Cold process soap making is the most common way to make soap and involves precisely mixing oils, fats, lye, and soap additives, often with the help of a machine. Then pour the soap powder into the mold, let it harden, and dry the handmade soap for at least a month before using.
How to make cold process soap
There are several ways to make soap, but the cold process remains the most popular. Natural cold process soap is typically made at room temperature to about 120°F (49°C), depending on the oil used and batch size. Once poured into the mold, the soap needs two days to complete the majority of saponification and four weeks to cure and be ready for use. Here are the basic steps to make cold process soap:
Measure ingredients
Make an alkaline solution
Gently melt solid oils
Add liquid oil to melted solid oil
Pour the lye into the oil
Bring ingredients to track
Pour soap into the mold
Cut and cure soap
Steps for cold process soap making
The basic steps above involve making a simple soap with no soap additives. Additional measures may concern if you plan to color the soap naturally or add fragrance or other ingredients. Cold process soap making includes many elements, instructions, equipment, and safety precautions. So you need to understand the instructions before you start making soap.
Set up soap-making facilities with the necessary equipment
Prepare an apron, goggles, and rubber gloves
Measure the amount of solid oil into a stainless steel pan
The amount of water is measured in an insulated polypropylene vessel
Measure the lye into its container
Soap additives should also be measured and prepared
Measure the amount of liquid oil into a bowl or pitcher
Making lye for cold process soap
Although some people find it intimidating, working with sodium hydroxide is necessary for making soap from scratch. All handmade soaps are made with lye. The first step to making cold process soap is to mix lye and water. You should also ensure that the distilled water or other liquid used for the lye is at the ambient temperature of your room or cooler. Warm beverages can cause the lye to foam violently and spill out of the flask. To make lye, carefully pour lye into the water and stir immediately. Always pour lye into the water, not the other way around. The chemical reaction between lye and water produces heat and smoke, so be careful not to inhale. Make sure to stir the ingredients together thoroughly but gently, and when you're done, place the lye in a cool sink.
Melt solid oil on a heat source
You usually make cold process soap with both liquid and solid oils. That means the next step after mixing the lye is to melt the solid oil. Coconut oil is a standard solid oil for making soaps, as is fat, cocoa butter, and shea butter. Place a pan filled with pre-measured thick oil on the stove and turn on the lowest possible heat. Watch closely, stir, and break up any larger chunks to speed things up. Make sure to turn off the stove as soon as it melts. Then you can easily lift it out, as the excess heat will melt any small oil bits.
Add liquid oil to molten oil
After the solid oil has melted, pour the liquid fat into the pan. If castor oil is in the recipe, stir the entire bowl before pouring. Mixing the oils helps thin the stickiness of the castor oil and makes it easier to pour the oil into the bowl. Also, take every last fat drop because soap recipes need to be precisely measured. If you're making a single-color soap recipe, add a colorant at this point if it's not already present in the oil or lye. If it is mixed in oil or water, pour it through a small sieve and put it in the oil pan to remove the parts that have not been fully incorporated. Not all soap recipes call for a colorant, but many will, and adding it before mixing the oil with the lye will help distribute the color more evenly.
Cold process soap-making temperature
Next, it is recommended to cool the lye and the oil pot to about 100°F (38°C). If you're diligent about keeping the ingredients at this expected temperature, rest assured that your soap won’t crack. You can also avoid other major soap manufacturing mistakes like false traces. As you get more experienced, you can experiment with increasing the temperature to help start the gel phase or incorporate beeswax in soap recipes. For now, however, stick to 100°F (38°C) for small, simple soap recipes, and you'll be sure to succeed. Although traditional soap makers sometimes use similar glass thermometers, the fastest, cleanest, and safest way is to use an infrared thermometer. Digital kitchen thermometers also work well.
Put soap ingredients together
After the lye and oil are at about 100°F (38°C) and about 10 degrees apart, it's time to combine them to make soap. You will first pour the lye through a sieve and put it in the oil pan. The sieve is to make sure that no undissolved lye gets into your soap. Once the lye is in the pan, dip the top of the immersion blender into the mixture. Tap the bottom lightly to release any air that may have been trapped underneath. After turning off the immersion blender, use it as a spoon and gently stir the ingredients. Then, insert the immersion blender into the center of the pan, hold it firmly to the bottom of the pan, and turn it on for a few small pulses.
Finding the right consistency
Continue beating and stirring until the soap forms a thin streak. Depending on your batch size, it can take two to ten minutes. The trace is when the oil and lye are emulsified and begin to saponify. Sometimes, you'll be directed to find an emulsion in a cold process soap recipe. Pulling out the immersion blender will leave the tiniest of drips on the surface of the soap powder. Medium traces are easier to find and can accommodate simple soap recipes. At this stage, it will be thicker, like pudding. You must act quickly as the dough thickens and solidifies in the pan.
More ingredients at trace
Once the soap has solidified, stir the final ingredients quickly. These can include essential oils, natural soap colorants, exfoliants, antioxidants, and other additions. It is common practice to add these components at the beginning. Still, more details can be added before this stage, especially if you're making batches of single-color, single-fragrance soaps. In many cases, it depends on personal preference and the recipe itself. Also, if you add the vegetable ingredients before the soap is found, the dip blender will grind them into small pieces for you. This is the best option if there is a question about when to add soap additives after monitoring.
Pour soap into the mold
Once you've added your final ingredients and stirred well, it's time to pour the soap powder into the molds. There are quite a few different soap molds you can use for small batches of soap. Remove the soap powder from the pan and pour into the mold while it is still in liquid form. Scrape as much out of the pan as possible with a silicone spatula and place in the mold. If the thick soap powder holds its shape after pouring in, you can lift the mold and set it down slightly. This helps stabilize the mixture in all corners and frees trapped air bubbles. When satisfied with the shape of the soap in the mold, you can decorate the surface with any additional textures and ingredients.
Soaps with and without gel
After pouring soap into the mold, you can leave the mold in a safe place on the counter for the next two days. Gelation is the heating stage that occurs after the soap is poured into the mold. If the soap is completely solidified, the color and appearance of the soap may change. It can become darker, more vibrant, and almost translucent than the soapy outer layer. Non-gelling soaps are opaque and lighter in color. Many people like the look of gel-free soaps. However, there is something called a partial gel that most soap manufacturers want to avoid. This often happens in loaf pans, where the inside of the soap heats up and solidifies while the outside edges remain cool. Partial gelation does not affect the quality of the soap, only its aesthetics.
Soap incubation
To prevent the bar of soap from partially freezing, you can put the soap in the refrigerator to prevent it from completely hardening. Those steps may include oven curing or, more commonly, insulating the soap with different materials. Insulating soap will keep a warm and stable temperature for the next 12-24 hours, causing the soap to solidify and have an even and vibrant color throughout. Insulation involves covering the surface of wet soap with cling film or a cut piece of cardboard and then wrapping the entire soap mold in a large cotton towel or old blanket. Alternatively, you can put the soap mold in a wooden box. Another thing to know is that in the summer or warm regions, the soap can be entirely set on your countertop without any insulation.
Remove the mold and cut the bar of soap
It is best to wait two days from the time you make the soap to remove the soap from the mold. This gives time for most of the saponification to complete and for the soap to harden. Nothing is worse than removing soft and sticky soap from a mold. If you used a cavity-style silicone mold, you can pop the bars and place them on the shelf for immediate processing. With the wooden mold, remove the soap block and cut it into bars of soap with a stainless steel kitchen knife or a long piece of wire. However, measure with a ruler or invest in a professional soap cutter if you want the bars to be the exact size.
Cold process soap treatment
The curing process gives time for the soap to finish saponification. It also gives it time to dry and let the water evaporate from your bars. Making mild soaps is essential because soap takes at least a month to form its crystal structure, which is vital for making gentle handmade soaps with great lather. You cannot rush at this step. Cure handmade soap by placing it on a layer of greaseproof paper in a cool and dry location out of direct sunlight. Space the slats outward to increase airflow and leave them there for at least four weeks. Before you know it, time will pass, and they will be ready to use.
Conclusion:
In summary, the curing process plays a vital role in the cold process soap-making journey. It allows the soap to complete saponification, facilitating the development of a gentle and lathering product over a month's time. Proper curing involves placing the soap on greaseproof paper in a cool, dry, and shaded location, ensuring adequate airflow by spacing the bars apart. After at least four weeks, the soap bars will have matured and are ready for use. As the final touch, consider custom soap packaging boxes your beautifully cured handmade soaps thoughtfully to preserve their quality and showcase their unique characteristics. This ensures that your handmade creations reach your customers or loved ones in the best possible condition.
