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Soapmaking Made Easy
publication date: Apr 4, 2008
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author/source: TIna Sams
Making soap from scratch is an incredibly satisfying craft. Whether using tallow that you render yourself, or a blend of the many vegetable oils now available, it’s hard to describe how earthy and self-reliant it feels to stack a batch of freshly cut bars to cure. The myriad scents, colors, and textures only add to the inherent thrill. It is more than a craft; it’s magic.
If you haven’t gotten around to trying it yet, chances are that one of two things is hanging you up. There’s that whole complicated temperature thing. The oils and the lye solution are supposed to be within three degrees of each other, right? And then of course, there is the lye…. Okay. Lets just stop and think about it for a minute. Soap has been around for thousands of years. That three degree deal must have been brutal back when there were no thermometers! There’s no getting around the fact that lye can be nasty stuff, but then, I’m terrified of super glue. The key is to use caution and planning. Here’s the big news: Forget about the temperature. I threw away my thermometer 15 years ago, and haven’t had a bad batch in all that time.
Pour the lye into the water and immediately stir to dissolve lye. I always do this part near the stove with the hood fan on high. A lot of people do it outside. Avoid breathing in the fumes. Leave the spoon in the pitcher to minimize drips until you need it to stir the soap. You may want to prepare your mold(s) now, because they must be done before you start melting the fats. In a few hours, the outside of the pitcher will feel just slightly warmer than room temperature. You may begin melting the fats now. Note: I have left lye cooling overnight many times with great results. Remember that the purpose of heating the oils is ONLY to liquefy them. Doing so at the lowest temperature possible is what we are going for here. We start with the hardest and finish with what is already liquid. Over low heat, begin by melting the beeswax with part of the shortening. When that is melted, add the rest of the shortening, followed by the coconut, then the palm. When the palm has melted, remove from heat and stir in the olive oil. The oils should be at a temperature you can comfortably touch. In fact the pan can even be handled. It’s time to add the lye solution. My pan is very wide, and I can lower the entire pitcher in, pouring the lye solution against the side. Always pour slowly and keep splashing to an absolute minimum. If you do get solution on your skin, rinse copiously. Immediately rinse the pitcher, or set in the sink and allow water to fill it while you begin stirring the soap. This can take anywhere from 10 minutes to 45 minutes. You can seriously shorten the stirring time if you have an immersible, or “stick” blender that you are willing to use only for soap. They reduce the time to only a few minutes! As the saponification process occurs the soap will start to look like thin gravy. It is ready to pour when it “traces”. That means that you can drizzle soap from the spoon onto the rest in the pan, and see what you trace on the top…like pudding or gravy as it thickens. This is the point where essential or fragrance oils, fillers, or some colorants would be added. Stir them in quickly and pour the soap into the prepared mold(s). Cover the top surface of the soap with plastic wrap and top with an old blanket or towel, tucking it around the sides. Ignore the whole thing for 24 hours – if you can. After 24 hours, dump out the soap and cut it into bars. Stack the bars like bricks to allow circulation. They’ll be ready to use in two weeks. © Tina Sams www.essentialherbal.com |
