Our Soap Making Process
If you’ve tried our soap before then you know that it’s quite a bit different than store bought brand names like Dove or Dial (which aren’t natural soap). Our cold process soaps are naturally made with as few ingredients as possible so that you can use these soaps knowing that they are toxin free and healthy for your body. Have you ever wondered what the term “cold process” means? If so, continue reading to learn more.
How Cold Process Soap is Made
Cold process soap is made by combining oils and lye (sodium hydroxide) together. The lye breaks down the oils into their component parts: glycerin and fatty acids. Glycerin is a natural humectant, which means it helps to attract and retain moisture in the skin. Fatty acids are what give soap its cleansing properties. Once the oils have been fully broken down by the lye, the soap mixture is then saponified, which means it becomes soap.
Our Soap Making Process
All of our soaps are made in small batches by hand. We start by mixing lye and filtered water together which creates an exothermic reaction that causes a dramatic temperature increase (up to 200 °F). While waiting for the temperature to drop to 100 °F, we weigh out the oils that we will be using and then heating them to 100 °F. Once the oils and lye/water mixture both reach 100 °F, we slowly add the lye mixture to the oils while stirring continuously. The liquid becomes cloudy at first and as we continue to blend it for several minutes the mixture thickens and becomes opaque until it looks like a bowl of warm vanilla pudding.
After the mixture has thickened, we add in the essential oils and any natural colorants or herbs. At this point, we Reiki-infuse the soap mixture to enhance the healing abilities of the essential oils used. We then pour the mixture into molds and allow it to sit for 24-48 hours. Once the soap has cooled and hardened, we remove it from the molds and place it onto vented trays where it will cure for 3–4 weeks. During this curing process, excess water evaporates from the bars, leaving them harder and longer lasting.
Our soaps are made in small batches by hand in order to ensure quality. We typically only make 12 bars of each scent at a time (and sometimes even less) but we can make larger batches if requested for custom orders. We hope you enjoy our soaps as much as we do!
You can shop our cold process soaps here.