Varieties of Handmade Soaps

Cold Process

Cold process soap is a classic favorite with soap makers. It involves mixing the lye water, fats and oils, and letting it use self generated heat to gel and saponify slowly over a day or two. Unlike hot process soaps, cold process soaps stay in the mold 1-3 days before removing to cut into bars, and no heat is applied to speed the saponification process.

Many soapers prefer cold process soaps because there is less work involved, and there are many things you can add to the mix, such as herbs and swirling. Once you mix your ingredients and get it to trace (another word for thicken), all you have to do is pour it into the mold and let it saponify and harden until it is ready to come out. One drawback of cold process soap making is that some fragrance oils can speed trace so much that your batch will "freeze" or "seize up." This can happen when there is too much alcohol in the fragrance oil you use. It reacts with the mixture, gets hard, and becomes impossible to pour into a mold. Aside from those concerns, cold process is a good soap for beginners working with lye, produces a much smoother and creamier soap, and is versatile.

*Note - Essential oils usually are good with not seizing up, with the exception of a few like clove essential oil.

Hot Process

Hot process soap uses heat to speed the saponification process. Unlike cold process soaps, hot process soaps are ready to use as soon as they cool in the molds. The lye and fat mixture is "cooked" (most use a crock pot) until it is completely saponified. The resulting soap mixture is then spooned out into molds, where is cools. After cooling, it is ready to use!

Although hot process soap takes much longer than cold process soap to actually prepare, one great advantage of hot process soap is that you can use many decorative single bar molds that do not work with cold process soap. Many soap supply stores offer decorative and novelty molds for hot process and melt and pour soap (which comes next) that really increase visual appeal. If you would like to use special soap molds, try either hot process soap or melt and pour.

Melt and Pour

Melt and pour soap is very easy and versatile. If you are completely new to soaping or prefer not to work with lye, melt and pour soap can be a quick and easy solution with beautiful results. Melt and pour soap usually has not gone through any saponifying process with lye. To make the soap suds, manufacturers use an ingredient called Sodium Laureth Sulfate (or a similar lathering agent). Sometimes, a combination sodium laureth sulfate and a small amount of saponified oils are used together to produce melt and pour soap.

Melt and pour soap is just like it sounds: Melt, pour, and then you are all done! Melt and pour soap is very easy to use. It can even be melted in the microwave. After melting, you can add herbs, additives, color, and fragrance, then pour into your favorite mold(s). After cooling, they are ready to enjoy.

Melt and pour soap comes in many varieties. Some examples are shea butter soap, goat's milk soap, transparent soap, solid white, and others. Because of the variety available, and especially since transparent melt and pour soap can be bought, the possibilities are endless when it comes to decorating. You can make chunk soaps, make soap with embedded shapes, and more!

Rebatching Soap

One good thing about cold process soap is that it never has to go to waste. If ever you have a ruined batch of soap, or if you have a batch you just plain don't like, or even if you prefer this method, rebatching soap can save lots of soap from the trash, and it can make soap longer lasting and produce harder bars. Another name for rebatching soap is "hand milled" soap. Both of these names describe the same thing.

With rebatched soap, you grate up already made cold process or hot process soap, add a small amount of water, and remelt to form new soap. This comes in handy especially if you make a batch of soap and you forgot a key ingredient, add new ingredients that would be hurt in the saponification process (some specific oils can lose their skin benefits), or if you would like to add fragrance to an old batch of cold process soap without worries of seizing.

One trick with rebatching or hand milled soap is not to stir too much while melting. Since you are melting already made soap, it will create lots of suds and bubbles if you over stir, making the soap less potent. Once your soap is melted, you can add to molds to cool and harden. Rebatched soap can sometimes take a long time to completely harden, because of the addition of more water. Make sure to cure soap in a dry area with lots of air circulation to assure a harder and longer lasting bar.