|
|
|
|
 |
Candles, Aromatherapy & Soaps (Home) > Soaps > How to Make Soaps
Soap Making: How to Make Soaps?First, you will need soap molds in order to shape your soaps. You will be able to choose from a wide variety of shapes and designs. Some have flower imprints; some have graphic designs such as celestial motifs or Egyptians. Go ahead and select whatever your heart fancies. There are Three Dimensional Soap Molds, which are a two-part fold that can cast a double-sided look on your soap. Once you have chosen your soap molds, you are ready to get started. Firstly, boil the glycerin soap base. At this stage, if you want to add an essential oil or soap fragrance, just mix it in; if you want to color the soap, go ahead and stir in the dye to give the color you want. Pour the blend into the mold that will give you the shape you want. Let the mold cool, before you take away the bar of soap. There is another soap making process; it is called a 'cold process' because it does not rely on an external heat source. If you select a cold process, you will use lye, which will heat up when mixed with liquids. Be careful with lye, however it is a dangerous substance. Mix lye with the right amount of fat or oil, and the saponification process will start without having to heat the mixture. Then Lye is used to be mixed with the right amount of oils or fats, which leads to the saponification process, that results to soap. There are different types of soaps available in the market meant for different skin types. However, instead of buying soap it is rather easy, and interesting to have a go at soap making. Soap making has today become not only a hobby to many people, it is also a means of generating additional income too. There are many soap-making kits found in the market today. You can either use these soap making kits to make kits, or opt to buy the ingredients to make the soap separately. Different types of soaps call for different ingredients. When making soaps on your own, it is better to look up some recipes in soap making books. There are a variety of soap making recipes available using different oils and dyes to enhance the look and fragrance of the oil. On choosing the recipe, it is important to list out all the ingredients that are needed. The basic ingredients used in soap making are soap base chips, additives, fragrance and a soap mold. There are many types of soap molds found in the market today. You can choose the mold you prefer from the variety of shapes and designs of molds available. Some of the molds found in shops today are molds with floral imprints and those with graphic designs. There are also three dimensional soap molds where you get a double-sided look to the soap that you make. On choosing the preferred soap mold, you can start at your soap making. If you intend to make a clear soap, it can be done using clear soap base chips instead of normal soap chips. The soap base, usually glycerin, is then melted on indirect heat via a double boiler or crock-pot. If you plan to add some essential oil, soap fragrance or color dye to the soap to enhance its appearance and effect, it has to be stirred in now. Then this mixture has to be poured into the mold where you get the shape you want. The soap has to be let to stand for about twelve to twenty four hours. Once the mold cools, you can remove the soap. The last step in soap making lies in curing the soap for about three to four weeks. The reason the soap has to be cured is so that the glycerin found in the soap mellows out wherein the soap becomes milder and much gentler to the skin. There is another method of making soaps called the cold process where there is no use of any external heat source for making the soap. In this process, you have to use lye, which is a substance that has a tendency of heating when mixed with other liquids. However, as this is a dangerous substance, care has to be taken when using lye. Using a lye calculator helps decide on the amount of lye that will be needed to make soap, which makes it safer and easier to use lye. Once lye is mixed with the required amount of fat or oil, saponification starts without any heating of the mixture. The soap mixture then has to be poured into the required molds, left to cool and then cured again as earlier to get the final soap product. VISITOR COMMENTS on "How to Make Soaps?": 
|
Bookmark This Page: Resources: |
Soaps |
|||||||||||||||
