Cold-Process Soap Making with Simply Sublime®

Making Cold Process Soap is not for the faint of heart. It requires time, patience, precision and safety. 

You must first know that all soap is made with Sodium Hydroxide (Lye). If it's not made with Lye, it is a LIE! Once Sodium Hydroxide and Oils are mixed together, it undergoes a chemical reaction called Saponification:

Saponification of a triglyceride (oils) (left) with sodium hydroxide (lye) to give soap and glycerin. (right)

The final product is a completely safe and natural SOAP.

The "soap" you find in the grocery store is actually a detergent. You know what detergents do? Strip away oil! Well guess what your skin is made with? ...OIL! So you are actually stripping away your skin's natural oils every time you use those store brand "soaps". If you don't believe me, go look on the package right now. It will be called a beauty bar or a bath bar....NOT a soap; because it isn't! An interesting read is found on the FDA's website: Click HERE

Ok, now that I am off my SOAP BOX, I can tell you about making REAL soap.

First, I measure out my lye and distilled water (in this example, I am actually using beer for one of my beer soaps) and mix them. This is calculated by the types of oils being used. I use many different types of oils for my recipes, so each lye solution must be calculated. Lye is an extremely caustic ingredient and can cause very severe burns if not careful. The fumes are also dangerous at this point and the solution gets up to 180 degrees Fahrenheit. (THAT'S HOT)




Next, I weigh out my oils and melt them into a liquid. This makes the temperature of the oils high. The lye solution and the oil temperatures need to cool to approximately 100 degrees Fahrenheit.




Cooling the lye solution and oils takes time, but that allows me to weigh out the essential/ fragrance oils and any other additives I wish to incorporate. In this example, I am adding jojoba meal for mild exfoliation.





Once the melted oils and lye solution reach 100 Degrees Fahrenheit, they are combined. (see left)

The combination of the oils and the lye solution starts to thicken. At this point, all of the Sodium Hydroxide molecules are attaching to the triglyceride (oil) molecules. Ideally, because of calculations, there will be more triglyceride molecules than sodium hydroxide molecules, and this is called "superfatting".  This yields a more moisturizing bar.

Once the mixture thickens to a pudding consistency called "trace", I can pour it into my molds.

I like to add pretty accents top the top.

At this point, the soap must sit, covered by towels for insulation. It will undergo another reaction called the "gel stage", where it re-heats again on its own. The term Cold-Process comes from this reaction occurring without any added heat. The chemical reaction will continue over the next 24 hours.

....Shhh do not disturb! It's gellin'

After 24 hours, the soap loaf can me unmolded and cut it into bars.


Below is the finished beer soap. You can find many more handmade soaps online at:

    www.simplysublimeshop.com