==== ==== A top-rated, thorough step by step guide with recipes for creating your own beautiful soap to use for yourself or to sell to others. Learn more at: http://tinyurl.com/soapster ==== ====
When I first started researching soap making I found there were three ways of making soap. The easiest and least labor intensive method was melt and pour. This soap comes as a solid base and is heated up until it becomes a liquid. At that point you add in whatever you want to the soap, pour it in a mold and let it set up. Pretty simple but not what I was personally looking to do. The other two methods are the actual process of creating soap from oils, water and sodium hydroxide. Hot process did not appeal to me, I didnt think standing over a stove cooking soap sounded like an enjoyable time so I began to focus on cold process soapmaking. Cold process soapmaking does not require any external heat as the name suggests. I read instructions that detailed the oil had to be 110F and the lye had to be 100. Then the next bit of information I found on the subject stated each had to be 100, or 95, or one had to be 95 and the other 100. Or when I actually read directions that stated "warm to the touch" ! I can tell you this, there is no way I am going to touch hot lye water or oil to see if its cooled enough to mix! All of this conflicting information was making me crazy! So I finally just settled on one method and gave it a shot. Then after making many batches that way, I read about room temperature soaping and decided to give it a try. I was very happy with the ease and efficiency I have while soaping at room temperature. This is my method: Measure several batches of oil at one time. I do this simply by lining up all of my bowls and measure my oils out in assembly line fashion. I then cover them and set them aside until its time to soap. Then I measure out two batches of water-half in ice form and half in liquid form. Then I add my 2 batches worth of lye and let cool. I place it in a cool locked room were it can sit overnight or for a few days until I can use it. I prefer to leave it in an extra bathroom inside the bathtub just in case of a spill. On the day I am going to soap I prepare my mold by lining it with freezer paper. I then measure out whatever I may be adding into my soap such as clays, dyes, essential or fragrance oils and grab one batch of oil. Since I use some hard oils in my recipe I take my stick blender to the oil mixture and make sure there are no solid pieces remaining. Once that is completed, its finally time to create soap by adding in the lye water slowly and stirring until trace occurs. Trace is the name for the stage where the soap starts to look like a thin custard. If you plan on scenting, layering, swirling or adding in exfoliants, it is done at this point. After everything is completed, it is time to pour it into your mold. Once the soap is poured, it's time to "put it to bed". I like to place mine in my oven, but many people prefer to put their soap in a box covered in blankets. The soap will become hot and go through another stage called gelling. This can take between a few hours to a day to be complete. After that, you can cut your soap in a day or two but just know that the
industry standard is 3 weeks of waiting for the soap to fully cure before use or sale. So I choose to make room temperature cold process soap primarily of its efficiency. I like that I dont have to wait for my oil or lye water to cool, I can just grab and soap. Prior to this method I did the 100-110F method and it took a very long time from start to finish and each time I had a huge mess of oils all over with only one little batch of soap to show for it. Now I have one messy oily day and 6-8 batches of oil waiting to be soaped to show for it! My soaping sessions went from an hour or longer to no more than 20 minutes. When you first start making cold process soap, it is a good idea to experiment different methods for yourself until you find the method that works best for you. Shelley Fluegge is the owner of Bella Sapone a soap, bath and body business. [http://www.italianhandmadesoap.com]
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Shelley_Fluegge
==== ==== A top-rated, thorough step by step guide with recipes for creating your own beautiful soap to use for yourself or to sell to others. Learn more at: http://tinyurl.com/soapster ==== ====