First, I did research about soap. I'm still learning, so this research is not done. :) I did a cold process soap. I decided to launch this before I really understood what hot process soap is. Let's talk about definitions.
- Melt and pour soap: commercial based soaps are melted in a double boiler or microwave. This takes about 1-3 minutes. Color, scent, oils, and or other add ins are added, the soap is poured into molds. Soap is ready to use in 24 hours or less.
- Rebatching, French Milled, or triple milled soap: Commercial or homemade soap is melted in a boil safe oven bag-- this takes about an hour. Color, scent, oils, and or other add ins are added, the soap is poured into molds. Soap is ready to use in 24 hours or less.
- Cold process soap- lye water is added to [hot] oils and blended. Color, scent, oils, and or other add ins are added, the soap is poured into molds. Soap is removed from molds and set to cure which can take up to six weeks, six months, or longer.
- Hot process soap- lye water is added to hot oils and cooked in a crockpot for about an hour. This speeds up the saponification and curing process. Color, scent, oils, and or other add ins are added, the soap is poured into molds. Soap is removed from molds and set to cure which can take up to six weeks, six months, or longer, but generally shorter than a cold process soap.
My biased internet searching revealed more information about cold process soap than hot process soap. I assume it is for want of a crockpot. I used the cold process method.
Cold or hot processed soap making requires lye. Basically,
- lye is a very caustic and dangerous substance. It can be hard to find, I think I got the last container of it from my local tractor supply store.
- lye + water gets hot. Always add lye to water as the reverse can volcano. I used a candy thermometer and it got to around 200 F. The thermometer goes much higher, but lye water is more dangerous than sugar water.
- lye water + oil = a chemical change (saponification) that creates heat as they combine to create soap.
- water discount (not recommended for beginners) is adding less water to speed up the process.
- superfatting is adding extra oil so the lye does not change all the oil to soap. This provides extra moisturizing, skin happy goodness-- but can decrease lather.
There were videos that ranged from a high, medium, and low caution of lye. I can be clumsy and used a high caution-- goggles, gloves, long sleeved shirt, pants, and shoes. I made sure I was home alone. The cats stayed out of the kitchen.
Adding lye to water creates fumes. I avoided these fumes and was surprised to find that I couldn't smell them at all. Speaking of fumes, the 100% olive oil soap I made smelled like olive oil and was fairly stinky.
I think this is long enough for now! I'm off to felt some soap!
