Quick Overview on Making Soap

Making soap is actually really easy with practice.  It is very similar to baking a cake because you add ingredients and stir. Some challenges include measuring ingredients exactly, following rules for safety, developing good oil combinations, and waiting 3-6 weeks for the soap to harden and cure.  I have been making soap for about 7 years, and really enjoy it.  It is rewarding to select natural ingredients and know what is touching your skin.

One challenge with soaping is that the ratios have to be exact.  When baking a cake, we remember grandma adding a dash of this and pinch of that.  Even measuring cups are not a good option with soaping.  It is important to invest in a digital scale to weigh the ingredients.

Another challenge with soaping are all the safety rules.  This is probably the number one reason most people don't make their own soap.  Soap has three basic parts which include liquid(s), oil(s), and sodium hydroxide. These ingredients must be combined in a specific order or you will create a volcano.  First, combine the liquid (which is normally distilled water) with the sodium hydroxide (wear gloves and masks during this step). Place the sodium hydroxide on top of the water, a little at a time, and stir.  Next, put this to the side to cool (this combination creates its own heat). Next rule is to always add the sodium hydroxide mixture to oils, and not the oils to the sodium hydroxide mixture.  Otherwise, you get the volcano.

Developing a good oil combination for your formula/recipe is challenging too.  Each oil is different and has different properties that causes it to react differently in the recipe with the sodium hydroxide.  Coconut and palm oils are often used because they add hardness and lather to soap. There are various soap calculators on the internet to help with selecting the oil combinations and providing the sodium hydroxide amount for that combination.  The calculator helps you to create a virtual batch, so you can test for hardness, lather, and other properties of the soap.  The calculators are good estimates, but other factors like the weather (humidity, temperature...), or other ingredients that you add can change the recipe results.

Once you make a batch of soap, another challenge is curing time.  Most recipes require that you wait at least 3-6 weeks.  Some traditional olive oil soap recipes can take up to 6 months to cure.  It is easier to run to the store and get soap instead of waiting.  Soaping requires planning ahead to meet deadlines.  Imagine making a batch that is not great, and not knowing until a month later!  Soaping can be really frustrating because of this factor.

The key is practice, practice, and more practice.  Also keeping good notes because you want to learn from these challenges.  I hope this overview was helpful, and makes you appreciate your next bar of soap even more.  (Note:  There are tons of tutorials on soaping on the internet - good and bad. If interested in learning more,  I suggest joining a group on Facebook or LinkedIn and asking questions instead of just following videos on YouTube.)
  
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