in either case, the objective is to
prevent the soap from catching a "chill" and shutting down the
saponification process. if the room is warm and there are no drafts,
there are those who claim no wrapping is necessary. if the room is cold,
there are those who suggest wrapping the mold, and placing it in the
oven with the pilot light and/or oven light. and there are those who say
you should wrap the mold in any case. still, there are those who resort
to heating pads, claiming you "can't insulate enough". all boast
successful results, so in the end, it's a matter of experience and
personal preference.
| to use the cold process oven process method (cpop), i place the [unwrapped] oven-proof mold in a preheated oven (170°f to 175°f)
for two hours; turn off the heat and let the mold remain in the oven
overnight (or 6 to 8 hours). if i'm doing 100% olive oil [castille]
soap, i cook it an extra 30 minutes. |
| some recipes call for higher temperatures (say 190°f)
for 1 hour. personal experience will dictate what time/temperature
combination works for you. however, using the lower temperatures will
allow the use of [certain] plastic molds ...those designed to withstand
temperatures around 180°f to 190°f. keep in mind that while saponifying, the soap will get hotter than the oven temperature. |
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| 9 | remove soap from mold(s). if tray mold was used, cut the soap into bars. |
| | trays and block molds
line with plastic wrap unmold easily. if the soap doesn't want to unmold
from individual bar molds, placing the molds in the freezer for 15
minutes facilitates the soap removal. |
| | if this is the end product, skip step 10; go to step 11.
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| 10 | if milling (rebatching) is the objective, cut soap into 2-inch cubes, grate, mill. (if soap is still somewhat "soft", let cubes sit for six hours before grating.) |
| | to mill the grated soap, i followed my own special procedure describe in "my rebatch". -- (see "hand milling" for an overview of the different approaches to this process.) |
| | with regard to the
additives, colorant, and fragrance incorporated into the base soap, i
follow the same [general] guidelines i use for the reformulation of the
soap base in the recipes on the m&p "recipes & design" page. |
| | the prepared soap is
then placed into individual molds. this mixture is thick and doesn't
pour so it'll have to be cajoled into the mold being sure to fill all
the space and eliminate any air pockets. i covered the top of the soap
with plastic wrap and use the back of a spoon to force it down into the
mold and smooth out the top. |
| | let the soap cool and then unmold, freezing for 15 minutes (if necessary) to facilitate unmolding.
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| 11 | let finished bars sit on rack to cure. (see the "curing times" for this and other soapmaking processes) |
| | this curing process
has two functions. the first is to allow all the excess water to
evaoprate leaving a hard, dry. long-lasting bar. the second is to allow
any remaining lye to finish saponifying the oil. a six-week curing
period is plenty to assure all the lye is gone, but you can still test
the bar with a ph strip. |
| | not all ph strips are equal; different kinds give different results. see "ph strip comparisons" for a clarification of the types and use of ph strips for testing your soap. |
| | since most of the
saponification has already taken place, you can test your soap as soon
as it comes out of the mold. there will be some addition saponification
that occurs during the long curing process, but not that much. this way,
you can see if you're in the right range. you don't have to wait 6
weeks only to find out that something has gone wrong. |
| | i was surprised to
learn that some [seasoned] soapers test with their tongues (ewww!). if
they experience a tingle, or what is referred to as a "bite", the soap
needs more curing.
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| 12 | tah-dah!
"plain (base) soap" | | 
"milled soap" |
|
| | this "milled" example
is the plain base re-formulated with goat's milk, honey, gel colorant,
and fragrance, in a rectangular mold with a victorian surface design.
see "my rebatch" for other examples of rebatched soaps. |
[bar] soap from scratch