There are many methods to make soap, some are quite easy, while others are an art; a complex art, but not impossible. So, in this post; I will be taking you through the common soap making methods.
Melt and pour Method
This is one of the easiest soap making processes; which also saves quite a lot of time. In this process, you will use a premade soap as a base that has undergone the saponification process, rather than spend time mixing fats with an alkali such as lye, which can be time consuming. A readymade soap base contains glycerin and fatty acids as well as other natural ingredients.
The melt and pour method is the perfect choice if you are a beginner, still exploring the arena and would like to play it safe. All you have to do is purchase pre-made solid soap base instead of making it from scratch, and you are ready to use the soap once it hardens.
How Melt And Pour Method Works:
Step 1: Get a premade soap base. One of the best options to purchase are the clear glycerin or white premade soap bases.
Step 2: Melt the solid premade soap base. To speed up this process, use a sharpened knife to cut the bar into small 1-inch chunks. Don’t worry about exact measurements here. The goal is to have smaller pieces rather than one large chunk as smaller pieces will melt faster.
Step 3: Put a pot on a burner with a low steady heat, and add your cut chunks in it; then heat for 30 seconds. Take out the pot and stir your melted contents, then reheat again for another 30 seconds then take out to stir again. Repeat this cycle of 30 seconds heat then stir until you feel the consistency of your melted soap base as completely liquefy with no lumps or hard chunks in between. That is when the entire soap base has melted. Don’t overheat it beyond that point.
Don’t forget to stir. Remove the bowl from the sauce pan when the soap base has completely melted and doesn’t have any lumps.
Step 4: Let the soap melt to cool down to around 50 degree Celsius. Do not add your essential oils or dye while the melt is still hot. Likewise, don’t let it cool to the point of hardening. Add 2-3 drops of your desired dye depending on the colour intensity you desire.
If you are using a powdered dye, dissolve 2-3 teaspoons of your powdered dye in some liquid glycerin as you can’t add the power directly to your melt or else the colour will not get distributed evenly. Then add your desired perfume. Stir all your added dye and perfume before the last step.
Step 5: The last step would be to pour your coloured and fragranced melt into a mold of your choice then let it cool naturally for 12-24 hours. When your soap has completely solidified, take it out of the mold and it would be ready for use immediately. However, make sure the edges have dried completely.
The Rebatching Method
Rebatching is also another quick and easy method of making bar soap. As the name suggests, it is often used to rebatch (make use of the soap you did) if there were any mistakes or if you didn’t like the shape of the mold or messed it up during the design process. In that cause, you can use pre existing soap. However, readymade soap never melts easily, that is why, you will heat it as we described in the melt and pour method; however, you will add few table spoons of water, glycerin, etc to soften up the mix, then with heat resistant gloves, you will add your soap melt in a Ziploc bag and knead it so make it into a mushy texture.
Similar to the melt and pour process, you can add the dye and fragrance to your mix in the rebatching method and then let it solidify. This will take 5-7 days!!!
The Hot Process
This process is like the cold process but involves using heat pots and “cooking” the soap rather than doing it cold.
The Cold Process
Keep in mind that in bar soap making, the cold process is the dragon level of all levels. The reward here is that there are unlimited possibilities to how you can make your final product in terms of colours, shapes and natural additions. Moreover, you can 100% guarantee that your soap is home made from scratch.