Basic Cold Process Soap Making Instructions

Cold process soap making is a fun and easy hobby, and will produce beautiful bars of soap. Cold process soap is a great start for beginners, and also offers soap veterans a great outlet for their creativity. Soap making in general is very addictive, and after you make your first soap recipe, wait impatiently for it to cure, and finally get to use your soap in the shower, you will be filled with satisfaction and hooked for life! With the fun of cold process soap making, you also need to use caution. Unlike melt and pour soap, cold process soap deals with lye. Lye is a funny thing in the sense that by itself it can be dangerous and fatal if proper precautions are not used, but after it mixes with your oils and saponifies, it will produce one of the most mild and skin nourishing soaps that you will ever find. If you have never made a batch of soap before, please read the proper lye handling tips to ensure that your soaping experience is fun but responsible and accident free. That being said, let's get to soaping!

Before gathering everything together, you will of course need to find a soap recipe that you would like to give a try. Choose a soap recipe that interests you, suits your skin type, and one that you will have easy access to all the ingredients. If you wish to use local grocery store oils, you can start here to find a great recipe! For soap with more specialized ingredients, you can find many other recipes on our pages!

What You Will Need:

• About 2 hours of uninterrupted time
• Soap mold capable of holding your batch of soap. You can use anything you wish, provided it is heat resistant. If it is a metal container, be sure it is only stainless steel. Lye will corrode tin, aluminum, and other similar metals. If you do not have stainless steel available, you can use glass, heavy plastic, wood, or even a cardboard box! The possibilities with molds are endless. Some even use Pringles cans! Also, there are many loaf and slab molds available in craft stores and online specially made for soap making, but you needn't worry about those just yet if you are starting out.
• A cardboard or some other lid to cover your soap mold
• Towels or a blanket
• Freezer paper and masking tape to line soap molds
• Glass or stainless steel pot large enough to hold your recipe
• Glass or stainless steel container to mix lye and water. A popular thing to use is a large glass Pyrex measuring container, which works great since it has a pour spout and a handle. If you are making a larger batch, try using a glass pitcher.
• Rubber or latex gloves, goggles, mask, and appropriate clothing. The gloves, goggles and mask can be purchased at Wal-Mart for under $6.00 for everything. The mask and goggles can be found in the hardware section, and gloves in the cleaning section.
• Stick blender. This is not absolutely necessary as you can always stir by hand, however with a stick blender trace comes a lot faster and your oils will be mixed better. You can pick one up for around $10.00 at your local store.
• A stainless steel mixing spoon with a long handle
• Measuring cups to hold additives and fragrance if needed. Dixie cups also work well. They are disposable, which can cut down on cleanup time.
• Thermometer. A candy or meat thermometer works well. It must be capable of measuring high temperatures.
• A scale capable of measuring very small weights and it also must have a tare function
• Rubber spatula
• Cup or bowl to measure lye
• Keep a bottle of vinegar on hand in case of splashes or spills of lye or lye solution

Preparation:

Before mixing any ingredients, you must prepare your mold so that it is ready to hold your soap as soon as your are ready to pour. Take your freezer paper and line the inside of your mold completely and tape into place. Be sure to secure the paper to that leaks will not occur. When you are finished, set your mold aside on a protected work surface away from the reach of children and pets where you will pour your soap later.

Once your mold is prepared and set aside, it is time to measure and mix your lye and water. Put on all of your safety equipment, get out your scale, lye, and measuring cup and carefully and slowly pour your lye until you have reached the amount called for in the recipe. After measuring lye, it is time to measure your water. Measure your water in the container with which you will be mixing the water and lye. Once water is measured, go to a well ventilated area to mix the two. When lye and water are mixed, it releases fumes for a minute or so before clearing up.

To mix, SLOWLY pour your lye into your water while steadily mixing with your steel spoon to avoid lye clumps. NEVER pour water into your lye, always pour lye into water. If done the wrong way, you may end up with a volcano effect which is extremely dangerous. As you are mixing, the solution will reach temperatures exceeding 175*F, so be careful not to touch the sides of the container, it will be hot. Once all of your lye is mixed in, you will have a cloudy looking solution. Continue mixing until the water is clear again. This may take a couple of minutes.

Once your lye is safely cooling, it is time to measure and heat your oils. First, measure all of your solid oils in your soaping pot so they may be heated until melted. While your solid oils are melting, measure your liquid oils and other additives if you are using any. When the solids are melted, mix in the liquid oils to bring your temperature down toward your target, approximately 100*F. Your lye solution should also have cooled to this temperature, or a little over.

Mixing Lye Solution and Oils:

Before mixing your lye and oils, use your thermometer to be sure that they are both at the target temperature of approx. 100*F. If your oils have cooled too much, heat them slightly until they reach that temperature. Two important things to remember are that your oils and lye solution should be as similar in temperature as possible, and they should both be approx. 100*F. This is important to ensure that they mix together properly and come to trace correctly.

When both oils and lye solution temperature have reached their targets, it is now time to start making your soap! With your stick blender in hand, slowly pour the lye solution into your melted oils, mixing continuously. Some like to have the stick blender on during this time, but I prefer to leave mine off and just mix by hand with the stick blender until the lye solution is incorporated into the oils a bit. Once you have finished pouring your lye solution into your oils, set aside the empty container, and it is now time to turn your stick blender on. Start at the low speed setting, and blend for 45 second intervals alternating between low and high speeds. While blending, be sure to keep the blender head submerged to prevent air bubbles, and be sure to move the blender around the pot to the sides and bottom well. In between the 45 second intervals, turn off your stick blender and stir by hand for 15-20 seconds, and use your rubber spatula to scrape the sides of your pot to make sure it is mixing evenly.

Ahhh, trace. Trace is the time during blending when your soap tells you, "Hey, I'm done!" When trace is reached, the soap mixture will resemble vanilla pudding. It will have thickened up a bit so that if you dribble a bit of soap mix on the surface, it will stay on top for a couple of seconds before sinking back into the mix. Most prefer a thin to medium trace, meaning thin to medium thickness. You want it to be thick, but not too thick to pour into your mold easily. Some soapers also like to have a thin trace so that swirls and other effects are easier.

Once your soap has reached trace, it is time to add your additives. This is the time when you pour in your color, herbs, fragrance, or anything else you are adding to your soap. You may stir it in by hand, or you can use your stick blender on its lowest setting for short time being careful not to let it get too thick. If you are adding color, it is helpful to remove a small amount of soap mix from the full batch (I use approx. 2/3 cup of mixture), mix your color into that, and then mix it all together in your pot to better incorporate the color. If you are not adding anything extra to your soap, skip ahead to the pour!

*Note--Some fragrance oils can cause soap mixtures to "freeze up" or "seize" due to their alcohol content. Any additives with excessive alcohol levels will cause soap to do this. Essential oils do not normally have this problem with the exception of a few, such as clove essential oil. When soap seizes, it means that it traces extra firm, and sometimes you may even have to scoop your mix into your mold, as pouring is no longer an option. When using a fragrance oil for the first time in soap, it is helpful not to use a stick blender, as it can make a problem much worse. Instead, stir in your fragrance oil by hand until you are sure that your mix will not seize.

Once you have reached trace and you additives are mixed in, you are ready to pour! Slowly pour your soap mixture into your mold, avoiding air bubbles. When you are done pouring, take your rubber spatula and smooth out the uneven top.

The Saponification Process:

After your soap is poured, it is time to cover it up and allow the saponification process to take place. Cover up your mold with your lid of choice, and then cover the entire mold and sides with your blanket or towels. After about an hour in the mold, the soap will reheat and saponify and go through a "gel" stage. Gel occurs in the saponification process naturally. The soap mix heats from the inside out, and it is important to keep the heat inside the container to ensure a "full gel." If a full gel is not achieved, colors can be uneven in the final cut bars of soap. The result is usually darker colors in the middle of the bar, and lighter outsides where the soap did not gel. You may peek in at your soap about an hour and a half into the saponification process to be sure the soap is gelling properly. Near the end of gel, you should notice the soap take on a dark look, and it should extend close to the outside corners of your mold. Be sure to cover your mold back up after taking a look to the heat doesn't escape.

After a few hours, the gel stage has completed and your soap will be light colored again, but saponification has not yet finished. The saponification process can take 2-3 days. During this time, your soap will become mild and safe to use. Approx. 24 hours after pouring your soap, you may remove it from the mold and slice into bars. Be careful, however, as it may not be fully saponified yet. I always use gloves when unmolding soap to avoid lye burns. After cutting, set your bars aside in a safe place where they can continue to cure undisturbed for 2-4 weeks before use. Although technically you can use a bar of soap after 3 days, it still has a lot of leftover water weight. This is the reason for a long cure time. The soap will get harder also become more and more mild during those weeks. If soap is not allowed to fully cure, the bars will be soft and will not last as long in the shower. The cure ensures a hard and mild bar of soap, so resist the temptation to use your soap right away, and wait for the cure. It is worth the wait!

Cleanup:

After pouring and covering your soap, gather all of your utensils and pots and pans together. It is wise to leave them out in a safe place out of reach of children and pets for about a day or so before washing so that the leftover soap solution has had a chance to saponify and become milder, making is safer to wash. After a day or so, throw on some rubber gloves, and wash everything well with hot water and lots of soap. After drying, set them aside until your next soaping adventure!