Well, the first test was fun, but it didn't go too well. One of the first things you have to learn to do is to know when 'trace' occurs, and you don't go any longer than it takes to add your fragrances and colors. This time, I wasn't sure how long to go so I went too long. All poured ok, but the soap out of the mold had lost its original color, fragrance, and smelled pretty rancid. We kept it for a few days, but it didn't improve. So, we threw our first batch away. In the first batch we used:
Crisco
Safflower Oil
Olive Oil
Blue/Green coloring
Friday, July 11, 2008
Basics of Cold Process Soapmaking
Cold Process (CP) soapmaking involves 1 basic action: the combination of Lye (Sodium Hydroxide, found in pure form in some drain cleaners. Yes, drain cleaner.) and oils. When the right portions are mixed together at the same temperature and stirred to a state called 'trace', it is called 'saponification' - and you have soap! You add color and fragrance and desired extras, and pour into a mold. The soap has to cure for 2-3 weeks, ensuring all the lye has dissipated, and you have your own homemade soap.
The advantage of this method is that you can choose your own oils (Olive and other oil solids), and your own fragrances, your own colors, and your own additives such as herbs or sea salt. The one thing to be careful of is the Lye. It is dangerous to work with, but if you take the right precautions (gloves and goggles and its own dedicated equipment), there are no problems at all. The resulting soap can have no preservatives, it can be all natural or organic or whatever you want it to be. Make the kind of soap that you want for your own body.
The advantage of this method is that you can choose your own oils (Olive and other oil solids), and your own fragrances, your own colors, and your own additives such as herbs or sea salt. The one thing to be careful of is the Lye. It is dangerous to work with, but if you take the right precautions (gloves and goggles and its own dedicated equipment), there are no problems at all. The resulting soap can have no preservatives, it can be all natural or organic or whatever you want it to be. Make the kind of soap that you want for your own body.
Why Soap Making You Ask?
Tired of commercial soaps that dried out and irritated our skin, we decided to try handmade soap from the internet. While I generally had the attitude that 'soap is soap', I truly started to notice the difference with the handmade soap. So, we had a discussion about these nice soaps and had the wild idea that we could make these ourselves. A homemade soap business is born!
In typical Scott fashion, I immediately went to the craft store and bought every supply I could find for making soap. We started by identifying 4 base colors and fragrances that we wanted to make. So, we jumped in. The type of soapmaking that we tried was Melt & Pour (MP). MP is simply taking a soap 'base', melting it down, adding fragrance, color, and herbs, and pouring it into molds. It is generally ready in about 30 minutes to remove from the mold and let set overnight. Voila! We made soap!
We quickly realized though that the base soap that we were using was commercial and we weren't gaining anything there. Plus, we felt that the results of MP were a bit amateur looking. So looking into this further introduced us to Cold Process soapmaking (CP). CP soapmaking is similar to baking - you have a recipe, you put some things together, pour into a mold, cut into bars, and in 2-3 weeks you have soap! So we dove into CP soapmaking, and made a couple of batches. I watched a great video on YouTube that guided me step by step. We had a blast, and really thought we could produce some nice quality soaps. We may sell them, we may keep them and share them, to be determined.
The next several posts will document the CP soap batches we have done so far. I'll comment on the making and setting up of the batch, then circle back a few weeks after a batch is done to report on how the soap turned out.
In typical Scott fashion, I immediately went to the craft store and bought every supply I could find for making soap. We started by identifying 4 base colors and fragrances that we wanted to make. So, we jumped in. The type of soapmaking that we tried was Melt & Pour (MP). MP is simply taking a soap 'base', melting it down, adding fragrance, color, and herbs, and pouring it into molds. It is generally ready in about 30 minutes to remove from the mold and let set overnight. Voila! We made soap!
We quickly realized though that the base soap that we were using was commercial and we weren't gaining anything there. Plus, we felt that the results of MP were a bit amateur looking. So looking into this further introduced us to Cold Process soapmaking (CP). CP soapmaking is similar to baking - you have a recipe, you put some things together, pour into a mold, cut into bars, and in 2-3 weeks you have soap! So we dove into CP soapmaking, and made a couple of batches. I watched a great video on YouTube that guided me step by step. We had a blast, and really thought we could produce some nice quality soaps. We may sell them, we may keep them and share them, to be determined.
The next several posts will document the CP soap batches we have done so far. I'll comment on the making and setting up of the batch, then circle back a few weeks after a batch is done to report on how the soap turned out.
Thursday, July 10, 2008
Soap Making Log
In an attempt to make our own soap with the possibility of selling it, I will be documenting our journey not only for my records, progress, and lack of decent short term memory, but for others who may learn something for themselves. I will try to make it interesting, educational, and fun!
-Scott
-Scott
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