Soap Making

Given the indiscriminate use of harsh chemicals in industrial soap making today, it is not a bad idea to learn making soap for your personal use. Besides, you can also run a profitable business by dedicating some time to activities like soap and candle making.

If you’re interested in soap making at home, here are a few soap making instructions that will be helpful for a newbie. There are many methods of soap making but let us learn making lye soap for a start. At first a beginner might be confused with the substance known as lye. Lye is also known as soap making sodium hydroxide or caustic soda. Always insist on buying 100 per cent lye and not the impure ones. They are available at hardware shops but you can get better quality if you order from chemical suppliers.

Things you need to make a decent soap at home:

Lye, essential oils used in soap making and fatty acids. You can also use soap making fragrance oils of varied aromatic natures.
A container that can hold up to 4-6 cups of solution.
One heatproof container that can hold at least 2 cups of liquid.
2 thermometers to measure temperatures of the solutions.
Scales to weigh the fat and lye.
Soap moulds to create different shapes, designs and sizes of soap.
Keep a watch or clock handy to record time. Time is of paramount importance here.
Pot holders and measuring spoons.

Firstly, you need to heat the fat to the temperature specified in the soap’s recipe. Use a thermometer to maintain the right amount of heat. Pour cold water judiciously over the fat and mix some lye. After a while the fat and lye begins to react and starts turning non-transparent. Now you can add some fragrance oils and essential oils.

After the mixture becomes quite thick, pour the mixture into molds and leave it for at least 24 hours. Take it out from the mold and leave it to age for at least 3 weeks. Yes, good soaps need to age just like good wines. Soap making can also be carried out with castor oil as an essential oil. Castor oil has great therapeutic value and is ideal for the skin. However, there is a risk in using castor oil in soap making. If the right proportion of castor oil is not maintained in the mixture, your soap might lose it stability and turn soft or lumpy. On the other hand, castor oil is great for liquid soap making.

For added pleasure, you can also use eternity fragrance for soap making known for its magnificent smell. Hobbies like candle and soap making are very rewarding and enjoyable activities that provides scope for spiritual as well as financial progress. There are other traditional types of soap making methods that are quite lengthy but worth the while. Among them are colonial soap making and the use of pine tar for soap making.