Tuesday, September 13, 2005
Soap-Making 101
I started making soap back in 1997 when I went home to Colorado for Christmas and saw some French soap balls in my Mom's bathroom. "Hmm," I thought, "I could make that." So, I went back home (Baton Rouge at the time) and checked out some books on soap-making. I was hooked. Other than some shower gels used by gift certificates, I haven't bought soap since.Very generally, here is how you do it.
You take oils of your choice (vegetable or animal, or a combination of both) and heat them up to about 110 degrees. Here, I used palm oil, olive oil, cocoa butter, castor oil, and shea butter.
You have to measure these oils out and figure out how much sodium hydroxide is needed for the type and weight of each oil used (the lye calculator at Majestic Mountain Sage is what I use). While the oils are heating up, you combine sodium hydroxide (also called lye) and water (1/3 of the total oil weight). This solution is caustic, so you have to wear goggles and gloves (no I didn't take a picture of myself, sorry). It gets very hot, very fast after mixed with water. You have to wait for this mixture to come down from about 250 degrees to 110 degrees (to be about the same as the oils).
Once these temperatures are reached, you combine the oils and lye solution. Using a stick blender, you have to stir until "trace" is reached. This is when the soap is thicker than liquid, but not as thick as pudding. Basically, if you lift up the blender and dribble some soap onto the surface of the rest of the soap, a line should appear. Once this happens, you have to move quickly. Add any fragrance oils or colorants, stir, and immediately pour into soap molds.
Once the soap is hard, you unmold it and cut it. Let it air-dry, or cure, for about a month.
Unfortunately, the colorants that I used didn't make it. This happens with both fragrance and colors because the lye is so strong. Soap-Making can be very hit or miss until you have a tried-and-true recipe. I do have such a recipe because I was selling soap to friends and co-workers a few years back, but I'm out of tallow and coconut oil, which where a major part of my recipe. I also have nicer molds in different shapes, but for my first attempt at making soap again (after a 2 year hiatus), I wanted it to be easy.
If you want to try your hand at soap-making, I suggest reading more at Kathy Miller's Soap Page. |
