Easy Soap Making

In both cold-process and hot-process easy soap making, heat may be required for saponification.

Cold-process soap making takes place at a sufficient temperature to ensure the liquification of the fat being used.The lye and fat may be kept warm after mixing to ensure that the soap is completely saponified.

Unlike cold-processed soap, hot-processed soap can be used right away because lye and fat saponify more quickly at the higher temperatures used in hot-process of easy soap making.

Hot-process easy soap making was used when the purity of lye was unreliable, and this process can use natural lye solutions, such as potash. The main benefit of hot processing is that the exact concentration of the lye solution does not need to be known to perform the process with adequate success.

Cold-process easy soap making requires exact measurements of lye and fat amounts and computing their ratio, using saponification charts to ensure that the finished product is mild and skin-friendly. Saponification charts can also be used in hot-process easy soap making, but are not as necessary as in cold-process soap making.

Hot process

In the hot-process method, lye and fat are boiled together at 80–100 °C until saponification occurs, which the soap maker can determine by taste (the bright, distinctive taste of lye disappears once all the lye is saponified) or by eye (the experienced eye can tell when gel stage and full saponification have occurred).

After saponification has occurred, the soap is sometimes precipitated from the solution by adding salt, and the excess liquid drained off.

The hot, soft soap is then spooned into a mold.

Cold process

A cold-process soap making first looks up the saponification value of the fats being used on a saponification chart, which is then used to calculate the appropriate amount of lye. Excess unreacted lye in the soap will result in a very high pH and can burn or irritate skin. Not enough lye, and the soap is greasy. Most soap makers formulate their recipes with a 4-10% discount of lye so that all of the lye is reacted and that excess fat is left for skin conditioning benefits.

The lye is dissolved in water. Then oils are heated, or melted if they are solid at room temperature. Once both substances have cooled to approximately 100-110°F (37-43°C), and are no more than 10°F (~5.5°C) apart, they may be combined. This lye-fat mixture is stirred until "trace" (modern-day amateur soap makers often use a stick blender to speed this process). There are varying levels of trace.

Depending on how additives will affect trace, they may be added at light trace, medium trace or heavy trace. After much stirring, the mixture turns to the consistency of a thin pudding. "Trace" corresponds roughly to viscosity.

Essential oils, fragrance oils, botanicals, herbs, oatmeal or other additives are added at light trace, just as the mixture starts to thicken.

The batch is then poured into molds, kept warm with towels, or blankets, and left to continue saponification for 18 to 48 hours. Milk soaps are the exception. They do not require insulation. Insulation may cause the milk to burn. During this time, it is normal for the soap to go through a "gel phase" where the opaque soap will turn somewhat transparent for several hours, before once again turning opaque. The soap will continue to give off heat for many hours after trace.

After the insulation period the soap is firm enough to be removed from the mold and cut into bars. At this time, it is safe to use the soap since saponification is complete. However, cold-process soaps are typically cured and hardened on a drying rack for 2-6 weeks (depending on initial water content) before use. If using caustic soda it is recommended that the soap is left to cure for at least four weeks. This process is NOT hard at all,it may sound overwhelming,trust me it's not, we do this twice a year.

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