Cold Process Soap Making is The Most Popular Soap Making Method
Cold Process Soap Making is the most common form of natural soap making. This method is the perfect launch pad for other soap making methods. Another methods is Hot Process Soap Making.
In order to make soap, a natural fat needs to be broken down into its molecular components which are glycerin and fatty acids. This is done by heating the fats in an alkali solution (we will use sodium hydroxide (lye) and water). This is where the word lye comes from. Lye = alkali. Liquid soap making requires a different type of alkali.
During the process the fatty acid reacts with the heated alkali solution to form a fatty acid and salt. The glycerin is separated at this point. This process is called saponification. The word “soap” came from the saponification process. We will allow the soap to saponify on it's own overnight. During this time the soap gets really hot and needs to be insulated to help with the process. We will be using a blanket set in a box for this. The soap is then cut into bars and left for 6 to 8 weeks to fully cure.
Fun Cold Process Soap facts:
☺Many Beauty Bars are not true soap but have the same ingredients as
detergent. It is a cheap and easy alternative to soap. Companies try to
balance out the skin drying ingredients by adding oils.
☺ When you make your own soap, the glycerin is intact.
☺ You get to choose the oils and butters that you want based on your skins needs.
☺ You get to choose the fragrance you prefer.
☺ Soap making is creative, fun and will change your skins condition.
☺ Most Commercially made soap is actually detergent with high chemical
and petroleum content.
☺ The most common ingredient in commercial bar soap is Sodium
Tallowate (Beef Fat). Beef fat produces a hard bar of soap, is cheap and
plentiful. This makes it attractive for mass producing and marketing
commercial soap.
☺ Hand Made soap does not strip the natural oils from your skin.
☺ Commercial Soap can be drying. The glycerin has been removed and
sold to lotion and cream manufacturers. Glycerin actually pulls moisture
from the air onto your skin.
☺ People who suffer from skin conditions such as psoriasis, eczema and
sensitive skin often find immediate relief after they switch to hand made
soap.