How to Make Soap- Different Processes

The 4 Processes of Making Handmade Soap

For those of you who have read the late James Herriot's books about being a country vet, you know the types of soaps he encountered made a lasting impression. He described a small hard pebble of soap and a bucket of icy water he used to wash up. He tried unsuccessfully to work up lather and gave up when he realized he had dropped the soap and was trying to lather up with a chunk of ice. He later experiences the joy of going to the home of one of his wealthy clients to care for her Pekingese. He describes with wonder the soft rich soaps he found in her mansion. The hard, latherless soap is typical of the hand made soapsr, and the soft rich soap was what the best commercial soaps used to be at the turn of the century. Now the only way to get this kind of soap is to make it yourself.




You can use hot or cold process to make soap or variations of the two. The following descriptions of the various processes are only brief descriptions. It is important to stress that measurements and proportions are very important when you are making your own soap. It can mean the difference between producing a block of soap that will lather well, be fragrant and look beautiful and a colourless, odorless lump that closely resembles a rock.

Cold Process Soaps

Natural soap making at its finest. It takes a lot of patience to make cold process soap. This natural soap is making a slow comeback with some soap makers. Fatty acids are made out of any kind of oil or fat including, but not limited to, beef tallow, hemp oil or olive oil and then are combined with lye (sodium hydroxide). Lye once was made by straining water through wood ashes but now it is commercially available and can be purchased online.

The lye and fatty acids are combined and over the course of about six weeks will gradually turn into soap. The form of natural soap making will produce a hard, long-lasting soap. If you do not wish to rebatch your soap, you can add alcohol, glycerin and sugars to your soap to clarify it. This will result in a clear transparent soap; this method can be dangerous because of the alcohol vapors, so extreme caution is required when making this soap.

Rebatching

Cold process soap is often rebatched. The soap is grated, mixed with water and heated. When the soap has melted, essential oils and fragrances are added and the soap is poured into molds. The main reason for adding oils and fragrances in a rebatch is to preserve the scent as much as possible. These are among the most fragrant soaps available.

Hot Process Soap

The other natural soap making method is much quicker, because it uses all the same ingredients as cold processed soap and adds heat. Occasional stirring and careful observation is required for this soap to turn out well. Most soap makers use this process. Well, most soap makers who do not use the melt and pour method.

Melt and Pour

The quickest and easiest way to make your own soap is the melt and pour method. You purchase large blocks of clear soap base and all you have to do is melt it, add colouring and fragrance and pour it into molds. This soap can be poured into decorative molds for individual soaps or flat molds to be sliced into blocks later. This can also be considered a natural soap, because this soap is not glycerin free like commercial soap. All four of these methods will make wonderfully moisturizing glycerin soaps.

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