Look After Yourself - Making Soap

This is my first foray into the world of Cold Process soapmaking, although I have been watching videos on YouTube for years and always wondered if I could actually make my own. There are plenty of instructional blogs and videos available, but I have found that Katie Carson (of Royalty Soaps) is the most interesting to watch, although her soaps are often HUGE and very detailed. For the beginner I would suggest downloading some of Anne L Wilson’s books, she explains all the science and terminology and then provides a good number of recipes to try (although I was directed to her books after I made these three batches, she has helped to inspire me to continue with this journey – See this month’s Report, I filmed the making of these in October and November and had not yet made a decision at that time. Look out for Soap of the Month videos at the end of each month of 2019, with a special charity auction at the end of the year)

Video HERE

Castile Soap comes from Spain, apparently, and is traditionally made with 100% olive oil. Olive oil soaps take a long time to ‘cure’* – often more than 6 months, and can have a slimy consistency even up to a year. I’m told that Castile is the easiest soap to start with, as it has only 3 ingredients, however the long trace time and the even longer curing time can put newbies off. So, having done some research I discovered a number of castile-style soaps that replace up to 20% of the liquid oil with solid oil** and still make a fabulous soap that needs only 6-8 weeks of curing. Brilliant!

*CURING – Soapmaking is based on a chemical reaction between lye and fat. When combined in the correct quantities the lye turns fat into soap by a process called saponification. Saponification is guaranteed to happen when lye and fat mix, however some of the lye may remain after the soap has set and curing time is needed to allow the reaction to finish. Curing time also helps to evaporate any excess water – usually added to slow the reaction and allow for intricate design work, or to reduce the likelihood of fragrance oils and additives causing acceleration. (See Milk Soap)

**LIQUID and SOLID FATS – As you’d expect, fat and oil come in two forms; liquid and solid – this can be the natural state of the fat or the way it has been processed. Most soaps combine liquid and solid fats to give the right texture; more liquid and the soap will lather well, but wear down faster, more solid and the soap will be harder. I have included reviews of how these turn out at the end of each recipe, if you want to adjust the recipes I would suggest finding an online soap calculator because different fats react with lye to different degrees and you will need to adjust the quantities.

Castile Soap Ingredients [Makes 8 Bars]

71g Lye

170g Water*

453g Olive Oil

114g Solid Fat **

*Most recipes suggest using filtered or distilled water, I find that cold boiled tap works well enough despite my London hard water.

**I used coconut and palm oils, although I would not choose palm in the future. You could use cocoa or shea butter, but you would need to re-calculate the lye.

Method:

1. Measure the lye into a disposable cup. 
2. Measure the water into a non-reactive jug (glass or plastic) 
3. !Wearing gloves, goggles, apron and long sleeves. Working in a well-ventilated place without children or pets!! Gradually add the lye to the water, swirling or stirring with a non-reactive spoon or spatula until dissolved. This will get VERY HOT. Cover with a vented lid* and allow to cool.
4.  Measure your liquid oil into a large bowl. Melt the solid fats in a bain marie or in the microwave, then stir into the bowl. 
5. Using a laser thermometer (or one stick per bowl) measure the temperature of the lye and the oils. Use a water bath to bring the oil temperature to within 5 C of the lye. (You could heat the lye, but I really wouldn’t recommend it as it releases more unpleasant fumes.) 
6. Add the lye water to the oil then blend with a stick blender until slightly thickened.** 
7. Pour into a mould and leave to set.
8. After 24 hours they should be hard enough to remove from the mould and transfer to a rack to cure for 6-8 weeks.

*I use an old jam jar for my lye, with a hole in the lid to let the fumes escape. Ideally you want this to sit in a safe place where it will not be knocked over or accidentally poured away – or drunk!

**You can stir this by hand, but it can take an hour or more to thicken. You can continue to blend until a full trace*** occurs, but even with a blender this will take a while. I prefer to blend for 10 minutes after the oil and lye has emulsified and leave it at that.

***TRACE and ACCELERATION – When mixing soap the lye causes the fats to thicken, usually this is quite mild, like a thin cream consistency AKA Trace, where you can remove your blender and leave a faint trail in the surface of the soap. This usually happens slowly giving you time to pour the batter into moulds before it sets, however, some fragrance oils and additives can accelerate trace and have the batch solidify in your bowl – See Milk Soap video! – In order to reduce the likelihood of acceleration some recipes add more water, or work at colder temperatures. I would suggest only using fragrance oils that are intended for soap – most manufacturers will say whether they cause acceleration or discolouring of the soap, and try a small batch first before making masses of Frankin-Soap. Most of the time a Frankin-soap will be usable, just ugly.

My Opinion

This one is a little hard to begin with, but once the lather builds up it is a rather nice soap. Not drying, and without a harsh odour. A great general use soap.

Video HERE

The addition of milk or cream into soaps helps to create a more moisturising product, although they do need to be treated differently because of the likelihood of the milk fats – or nut-milk pieces – cooking when mixed with lye.

Oats and Honey Soap Ingredients [Makes 10-12 Bars]

112g Lye

200g Oat Milk

150g Olive Oil

125g Sweet Almond Oil

175g Palm Oil

468g Coconut Oil

15ml Honey

2-3tbsp Oats

15ml Fragrance Oil

Method:

1. 1. Measure out the milk and freeze it in an ice cube tray. You will also need a tray or
      two of ice for the mixing process. Half-fill a bowl with water and add in some ice.
   2.  Tip your frozen milk into a jug, place it in the ice bath and gradually stir in the lye, stirring each addition until dissolved. Leave the jug in the ice bath whilst you measure the oils.
   3.      Measure and melt the oils and stir together. Stir in the oats and honey.
   4.      Take the temperature of both mixtures and adjust with the water bath as necessary until within 5C of each other.
   5.      Pour the lye/milk into the oils and stir, then blend until just emulsified.
   6.      Add the fragrance oil and stir well BY HAND until trace.*
   7.     Pour into moulds and leave to set – you can transfer this to the freezer to reduce the amount of discolouration if you want, but I don’t think it’s necessary. Cure for 4-6 weeks.
   
   
   *The sugar in the honey will cause this batch to get rather warm, which can affect the final colour and the speed at which it comes to trace so don’t blend it after the fragrance has been added.
   
   
   My Opinion
   Both my batches of this soap are equally good, despite the Frankin-batch looking a little ropey. The lather is generous and the scent really reminiscent of honey and oat. The oat pieces peep through and add a gentle exfoliation.
   
   
   
   
   
   Video HERE
   These are becoming rather popular these days as people turn their backs on the more additive-rich shampoos, or choose to use a real cleaning shampoo to strip away the extras that most shampoos leave behind. This shampoo bar is ideal for daily use, or for a once-a-week cleansing wash. Partnered with a good (cheapish) conditioner you can get clean, soft hair, and a good scalp-massage.
   
   
   Ingredients: [Makes 6 Bars]
   64g Lye
   183g Water
   142g Olive Oil
   128g Coconut Oil
   100g Castor Oil
   56g Shea Butter
   56g Avocado Oil
   Up to 80g Essential Oil (Rosemary and Orange)
   2-3tbsp Dried Rosemary + 1tbsp Fresh
   1-2tbsp Dried Orange Peel + Zest of 1 Orange
   
   
   Method:
   1.       Stir the lye into the water, leave to react and cool.
   2.      Add the herbs to the solid fats and melt together in a bain marie or microwave, then add to the remaining oils.
   3.      Adjust the temperatures with a water bath to bring both within 5-10C.
   4.      Add the lye to the oils and blend to combine.
   5.      Stir in the zest and essential oil and blend until trace.
   6.      Spoon into moulds and leave to set.
   7.      This batch has about 4% superfatting*, which makes it softer to de-mould so I suggest that you freeze the mould after 24 hours to make them easier to release. Cure for 4-6 weeks.
   
   
   *SUPERFATTING - If the ratio of fat to lye is not correct you can produce a caustic mixture where the fat runs out before the lye does. In order to reduce the likelihood of this – and to make a more moisturising soap – a lot of recipes use more fat than the lye will use up (up to about 5% more) to create a superfatted soap.
   
   
   My Opinion
   As someone with super greasy hair I expected this soap to cause problems, on the contrary, this soap is a wonder! I have no feeling of tightness to the scalp, any my dandruff is reduced. Perhaps I will increase the essential oils in future batches, but the dried herbs and orange all create an enjoyable exfoliating sensation even without an overriding scent. I always finish with a cheap conditioner, but I am looking for a conditioning soap bar recipe. I will definitely be making more of these for personal use, showering every day one bar lasts about a month.
   
   
   
   
   
   Video HERE
   Experienced soapmakers sometimes taste their soap to check for its caustic levels, but the more sensible people just use litmus papers to check the pH. You can buy cheap packs online and, although they’re not accurate enough for a full chemical analysis, they are good enough to identify batches that are safe.
   
   
   Method:
   1.       Remove a testing strip from the pad and place it nearby.
   2.      With gloves on, wet the soap and produce a good lather. Put the soap on a non-reactive surface, then press the testing strip into the lather.
   3.      Rinse off the lather, then compare the strip to the indicator diagram.
   4. Any reading below 12 is usable, if strong, ideally something closer to an 8 is best.