Soap making methods

A brief overview of the various soap making methods.

There are several different soap making processes that will allow you to easily make homemade soap products. The first soap making method is cold process soap making. This process requires a scale, a large stainless steel pot, measuring cups, kitchen thermometers, rubber gloves, mold, cardboard, plastic bags, olive oil, coconut oil, shortening, lye, distilled water, and fragrances. The cold process gets its name from the general low temperatures that are used to mill this type of soap.

In addition to cold process methods, hot process soap making methods are also available. This process is named for its boiling pot method of soap milling. For this type of homemade soap making you will need palm oil, coconut oil, sesame oil, shea butter, castor oil, sodium hydroxide, water, borax, soap molds, stainless steel pot, stirring stick or spoon, plastic wrap.

If you have soap scraps that you would like to rework into a new bar of soap then you can use a handmilled soap making method called soap rebatching. To do this you will need soap scraps, a mold, a grater, fragrance, dyes, and other additives. The best type of soap base for this type of soaping making is a cold process soap. To start with you will want to grate your soap into fine particles. Then place all of your shavings into a glass bowl that can be placed in a double boiler. As the double boiler heats up you will need to stir your grated soap pieces. Add in your vegetable oils and fragrances at this point, making sure that everything is incorporated. Break up soap clumps that form. Continue to cook until the soap reaches the string stage. At this point the soap will thicken rapidly. Remove the pot from the heat source quickly add in fragrances, coloring, herbs, and optional items in that order. Spoon into molds and allow it to cure.

The final way to make handcrafted soap is to use the melt and pour soap making method. Out of all of the soap making methods this is perhaps the easiest for novice soap makers. It involves simply melting a soap base in a double boiler, adding in fragrance and dyes, and then placing the soap mixture into a mold. This is the soap making method that most soap making do-it-yourself kits will use.

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