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How to Make Cold Process Soap

© Sinclair A. Sheers

This is how to make soap using the cold process method.

Recommended Reading

First of all, I recommend that you buy the book Essentially Soap by Robert S. McDaniel and read the Soapmaking Recipes and Instructions at http://www.soapcrafters.com.

Supplies

To make cold process soap, you will need the following supplies.

• A large stainless steel pot
• A scale that weighs 1/10th of an ounce (you can buy this at an office supply store)
• Oils, butters, and/or fats
• A candy thermometer
• Two thick plastic pitchers - write "LYE" and "POISON" on them
• Distilled water
• Rubber, preferably neoprene, gloves
• Goggles
• A heavy apron
• Lye
• A heavy plastic spatula
• Vinegar
• A stick blender
• Fragrance oil certified for cold process soap or essential oil
• Oil-based colorant, if desired
• Molds

My Recipe

• 4 oz coconut oil
• 7 oz olive oil
• 5 oz palm oil
• 6 fl oz distilled water
• 2.3 oz lye
• 2/10 oz kiwi-lime fragrance oil from http://www.soapcrafters.com
• about .07cc (1/2 scoop) Rolling Meadows (green) oil-based colorant from http://www.soapcrafters.com

Before making a recipe, I always run it through a lye calculator like the one at http://www.thesage.com/cgi-local/lyecalc... I suggest you do the same.

Instructions

First, measure the oils and butters in a measuring cup and put them in the pot on the stove. Remove about a tablespoon of the oil mixture and save it nearby. You will use it to mix in your scent and colorant. Heat the oils in the pot at a low temperature, stirring occasionally, until all of the solid parts have turned to liquid. Remove the pot from the heat.

Measure your distilled water in a plastic pitcher. Take it, and your scale, outside.

Get your molds ready. Set them in a convenient spot nearby. If you want, grease them with a little olive or canola oil. Use a pastry brush to a paper towel to get rid of puddles or droplets. If you don't have soap molds, you can always use a small cardboard box lined with a plastic garbage bag.

Put the vinegar on the counter.

Don your goggles, gloves, and apron. Read the fine print on the lye container. Take your lye, the empty pitcher, and the spatula outside. Measure the lye into the empty pitcher. Replace the top on the lye container. Pour the measured lye into the distilled water. Never pour the water into the lye. Do not ever let the lye crystals or the lye-water mixture touch your skin. If it does, it will hurt !! Rinse it immediately with a vinegar/water mixture and keep flushing with water for several minutes. If the lye gets on an inanimate object like the kitchen counter, you can neutralize it with straight vinegar.

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