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As you could have read on the "making your own soap" page, this
page covers an alternate method for soap making. This differs from the
traditional DBHP method from the point that gelstage is reached. With
the traditional approach a batch is made completely with scent color
etc. With this alternate method a large batch of unscented, uncolored
base soap is made by boiling it out in salt water. The base soap can be
made with a 0% lye discount and any excess lye is removed when boiling
the soap. This base soap can then later on be melted in a couple of
smaller batches to add superfatting, color, scent and other additives.
Because of the lack of superfatting this base soap would also be great
to make transparant glycerin soap with but that's better to be left for
another time.
Ok. Lets start where we left the traditional method: gel stage.
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Once gel stage has been
reached, remove the small pan from the large pan and add a large amount
of salt to the boiling water. I'm talking cups here, since too much is
better then to less in this case. When the salt is completely dissolved,
pour the soap into the water and let it softly boil while occasionaly
stirring. This way any excess lye that may have been left in the soap is
boiled out and only the pure soap remains.
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You'll
notice that a thick foam will form on the surface, this is the purified
soap. |
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When the gel-soap is completely gone and the foam looks
smooth, scoop it off into another container. Be careful to transfer as
little from the water as possible since this has any remaining lye and
possibly other impurities in it!
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Now the time has come to fill the moulds. You'll have
to work quick since at this point the soap begins to harden up a bit
faster. Fill the mold(s) and be sure to fill them completely by pressing
the mixture into it. Smooth the surface and then leave the soap to
harden up completely. For small molds this can be after 20 minutes, for
larger it takes a bit longer. In the meanwhile you can clean up the
mess you've made! |
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You see how the water is colored now? This is probably
caused by the unrefined (red) palm oil used in this recipe. Excess
lye and glycerin created in the saponification process will also
be in there, next to the impurities from the palm oil. |
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Remove the soap from the molds carefully and cut it up
in nice processable pieces. You will be able to use the soap after
you've removed it from the molds, although it will harden more in the
next couple of days. As you probably have noticed, the texture of this
base soap is quite lumpy and we
also didn't put scent in it yet. For the next steps just read on! |
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Milling or Rebatching
As I wrote in
the beginning, this alternate method is about making a larger batch of
very pure soap and using that later on to make smaller batches of the
final soap. This process is called "rebatching" or "remilling".To
rebatch soap you grate the soap and warm it au bain marie with a bit of
milk. Not too much, just enough to let the soap dissolve a bit and make
it easier to melt. If it's too thick you can always add more later on.
You can also use water instead of milk, I just prefer the milk because
it makes the molten soap more "liquid". I let it melt for about half an
hour and stir some.
When the soap is pudding like and completely smooth without lumps you
now can color it, add your fragrance or essential oils, the superfatting
oil and things like bran for scrubbing. You
can even give the soap a swirl or marble effect by scooping part of the
soap in another container and mixing it well with your colorant. After
that you can stir the colored with the uncolored soap.
Final note
Some may wonder
about this approach so I might as well tell you how I came to think of
it. You see, when I first started
reading about making soap, the only method I encountered was cold
process. Tried it and didn't like it. Besides that, my father - who
knows quite a lot about chemistry - doubted that all the lye would be
gone in the end product. He
gave me an old little book from the forties which among other things
describes the industrial method of soapmaking. I sort of adapted those
guidelines to my own needs.
I
can't really tell you which method - the traditional or the alternate -
is better. I got good results with both. The alternate method is more
time consuming, but also provides a "purer" soap very suitable for doing
many smaller rebatches. It also gives a perfect base for making your own
transparant glycerin soap. Instructions for how to do that will be put
on the website as soon as I can find time to try it out myself. I guess
the method is just a matter of preference, so I
suggest that you just try it and find out for yourself what you like
best.
Now time for some tips: You'll have to make sure that the recipe you
use is correct, so always check in a lye calculator
whether you've got the amounts of lye and water right. You can still
screw up with the recipe which I learned the hard way! If you would to
learn more about the soaps & mistakes I made, click here.
Despite the different approach this
site gives a lot of nice reading on making soap yourself.
For a few ready to measure and make recipes click here.
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