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I made a batch of Vanilla soap today.  It’s been a couple months since I’ve made any soap at all.  Sometimes I feel like I’m not really in business.  Summer is pretty nuts with the kids home on summer break.  I’m anxiously awaiting getting the business going again in Sept.

I thought it might be interesting for you all to see how soap is made.  Yes, I make it my kitchen.  No, it’s not ideal.  Hopefully someday in the near future my workshop will be in the basement, complete with a kitchen-ish area.  God forbid I splash lye in my eye and have have no water handy to flush it with.  Folks, if I splash lye in my eye I don’t think water will save me. It’s dangerous stuff.  Which leads me to my next point.  Just because I’m explaining it here, please don’t attempt it unless you do your homework.  There’s lots of good info out there in books and websites on making soap if you’re that interested.  

When I first found out about handcrafted (cold-processed) soap I thought, “Huh? You can actually make soap, what, like making brownies?” I was amazed that it could be done in a home setting.  It’s basic chemistry, really.  But like in any chemistry, you need to wear your protective gloves and goggles and keep kids, pets and nosy spouses out of the way. 

Lye (sodium hydroxide) is what makes the magic happen.  There’s no soap happening without it.  The lye looks like salt.  It has to be added to water to be useful for soapmaking.  The water and lye get weighed and the lye is carefully added. The fumes are very toxic so I usually take a break at this point and get other materials ready, far from the lye pot, which is looking like a fuming witch’s brew.  (I use the down-draft vent on my Jenn-Air, it helps suck out the fumes.) There is a chemical reaction when lye and water mix.  It creates heat (this pot never receives any heat from the stove) and the pot becomes hot, probably about 150 degrees. 

The oils are weighed and put in a separate large pot and melted until combined and quite hot, then heat is turned off (hence, the name ‘cold-processed’).  Both pots have to cool to luke-warm, then lye/water mix goes into oils pot and is mixed until looks like pudding.  Other goodies are added here like fragrance and poppyseeds, or wheat germ, etc. and the mix is poured into the molds.  I put it in my oven (no heat, only the light on, as if rising bread) and it rests there for about 18-24 hours. Then, like magic, it’s no longer pudding consistancy, it’s semi-hard soap.  Then it gets cut and it sits to cure (harden more) for about 4-6 weeks.

It’s a messy process and a time consuming one.  I neglected my entire family this afternoon, except for yelling for them to get out of the kitchen.  I really have to for safety, the lye will burn skin, blind, and can burn your lungs if inhaled.  I yell because I love them. 

More chemistry:  Lye, water, and oil combined produce soap molecules and glycerin molecules.  The soap cleanses your skin while the glycerin moisturizes your skin.  Also there are other moisturizing oils added like aloe vera oil, shea, and avocado (my favorite).  Handcrafted soap is like no soap you’ve ever used.  Your skin will love you for it.  And don’t tell me how much you love your Dove, it can’t touch this.

A funny story: a woman came up to me at a farmer’s market last season.  She said, “Is this lye soap?” I said yes.  She said, “I heard lye soap is harsh, do you you make any soaps without lye in them?”  Silly woman.  She didn’t have a clue what she wanted.  Not all HC soaps are created equal.  If not made correctly a soap could end up with active lye in it and could harm someone.  Hence, harsh soap.  Our grandmothers probably endured a lot of this type of soap, fine for laundry, not for skin.  In properly made soap, the lye molecules are totally ’used up’ by the oil and water and only leaves soap and glycerin behind. A good scale is very important.  And even a good soapmaker can have a bad batch, but hopefully it will never be sold and used.  Always test a new skin product on the inside of your arm before using on your face or body (this is always good advice, especially if you have skin issues or allergies). 

So there you have it, more than you probably ever really wanted to know about HC soap and how to make it.  There will be a quiz.