The process soapmaking method

Read more : First step of making soap

When the oils are around 45º C / 110º F and the lye solution has reached the same (or cooler) temperature, you can start getting ready for mixing the soap.

1. Place the soap pot on a flat, safe surface (the stove is not safe enough, in my opinion).
2. Add the lye solution to the oils in a steady stream, but not too fast, while stirring continuously with your long handled tool.
3. Stir with slow, even movements to avoid splashes.
4. The mixture becomes opaque and starts taking a lighter colour.
5. Once all the lye solution has been added, keep stirring for a couple of minutes.
6. Get your stick blender ready (you can leave the soap mixture unattended while you do this).
7. Place the stick blender in the middle of the pot, resting it on the bottom (or as close to the bottom as you can if you're making a large batch). Make sure the level of the soap mixture is at least a couple of inches lower than the motor of your stick blender, and the blades of the stick blender are covered by at least 3 inches/7 cm of soap mixture!
8. Start the stick blender and operate it in short bursts.
9. As the mixture gets lighter in colour, and starts assuming a creamy appearance, you can operate the stick blender with no interruptions for longer periods.
10. To avoid overheating the motor, turn the stick blender off and use it as a manual stirrer periodically.
11. Within 3 to 10 minutes (depending on the type of fats/oils, and other variables), the soap mixture will be smooth and glossy, with similar consistency and "feel" to thin custard.
12. This is the beginning of "trace", a.k.a. thin trace. This is an important stepping stone for adding some particular ingredients or carrying out some special operations (for instance, dividing the batch if you're working on a swirled soap).
13. Unless you have some special reason for stopping at this point (see above, or refer to your recipe instructions), keep stirring until the mixture reaches full trace. When using a stick blender, this might take anything between 20 seconds and a few minutes after thin trace.
14. You'll know you have reached full trace when a little bit of the mixture, dribbled from the stick blender, will leave a "trace" before sinking.
15. You can now add the fragrance or essential oils and the other ingredients you have reserved for adding at trace.
16. For this, you can set the stick blender aside and go back to your long handled spoon. Make sure you blend the oils (or whatever) thoroughly, and don't forget to scrape down the sides of the pot.
17. Pour the soap into the mould(s). It is best to do this slowly (see the picture above? the pot was very full and very heavy, and I thought I could get rid of the weight quickly.... Luckily, the "soap splash" remained inside the mould!)
18. If you're using individual moulds, you might find it easier to ladle out the soap mixture, at least in the beginning.
19. Pour out as much of the soap mixture as you can, and scrape down the pot properly (you'll find here some ideas on how to clean the pot).
20. Cover the soap with the towels (or blankets, or rags). Remember to place a piece of baking (greaseproof) paper on top, if the mold(s) are filled to the brim.
21. Arrange the towels/rags so that all the mold is covered - top and sides.
22. Leave the soap undisturbed for 12 to 24 hours. Insulating the soap helps speeding up the saponification process (the chemical reaction), and properly mixed and insulated soap is usually caustic-free after as little as 24 hours.

A good way to understand if your soap is coming out properly, is to have a quick peek after 2 to 4 hours after pouring. By this time, properly mixed and insulated soap will have reached gel phase, and will look translucent and *much* darker then when you poured it. This is perfectly normal, and really, I think this is the only way to be sure that what you've done is going to be soap.... soon! :-)

Since there's no precise steps to follow at this stage, I will simply give you a list of notes and comments:

• Try and keep the soap in gel state as long as possible (that is, do not move the moulds or remove the insulation layer).
• After 12 to 24 hours, the soap should be ready to unmould.
  Properly made and insulated soap is opaque and solid, and should not be covered by any "soap dust".
• Soap dust is a white powder that may appear on the surface(s) of the soap exposed to air. Chemically speaking, this may or may not be sodium carbonate, a mild alkaline salt that forms when the still caustic soap mixture reacts with the air surrounding the soap, and is totally innocuous. Another theory is that this white powder is simply "dry soap". Discussions abound on this subject, and my personal conclusion is that it's not worth worrying (too much) about it.... :-)
• Unmould the soap and leave to cure at room temperature.
• Arrange the soap on your chosen "cooling racks" (for instance, clean carboard trays, such as those used by greengrocers for exotic fruit) so that air can circulate around each soap.
• If you live in a very humid climate, it might be safer to cure the soap in air tight plastic containers. Experiences and opinions on this subject are not unanimous - my personal experience is that a humid room is a lot more "dangerous" than an air tight plastic box, and I know of soapers (in tropical Australia) who simply avoid making soap during the monsoon season.
• Curing is basically needed to get rid of the excess water, as well as an extra precaution to make sure no free alkalis are present.
• Well cured soap has a richer lather and lasts much longer than fresh soap.
• If you have precise pH strips, you can test the alkalinity of your soap. At the end of the saponification process, natural soap will read between 9.0 and 10.5.
• On the pH of soap, I recommend Ann Perius-Parker's article, available from Kathy Miller's fantastic soap info site.
• In my experience, the pH of properly prepared, mixed and insulated soap does not change over time.
• There are more empirical ways for testing the alkalinity of soap. The most popular is called "tongue test", and I personally like the way "Hersh" (James Hershberger) describes how to do a tongue test without burning one's tongue off.
• A simpler and less painful method, is to wash your hands with the soap. If it burns, or if it leaves you with a "boiled skin" feeling (similar to what happens after soaking in a hot bath for a long time), or if the lather feels slimy and rinses off with difficulty, then the soap is still caustic.
• This might change over time. So before deciding your soap is too caustic, leave it to cure for another few days.
• If the burning/slimy/boiled skin sensations are still present after one week from unmoulding, then there is too much free caustic soda in the soap. Double check your recipe and notes: did you leave one of the base oils out? Did you check the accuracy of your scales? Did you double check the initial calculations using a reliable SAP calculator?
• In my experience, soap that still feels caustic after two weeks from unmoulding is most likely a "lye heavy" batch.
• The fact your soap is lye heavy doesn't mean you must throw it in the bin. On the contrary! Soap can always be rescued - for instance, you can rebatch the soap adding some extra oils, or you can make some laundry gel.

I hope you've found this information useful. If you would like to discuss further, you might like to consider joining a qualified soap making list, such as Soap Naturally.

Source : aquasapone.com.au

How to make soap : Basic soap formula