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Making Natural Soap from Scratch
Whether you choose to make soap for your own personal use or for gift giving, you will no doubt be hooked after your first batch. The following instructions are designed for both our kits and soapmaking from scratch.
We know that you enjoy the art of soapmaking as much as we do, one batch or many. We are always interested in feedback and questions, so please stay in tough via e-mail or call us.
Shortly you will enjoy making candles, soap, lotion, and all your body care products and all-natural products as individual as you are - and at a fraction of the cost.
What is it and where does it come from.
Until the early 1900’s, much of the soap used was made at home. Fats from cooking and butchering were saved until there was enough to make a batch of soap. This all changed in 1916 when a shortage of fats (a main ingredient in soap) occurred during World War I. As an alternative was needed, enterprising companies developed the first synthetic soaps called detergents.
With a wide variety of oils available today, making your own soap is once again very inexpensive, and a good choice for those concerned about quality, health related benefits, and the environment.
Successful soapmaking today is a result of a much better understanding of chemistry, experience, and a wider variety of ingredients to choose from. Today's soaps are milder and better for skin thanks to the availability of vegetable and plant based oils.
Chemically speaking, soap is a salt. An acid and a base react with one another and are neutralized to form a salt or soap. A more basic explanation is: oils or fats combine with Sodium Hydroxide or “Lye” in a process called saponification to produce soap.
Hand made soap retains extra glycerin, known to soften the skin naturally. Glycerin is one of the best known humecants (attracts moisture to the skin). It is often extracted during the process of manufacturing commercially made soap, then sold as a valuable by-product. Natural ingredients are rarely used in commercially manufactured soap. If used at all, it is sparingly. One of the best advantages of making your own soap is that you are in charge of quality control. You decide which ingredients to use and how much.
Animal versus Vegetable-based Soaps
Originally, all soap was made from animal fats — mainly lard from pigs and tallow from cattle. It was readily available and at the time no one questioned the use of animal by-products. Over time, new oils were extracted from vegetables, grains and nuts providing an alternative to animal oils.
Vegetable oil soaps are chemically superior and can be of higher quality than soaps made with animal fats. Vegetable oils are more readily absorbed by the skin while animal oils have been found to clog pores and aggravate certain skin conditions, such as eczema.
The Soap Process
Natural hand-made soap is not difficult to make, once you understand the basics. You can make a batch of soap in as little as one hour, depending on the formula.
The following is the basic formula for making all soap:
Fatty acid (oil) + Base (lye) = “A Salt” (soap)
The oil or fat is heated gently. Lye and water are combined separately. When both ingredients reach the required temperature, they are combined. When the mixture becomes the desired consistency, it is poured into a mould. The bars are then removed from the mould after setting up (approximately 24 to 48 hours). They are restacked and allowed to “cure” or dry until hard. This can take anywhere from 3 to 8 weeks depending on the formula.
There are 3 keys to successful soapmaking:
1. Accurately weighed ingredients.
2. A good formula.
3. Proper technique.
Cold Process Method: This process is widely used by home-based soapmakers. The neutralization stage takes place during the moulding stage. Our kits follow this method.
Semi-boiled Method: After the soap mixture traces, heat is added using a double-boiler to cause the soap to neutralize before being moulded.
Full-boiled Method: This method is where all ingredients are prepared in one large container. Heat is added causing neutralization. Large commercial manufacturers use this method to achieve the by-product called glycerin.
Transparent Soap: This soap is made clear by adding solvents such as alcohol to prevent crystals from forming as the soap cools. Transparent soap is often referred to as Glycerin Soap. However, this is a fallacy as glycerin is not needed to produce a clear or transparent soap. This soap can be drying to the skin.
Melt and Pour Soap: Or also known a solid Glycerin blocks. Pure glycerin, animal or vegetable derived, is always liquid and can only be solidified by the addition of plastizer chemicals. To produce a foam, detergents are added. This method is simply making soap from soap and is more expensive than starting from scratch. Melt and pour soaps may have natural ingredients added to them but they are synthetically based.
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