Here’s some stuff that I’ve learned during my soap making adventures that you might find useful.
The lye solution:
- it can be made out of water, tea, fruit juice, milk, coffee or any other liquid that you consider proper for the soap
- in order to avoid destroying all the properties of the liquid that you have chosen, due to the high temperatures from the reaction with the lye, I freeze the liquid after measuring
- sugar can be added in the lye solution to increase how “bubbly” the final soap will be
Essential oils:
- can accelerate the saponification process
- they can blend during the cure time
Additives:
- fruits and vegetables can decrease the soap’s “life”
- if you want to use natural flowers to decorate your soap, take into consideration that during the saponification process the beautiful colors of the dried flowers can be damaged
- I will soon write about my experience with natural coloration
Molds:
- don’t use small molds if the soap is thickening too fast; you will no longer be able to pour it or end up with bars that look like this
- if your molds have small details, let the soaps rest for 2 days, then freeze them. your soap will come out easily and you avoid breaking it
Gelling phase:
- all cold process soaps tend to enter the gelling phase. you can help your soap through this phase. an incomplete gelling phase will damage the look of your soap
- in case you want a milky color for your soap, avoid this phase and put the soap in a ventilated area to decrease its temperature
- if you want a more translucent soap then keep the soap warm in the first hour after pouring it into the mold. the gelled soaps tend to be harder from the beginning
