Today I am going to show you how soap is been produced using the cold method. Although we have two method of soap production, which are cold and hot method, this short tutorial is all about the cold process, please ensure that you go through it properly and effectively.

Kindly crosscheck the ingredients you will need for this process

Olive oil (15.6 ounces)
Coconut Oil , 76 degree (13 ounces)
Palm (10.4 ounces)
Orange 5x essential oil (25 grams)
Lavender 40/42 (25 grams)
Grapefruit, Pink (12.5 grams)
Lye (207 grams)
Distilled Water (19 ounces)

Kindly remember that all measurements are by weight not volume.

Important information about lye: Lye which is known as sodium hydroxide (NaOH), should be used when making soap from scratch. Lye actually forms a major component of the soap making reaction/process. My candid advice is to use extreme caution when handling lye. Shielding hand gloves and eye goggles should be worn at all times when preparing the lye solution. It is your sole responsibility to use this chemical with absolute caution and care .
With the above been said without hesitation, don't be afraid of soap making because of the use of lye. Treat lye with respect as you would with any chemical and you should be just fine. The "fear of lye" is the number one reason why people don't get involved in the wonderful art of cold process soap making. Don't be that person!
Now that you have your ingredients prepared, we can now start the soap making process...i hope you are ready?


Step 1: weigh out 207 grams of dry lye in a plastic container. Please ensure that you use plastic container. If you use glass, the NaOH will react vigorously with it.

Step 2: Carefully weigh out 19 ounces of distilled water. Remember that this is a weight ounce, not a liquid ounce. Be sure to use distilled water here as our normal pure water or bottled water probably may have impurities that can potentially interrupt the soap production reaction. Carefully Measure out your water in a heating safe container that can also withstand the caustic properties of lye. Like I earlier said, please don’t use glass.

Step 3: Combine the two components. Carefully pour the dry lye into the water and stir incessantly until all the lye is completely dissolved. You'll notice a somewhat powerful fume present as you stir. Try to keep away from breathing in these fumes. You'll also become aware that your water will heat up considerably once the lye is further introduced. This is why you should not be using glass for mixing/creating your lye solution. You don't want your container to shatter due to the heat of the reaction which would cause your lye solution to dangerously spill everywhere.

Step 4: Gently put a thermometer into your solution and set it off to the side away from children and subsequent pets around especially goats and rats…lol. We need this solution to drop in temperature till it reaches about 100 degrees Fahrenheit. This is my favorite temperature for creating my soap.

Step 5: At the same time as we wait, we are going to prepare our oils. Measure out 15.6 ounces of olive oil, 13 ounces of coconut oil, 10.4 ounces of palm oil, and 2.6 ounces of Shea butter. Try doing this in your stainless steel soap pot. Hope you grab? Ok…

Step 6: The Next step is for you to melt all the oils to a liquid form. Do this on your cook top using a low heat setting. Keep it as low as possible.

Step 7: whilst the oils melt, we are going to prepare our essential oil blend. In a detached container, measure out 25 grams orange 5X essential oil, 25 grams lavender 40/42 essential oil, 12.5 grams grapefruit (pink) essential oil …We are doing this now so that the blend is ready to be added to the batch right away when the time approaches.

Step 8: At this point, your oils should be melted and your lye solution should have cooled significantly. Therefore , we want to try to get both solutions to be at 100 degrees Fahrenheit. It doesn't need to be perfect, but try to get it pretty close. How should we we adjust the temperatures? To cool the oils and lye solution, we are going to fill our sink with ice cold water and place the containers within. If you need to heat up the oils, you can do this on your cook top burner. If you need to heat up the lye solution, you can fill your sink with hot water.

Step 9: At this point, your essential oil blend is prepared and your lye solution and oils mixture should be at just around 100 degrees Fahrenheit. You are now ready to make soap! Slowly pour the lye solution into your oils mixing steadily using a silicone spatula. Do this until you have a somewhat even color and texture.

Step 10: Once a smooth color and texture is achieved, take out your stick blender and begin mixing. Using a stick blender for soap making will substantially speed up the process. Without it, you could be stirring for hours on end. Not fun... at least for me! Start at a slow speed and gradually increase the power from there. Keep mixing until you reach a light trace.
Test for trace by dribbling a little portion of your soap from the stick blender onto the exterior of the rest of your mixture. If the dribbled soap sits on top of the solution for a brief period before sinking back into the rest of the mixture, you have reached trace. At this point, the consistency should be that of a very thin pudding. You don't want it to get too thick yet!

Step 11: Once a light trace is reached, pour in your essential oil blend. Stir again with your stick blender until everything looks even and thoroughly mixed in. Doesn't it smell wonderful! At this point, your soap should be the consistency of a thick pudding.

Step 12: Lastly, carefully pour your soap into your mold. Bear in mind... if you are using a wooden soap mold; make sure that it is lined with freezer paper.


http://www.jaysciencetech.com/2016/06/the-cold-step-to-making-quality-soap.html

nice post

OP, this is informative. May I have your permission to share?

Queenprecy, I never heard from you about how it went with CJ

Its ok..when sharing please kindly give credit @ jaysciencetech

Nice one. But erhm! Is it the bathing(toilet) soap or the domestic(washing) soap? How much(as per money) is required to produce the quantity u described above? Thanks

Very educational