Cold Process
“It is fairy dust and wanderlust that guide our hands to create what our hearts desire.”
― Gayle Wray
Cold process is the most popular soap making method for soap makers. The relative lower temperature with the proper curing time gives us creativity while handcrafting soaps..
Step 1:
Sodium hydroxide
There is only one chemical you have to use and cannot avoid in making soap - Sodium hydroxide (NaOH, caustic soda or another name: lye). The first step is measuring the right amount of NaOH and dissolving it with the right amount of water (Lye solution).
Step 2:
Beautiful plant-based oils
The key ingredients in soap making is oils. Olive oil and coconut oil are the two very basic oil ingredients in soap making. Based on different soap recipes, different oils can be introduced into the process. In Miss Emma's Everyday Soap, we only use plant-based oils for all the soap production.
Step3
Emulsification
Combine the oil mixture with lye solution and blend it until an emulsification is formed with trace on the soap batter.
Step 4:
Essential oils
This is the stage that you can add essential oils or other nature ingredients (ex: oat meal powder, honey, etc.) if you’d like the soap to have a customised smell or texture. The amount of essential oil is crucial as too much can cause skin irritation and also jeopardise the soap saponification. At the end of this stage, we pour the soap batter into a mould.
Step 5:
Be patient
Now, let the lye solution have a nice party with all the fatty acids from the beautiful oils. This chemical reaction is called “saponification” and is the stage that sodium hydroxide will be neutralised and turn the fatty acids into a cleaning chain. This process occurs without extra heat (hence the name Cold Process) and usually takes about 4-6 weeks to complete the “curing” process. The lack of extra heat keeps the essential oils intact and maintains all the ingredients in perfect condition throughout curing.
Step 6:
Shower time!!
When saponification is finished, the fatty acids are broken down by lye and form a cleaning chain (aka soap, there will be no lye left in the soap once it's fully saponified). The cleaning chain has two ends - one end that loves water and another end that loves oil - this is the reason why soap can clean our skin. The lather is the action of cleaning chain, the oil-loving end will grab onto dirt and grime and the other end will hang onto the water and get rinsed off during showering.
Now, enjoy your relaxing and soothing shower or bath time with Miss Emma’s Everyday Soap.
