Your One-Stop Source on How to Make Soap.
Soap Making FAQ
Soap making can be a fun and rewarding hobby. Many home soap makers have actually made a career out of making soap and have established some really profitable home made soap products. However, for those who are new to the soap making process, I have designed an FAQ section covering some of the most frequently asked questions about how to make soap that I have encountered over the years. If your question is not already covered in this section, feel free to email me at info@thesoapmakingsite.com.
Q. What is the soap making process?
A. There are many different ways to make soap. Most of the soap making methods are covered in this website while some of the more advanced soap making techniques are explained in these fantastic soap making books.
The most common methods to make soap are; the traditional melt and pour process, handmilled, hot processed and cold processed.
Q. What are the typical ingredients found in soap?
A. For generations, the art of making soap consists of a mixture of animal and vegetable fats, lye collected from wood and ofcourse water. Mild dyes and pigments are used to tint and color the soap while a variety of botanicals, essential oils and fragrances are also commonly used. Organic soaps ofcourse are made from naturally organic ingredients and do not contain any chemical enhancements.
Q. What gives soap its color?
A. There are literally hundreds of different types of soaps available today. Most of them come in luscious colors and once can only wonder how they achieve their pigment. Well for starters, most of the soaps sold in the market today are colored from oxides developed in laboratories. The FD&C additives that you probably have read on the ingredients label of your soaps are also colorants developed in laboratories used to gives soap its rich hues.
Not all soaps are artificially colored though. There are many ways to naturally color soap. For instance, if you want to give your soap and dark shade, you would use tea or cocoa powder as a colorant. Red hues are typicall achieved bu using paprika while the yellowish tones are made from turmeric, saffron and carthamin.
Q. When are the fragrance oils added to the soap?
A. Fragrances and essential oils should be added to the soap base after it has melted. Do not attempt to add any additional fragrances to the mold after it has cooled.
It is a good idea to familiarize yourself with the melt and pour soap making process before making soap. You can learn more about how to make soap here.
Q. How can I avoid my soap from getting stuck to its mold?
A. Unfortunately, some of the wooden soap molds that you buy at your local crafts store cause the melted soap base to stick to its mold after cooling. It can be a difficult task to pop it out without destroying its shape and form. What you want to do to avoid this situation is line the soap mold beforehand. Plastic wrap or wax paper will do the trick. Just make sure that you do not leave any gaps between the liners parts and that the lining you create is flat. Greasing the mold will also work although most people prefer to use the lining instead.
Some of the newer silicone molds are designed to avoid sticking. You may want to try using a silicone mold instead of a wooden one if you do not want to go through the whole lining procedure.