Hand Made Soap Materials
Soapmakers use hand made soap materials to create, color, scent and form soap from scratch. Soap materials can be natural and organic additives like herbs, or they may be artificial dyes and synthesized perfumes. Soap making tools play an important role in processing soap making materials and are vital in ensuring that soap is made and handled with care.
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Benefits
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Understanding the materials that go into hand made soap can help a soap maker predict how materials and additives will affect the final outcome of a batch of soap. Using the right materials, a soap maker can adjust a soap to ensure it has the desired texture, color, scent and chemical properties. Preparing soap with the proper hand made soap materials and tools can help produce a quality batch of soap while allowing the soapmaker to stay safe during the soap making process.
Soap Base
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Soap base is made from scratch by combining a sodium hydroxide solution with a fat or oil. Oils that can be used to make soap include palm oil, olive oil, coconut oil, soybean oil and sunflower oil. Different oils offer different qualities to the soap, including color, feel and texture. Soapmakers often mix multiple oils to combine the qualities of the different types of oil.
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Additives
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Soapmakers use additives to change properties of the soap like the texture, color or scent. Though additives can be added during the initial creation of the soap from lye and fat, soap usually gets additives when it is remelted and formed into its final shape. Additives commonly used in soap include cinnamon, chamomile, neroli, chocolate, lavender, oatmeal, mint and turmeric.
Soapmaking Tools
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Tools and equipment necessary to make handmade base soap include a metal pot, measuring cups, a candy thermometer and a silicone scraping spatula. Wear safety equipment including goggles, an apron or protective smock and rubber gloves. White vinegar neutralizes the burning effect of sodium hydroxide and should be kept on hand for lye spills. Once the soap is formed, have a heat-resistant mold lined with some wax-paper handy to pour and form the soap.
Warnings
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Additives may react with soap and create a different color than intended. When working with a new scent or color, a soapmaker can benefit from creating small test batches with new additive material. Use only dried organic material, not fresh, to avoid turning soap rancid. Artificial dyes can yield truer color to the soap but may irritate sensitive skin. When the soap is finished, use pH paper to test the alkalinity and acidity of the final product before using it.
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References
- Photo Credit cinnamon bundle image by laviniaparscuta from Fotolia.com
