Soap Making Equipment List
Detailed Soap Making Instructions cont.
Equipment List
- One or more 4-to-6 cup mixing container -stainless steel is preferred
- One Pyrex measuring cup - at least 2 cups - 4 cup is preferred
- Stainless steel, plastic, wooden spoon or a rubber spatula
- Two thermometers made of glass or stainless steel (candy/meat work fine)
- Goggles
- Rubber gloves
- Accurate scale
- Soap molds - these vary from cardboard boxes to plastic trays
- Stick Blender ( you can use a spoon, but you'll soon go out and buy a Stick blender!)
- Measuring spoons
- Oils
- Fats
- Herbs
- Essential Oils
- Fragrance Oils
- Coloring
Steps to making Soap
Take the solid fats and begin to warm them until they are melted in your stainless steel bowl. Now is a good time to put on eye protection and rubber gloves.
Measure the amount of cold water in the recipe - make sure its cold - as hot water will boil out of the container when lye is added. Not a good thing. If you are using milk for any part of your water recipe, freeze the milk in ice cube trays and add a cube or two to the lye/water. It will help prevent 'scorching' the milk and often it helps keep the soap from turning too brown.
I usually put the water in the pyrex cup, put the cup in the sink, and then slowly add the lye. The water will get hot and turn cloudy. Continue to stir until the lye dissolves. Try to avoid breathing the fumes. Continue to stir until the water turns clear again. If you have added milk, it won't of course turn clear, but will be a slightly yellowish color. Set it aside out of the reach of EVERYONE and let it cool to desired temperature of recipe.
When both the fat and the lye/water reach the temps specified in the recipe, add the lye/water slowly to the fat/oils. This step may take a while as the lye/water takes a while to cool down. Some soapmakers make the lye/water the night before and set it outside. I've tried that - and it works, but I also don't have any kids to worry about that would stumble upon it either. Another idea is to make your lye/water first and then start melting your fats.
Now is when I get out my handy dandy stick blender. It only takes a few minutes to come to 'trace' when you use the stick blender! When its in trace, it looks much like pudding. When you lift the blender, the 'soap' will drizzle and stay on top of the mix. Tracing is really pretty easy to recognize, just imagine your making pudding or mashed potatoes. If you're stirring by hand... well, it may take a while.
After the soap traces, this is the time to add your herbs or other additives - stir together. Then you can add your essential oil or fragrance oil - I usually go by about one tablespoon essential oil per pound - stir well.
Your soap molds have been waiting, so you can now pour the soap into molds, set it aside and just wait for it to harden. After 24 hours you can usually pop it out of the mold, cut it and then let it set for 4-6 weeks before using. (This is why I do the hot process method...I like to use it immediately)
ENJOY YOUR SOAP!!
More Soap Recipes:
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Cold Process Recipes
