Making Sea Salt Soap

Yuzu Sea Salt Soap

Salt soap is a true luxury! A salt soap bar combines the gentle cleansing of cold process soap with the exfoliate and skin softening power of salt. The salt is embedded in the soap to create a hard, long lasting bar that is speckled with the salt crystals, which gives the soap a really unique look.

Making salt bars is quick and easy if you are already familiar with how to make cold process soap. If you are not familiar with cold process soap, or if you are just beginning, you may want to get a few batches of CP soap under your belt before you attempt salt soap.

Love Spell Salt Soap

Some quick tips:

• When using salt in cold process soap, you need to be aware that salt is a lather killer. In order to combat this problem, it is best to use a large percentage (80%+) of coconut oil. I prefer to use 90% coconut and 10% castor, which makes a stable, creamy lather with medium sized bubbles. You can use any percentage of oils that you like, but most soapers will advise you to use at least 80% coconut oil.
• Another tip is on superfatting. Most soap calculators default to 5% superfattening of your oils, but for salt soaps it is better to use between 15% to 20% superfat. This keeps the soap from being too drying on the skin and adds to the moisturizing properties. 
• One tip that I will strongly encourage is to use individual molds when making salt soap. Salt soap likes to set up quickly. I've heard of some soapers who are able to cut their salt soap within 2 hours of pouring the soap. However, if you cut your salt soap loaves too late, the soap will be dry and crumble easily. Individual molds keep you from worrying about this, since you do not have to cut them.
• The longer you let your soap cure, the better! Soaps tend to get better with age (like cheese and wine), and salt soaps are best used after a 6 week cure or longer.

Pipe Smoke Salt Soap with Nettle

Come back tomorrow and see my YouTube video on how to make sea salt soap! And make sure to comment below if you have any questions about anything! 

Hot Process Goat's Milk Soap (In Pictures)

Here's a quick picture tutorial for my hot process goat's milk soap! Super easy... Just remember to stick by it and keep an extra eye on the soap as it cooks!

Oils melting! I used olive, castor, and tallow.

First, you will start off like normal, melting your oils in your crock pot or double boiler. When you make your lye solution, you will keep out part of your water to substitute with milk. (For example, if you are supposed to use 12 ounces of water, just 8 ounces instead, and keep 4 ounces of milk to the side) Please take loads of CAUTION with your lye solution, because it will be stronger than a normal batch! Put your milk in the fridge to chill it.

You can use a stick blender or a whisk. It will trace fast!

Once the oils are melted, add your lye solution (BE VERY CAREFUL! It will be extra strong!) and mix until traced. Your soap will trace faster than usual, because of the water discount.

Add your goat's milk!

Now, slowly add your chilled milk and mix together. Your soap may take on a neon yellow or neon orange color. This is normal, dont panic! As the soap cooks in your double boiler or crock pot, keep a very close eye on it and stir it often. Your soap will take on a natural tan color as it cooks. Remember, oil separation is normal in the beginning stages of hot process soap, so no worries!

Almost ready! It needs to cook a little longer...

Once the soap takes on a mashed potatoes-like consistency, you can add any fragrances or additives and toss the soap in your favorite mold. I added some ground oatmeal to this batch for some scrub!  Once cooled, your soap can be cut! Some folks like to use hot process soap right away, but I still let mine cure for 4-6 weeks.

Goat's Milk Soap with Oatmeal

Enjoy!! It may take a few times to get it right, but hot process goat's milk soap is fun, fantastic, and addictive!

Soap Ash: A Soap Maker's Nemisis

One of the most annoying parts of being a soap maker is the inevitable nuisance of soap ash...

Soap ash? What's soap ash? Can it hurt me?

Soap ash is the thin layer of white powder (or ash) that sometimes appears on handmade cold process soap. Among soap makers, there are a variety of reasons why soap ash appears, from impurities in the water to lye quality to overheating. It seems that most ash occurs when there are a large percentage of hard oils (like palm oil and coconut oil) in the soap, or when the soap does not completely gel (the soap takes on a gel-like consistency while hardening in the mold). Some soap makers have found that they can limit the amount of soap ash on their soap by covering the soap with plastic wrap while it is hardening in the mold, but even then, soap ash can still occur.

The most important thing to know about soap ash is that it is not going to hurt you! It is a natural byproduct of cold process soap, and it usually washes away the first time a bar is used.

Soap ash can be a nuisance, but it is completely harmless and can be easily removed!

Many roads with one destination: Soap!

Cold process soap... Hot process soap... Melt and Pour soap... CP Oven Process Soap... Handmilled... Rebatched... Wow, there sure are a lot of soap making methods out there! When shopping for that perfect bar of soap, what does all of this mean?

Well, all of the above are methods for making soap... each one is a little different from the last. Today, I will break down the top 3 methods for soap making, as well as their benefits: Cold Process, Hot Process, and Melt and Pour.

I'll start first with the method I use most often: Cold Process. The cold process method involves mixing a water/lye solution with various oilsat a temperature of between 100 degrees and 90 degrees. Once the soap batter reaches trace (or, becomes the consistency of thick pudding), scents, dyes, or other additives can be added, then the mix is poured into a mold. The soap is safe to use once it has cured (or, set out of the mold to air dry) for approx. 6 weeks. The long cure time allows for the lye molecules to react with the oil molecules to form glycerin, which is the cleaning agent in soap. This reaction is called saponification!
Cold process bars of soap are well known for their creamy, solid bars. I prefer the CP method over the others because I like the instant gratification of seeing (and smelling) my soap, as well as the anticipation over the cure time before I can test the soap myself!
CP soap (and HP soap) has the benefit of being made from all natural ingredients. Some synthetics can be added to the soap in the form of fragrance oils and dyes, but scary synthetics (like propylene glycol) are often left out.
You can find photographs of my soap making process here on my facebook fan page! My etsy shop is full of cold process soap, and here are more Etsy soap makers featuring CP soap!!

Hot process is another popular method for soap making, and it is quite similar to cold process. With the HP method, soap makers use the same lye mixture and the same oils, but they speed up the saponification of the lye and oils by adding heat to the mix! The oils and lye mixtures are added together in a crock pot or similar heating source, and are essentially cooked over a period of hours. The heat encourages the molecules to form glycerin faster, and the soap made with the HP method is ready to use almost immediatly! (The HP soap makers that I am familiar with still like to cure their soap for a short period, to ensure that the lye is completely gone.)
Hot process soap is often identified by its rustic, rough look. When the soap is ready to go into the mold, it often has a very thick consistency and has to be spooned into the mold, rather than poured. This can lead to air pockets which give the soap its signature look!
Check out this link to Etsy to view some amazing HP soaps!!

Melt and Pour soap rounds out the top three when it comes to soap making, and it is often the method that most soap makers start out with. M&P is essentially safer for the soap maker, because instead of working with caustic lye (very dangerous if handled improperly!), M&P soap makers are working with premade bases, which can be headed up and poured into various, intricate molds. Melt and pour soap makers can make some amazingly beautiful creations, and melt and pour soap can be added to CP soap or HP soap for an added burst of color.
To make M&P soap, just head to your local craft store! Most craft stores sell premade bases that can be melted down, as well as the colors, fragrances, and molds needed to make your soap your own! The downside to the craft store kits lies in the list of ingredients to their soaps... if you are looking for a more natural base, there are many vendors online that can help!
Check our this link to Etsy to view some gorgeous M&P soaps made by amazing artists!

Comment if you are interested in learning more about soap making, or contact me on my facebook fan page... I love to talk soap!

Getting started!

21 days until my shop opens on Etsy!!

I have been hard at work for the past 3 months, creating beautiful, bubbly soaps, crocheting handsome washcloths, sewing up muslin tea bags for bath teas, and now, I am focusing on my blog and my facebook page!

I recently uploaded pictures of the soap making process. If you are interested, check them out here. I start with my lye, water, and oils, and end up with beautiful yellow and orange swirled soap!

Make sure to "like" my Facebook page while you are there!