SOAP MAKING: DELICATE - HANDLE WITH GLOVES

Cranberry harvest in B.C. by Paul Woodcock. What a
gorgeous colour for soap! 

Making soap can be done anytime, but I prefer summer and fall as this is when all things fresh are available to fuel creativity and productivity.

It can be very simple or quite complex depending on what type of soap you want to make,
the ingredients you want to use and what level of exploration you are ready to undertake.

These are soaps made with the cold-process method.

The easiest is to buy ready-made, melt and pour glycerin soap kits. These gives beautiful transparent soaps you can colour which ever way you like. However, you will likely get artificial fragrances rather than essential oils. The traditional cold-processed soaps, hand-milled soaps or liquid soaps require more commitment, precaution, patience and willingness to face the unexpected. The reward is gratifying, even when your soap turns out differently from what you had planned. And planning ahead it indeed needed. Why? Because soap takes time to make and time to cure (set and harden, between 4 to 8 weeks).

Either method requires three basic ingredients: water, lye and oils. Other ingredients (e.g. herbs, spices, cereals, clays, milk, colouring agents, beeswax,

So many possible ingredients
to give richness and personality
to your soaps.

essential oils, coffee grains, chocolate) are used to improve the aroma and texture of the soaps, or address particular needs and skin types. A lot of people say that using quality essential oils and hydrosols in soap is not worth it. I disagree as everything we do affects the energy of what we put on our body.

The combinations you use will perk you up or calm you down, inspire you, refresh you or warm you, take away aches and pains, and rejuvenate. There are soaps for children, women and men, for the body (even when soaps are 100% natural and contain the highest quality ingredients, I never use it on my face), for gardeners'  hands, to exfoliate, to remove strong odours, for clothes and other household tasks.

Silicone molds work very well but are quite
expensive. Don't use the same ones for baking
and soap making.

And then there are shapes! Big, small, round, square, balls, hearts, stars, fish, anything you can think of. You just need to find a mold. From discarded food containers to muffin pans, milk cartons, cans, to flexible silicone soap molds, almost anything can work. ALMOST anything.
What won't work:
Cans that have an inner rim (your soap won't come out once it hardens)
Pottery, glass or anything that can break
Paper or cardboard containers
Painted containers (including muffin pans, those nice black ones)
Containers that have an opening smaller than their base

About plastic containers
Some work beautifully others would be dangerous to use. For example, some rectangular plastic soy desert containers work wonderfully while delightfully shaped ice cream cups.
How can you know?
TEST BY POURING BOILING WATER IN ONE BEFORE BEFORE YOU EVEN PLAN ON WHAT RECIPE TO MAKE. If the plastic melts, even slightly, discard that mold. This way you won't risk burning yourself and won't waste your precious soap solution.

Rosehip and cranberry soap. My project for July.

About colours:
If you use dark oils such as avocado oil or macerations, with beeswax, herbal teas, dark colored essential oils or a combination of all those, your soaps will never turn out white or a pure colour if you add food colouring.
Assuming that your soap base is light, test a small quantity of your colouring agent with a small quantity of your soap.
The colour will alter slightly during the curing period as well.
You can also integrate small pieces of colored soap in your main batch of soap to added effect.

PRECAUTIONS:
Lye is a chemical product that needs to be handled with great care. It smells very strong and can burn quite severely before of after being poured in water. Even one grain of it stuck under your nail can cause a sever burn. Only once the soap has properly saponified (turned hard) will its caustic nature be neutralized and turn into a product your skin will like. One of the beauties of chemistry!

Therefore:
1. Read about the soap making process a couple of times before you actually set out to make some to make sure you can understand and see in your head what to do ahead of time.
2. If you have lung issues, make your soap outside only or not at all.
3. Make sure there are NO children and NO pets around while you make your soap. Store the soaps out of their reach as well.
4. Wear safety glasses or even ski goggles
5. Wear strong latex gloves (cheap ones won't last) 
6. Wear long sleeves and an apron
7. If you have a tendency to sweat, wear a bandana on your forehead.

Once you master the basics, you can alter your recipes, increase or reduce the quantity and experiment by combining different processes. However, like baking, just doubling the ingredients doesn't work. You'll need a saponification chart because different types and quantities of oil require different amounts of lye.

 You will also need a calculator, a baking thermometer (2 is even better), and a scale, preferably electronic. Ingredients need to be measured by weight even though they are liquid.

You never made soap before or you like company to make some, join Samyukta to create great soaps. To find out about her workshops, visit her Facebook page, sign up for her newsletter or email her at info@facetograce.com.