Soap making is becoming more and more popular these days because of the rising consciousness of the public with regards to the kinds of chemicals that they use in their bodies. This is the number one reason too why many bath soap manufacturers produce soaps that they claim to be organic (goat's milk, papaya extracts, etc.). However, one cannot really assess fully whether the manufacturers of these products are indeed truthful that they put as much of these natural ingredients in their product as they say they did, taking into consideration that these manufacturers are typically profit-driven. Having known this, making your own soap seems to be such a good idea. Not only does it assure you that you know what is in that creamy bar that you use at least twice a day, it also gives you the power to design and create your own bath soaps that suit your taste and your lifestyle best.
These processes are: 1. Cold Soap Making Process 2. Hot Soap Making Process
The ingredients and the materials used in soap making for both methods are actually very similar. These methods only differ on one thing: the use of external heat in the process called Saponification. Saponification is the term used to describe the chemical reaction that happens when lye-water mixture is added with unsaturated oils. Lye is an alkaline chemical that produces heat when mixed with water. When the lye-water solution is then added to the unsaturated oils (soil is mainly oil), their molecular structures integrate and become the soap that we all know. The natural heat that is released by the lye-water solution is the only heat used in cold process soap making to dissolve the unsaturated oils. Of course, this takes a little more time because the melting is natural-occurring. Hot process method makes use of an external heat source to increase the heat of the mixture and make the melting process faster.
Design
Even though the same ingredients make up the two soaps produced by these two methods, they have striking differences too. For example, making swirl designs and color patterns are quite difficult to do to hot processed soaps because they dry too quickly. Cold processed soaps solidify more slowly so it is so easy to make all sorts of designs in the soap. Hot processed soaps are also hard as compared to cold processed soaps which re creamy.
Time
Nonetheless, if you are more concerned about having to use your soap as soon as possible, then you should try the hot process method. Soap created through this method does not have to be cured (set aside) for 4 to 6 weeks before they are available for use. In most cases, once the soap is already well-molded and dry, you can immediately make use of the soap and be assured that you get the most your creation.
These processes are: 1. Cold Soap Making Process 2. Hot Soap Making Process
The ingredients and the materials used in soap making for both methods are actually very similar. These methods only differ on one thing: the use of external heat in the process called Saponification. Saponification is the term used to describe the chemical reaction that happens when lye-water mixture is added with unsaturated oils. Lye is an alkaline chemical that produces heat when mixed with water. When the lye-water solution is then added to the unsaturated oils (soil is mainly oil), their molecular structures integrate and become the soap that we all know. The natural heat that is released by the lye-water solution is the only heat used in cold process soap making to dissolve the unsaturated oils. Of course, this takes a little more time because the melting is natural-occurring. Hot process method makes use of an external heat source to increase the heat of the mixture and make the melting process faster.
Design
Even though the same ingredients make up the two soaps produced by these two methods, they have striking differences too. For example, making swirl designs and color patterns are quite difficult to do to hot processed soaps because they dry too quickly. Cold processed soaps solidify more slowly so it is so easy to make all sorts of designs in the soap. Hot processed soaps are also hard as compared to cold processed soaps which re creamy.
Time
Nonetheless, if you are more concerned about having to use your soap as soon as possible, then you should try the hot process method. Soap created through this method does not have to be cured (set aside) for 4 to 6 weeks before they are available for use. In most cases, once the soap is already well-molded and dry, you can immediately make use of the soap and be assured that you get the most your creation.
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