| How We Make Your Soap Vintage Cottage |
| Here at Vintage Cottage- quality matters, we use only the highest quality of oils & butters in our soap. We believe that even though these pure elements cost more- the resulting product is something that is not only handmade- keeping with our families tradition of soap from scratch, but our recipes have been formulated over the last 3 years, using our knowledge of the qualities of different vegetable compounds, how they benefit your skin, and how they will react during saponification. Soapmaking is a science! Our master soapmaker has taken over 4 years of college chemistry in the environmental science field- and she has expanded this knowledge into figuring out the best blend of oils and butters for our bar soaps and other sundries- computing how much and which oils will be seized during the reaction and which will be available for absorbtion into skin (the superfat content, we blend ours at 7%) Our recipes come from a study of molecular and organic chemistry- and the importance of using all natural soaps and sundries for a healthy family and earth. Anyway, molecular reactions aside- We hope you enjoy the following tutorial on how we make our soap, however, please remember, NEVER EVER EVER EVER ATTEMPT MAKING SOAP WITHOUT THE DIRECT SUPERVISION OF AN EXPERIENCED SOAPMAKER!!!! LYE- THE NATURAL CHEMICAL USED TO PRODUCE THE SAPONIFICATION REACTION (the breaking of the oil molecules to make them attract dirt- thus making soap) WILL BURN THE SKIN VERY BADLY- MISUSE OF THIS CHEMICAL CAN CAUSE SEVERE BURNS, BLINDNESS AND EVEN DEATH- PLEAE DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME- AND NEVER EVER EVER EVER MAKE SOAP AROUND CHILDREN OR PETS! safety first! -vintage cottage |
| the first step is to ready your mold, we like to use wood molds that are drilled together on the sides. We prepare the molds by spreading shea butter all over it so that our soap releases easily when ready |
| The next step is to measure all of your different oils and butters- a digital scale is a must, preferably one with a tare feature so that you can re-zero after adding each different oil. Accuracy is very important, if you weigh wrong- the chemical reaction will not happen correctly and your whole batch will be ruined! Because of allergies to nuts dairy and different natural elements-It is federal law that all bath and body products list all ingrediants used in the product on its label- we use (depending upon what kind of bar soap we're making): palm kernal, shea butter, mango butter, cocoa butter, olive oil, coconut oil, sweet almond oil & vitamin E and pure essential oils- all of these are very high quality elements that make a bar soap that is very good for your skin.(Hint- if your soapmaker lists cottonseed oil as an ingrediant, they are using crisco- which will make soap, just not of a very high quality) Some people (my grandma included) use lard, which works well- but we like making 100% vegan soap :) |
| In a separate bowl, (of stainless steal, plastic or glass) it is time to mix up the saponification agent, or, the water and lye. We like to mix the lye with frozen spring water, because of the fact that when lye comes in contact with water, it heats up to around 400 degrees F. on contact, it is easier for the impatient soapmaker to wait for ice and lye to cool down (which only heats up to around 150 degrees after the ice melts) than to cool down for hours when blended with cold water. |
| It is at this point that you may add your essential oils and any herbal or floral additives that you choose. I let my daughter, Naomi add the pre-measured oils and herbs. My daughter is very used to the soapmaking process and is watched carefully when she helps, please never let children help you make lye soap. |
| While you are waiting for the lye/water mixture to cool down, it is the perfect time to start heating up your oil mixture, we set ours upon the stovetop at md. heat. Oil should be heated up to around 85-90 degrees F with all of the different butters and oils blended completely together. |
| Now is the time that you must get both your lye/water mixture and your oils to the same temperature- we get ours to 85 degrees F. If your oil mixture and lye mixture are blended together even a couple of degrees off- your soap will not 'trace' ( a term for the chemical reaction that turns oils into soap, or sapofication) |
| Once the oils and lye reach the correct temperature, it is time to blend them together, we slowly add the lye mixture to the oils and begin to stir with a hand blender. |
| We continue to hand blend the mixture until it begins to react and make the soap, you will notice that the oils have changed into an opaque white substance. We continue to blend until the soap 'traces' or turns thick like pudding and will sit on top of the rest of the soap if traced up with a spoon. At this point, the lye has completed 95% of the chemical process needed to complete the soap. |
| Now it's time to blend in the essential oils and herbs, and pour the mixture into your pre-ready mold. |
| After molding, the soap must be given time to rest. Cover the mold with a cookie tin and wrap the mold and tin with a couple of towels for insulation of the soap. The soap is now completing the saponification process, it will again heat up to around 170 degrees F. to complete the process. It is very important that during this time you do not peek at the soap, as this will release the heat and possibly wreck the batch of soap by not allowing it to fully saponify. |
| After waiting 24 hours, we unmold the soap and cut it into our bars. The soap is then piled into a bucket and left to rest again for anywhere from 2-6 weeks or until the ph of the bar turns to skin neutral- (to match the ph of the body). This testing lets us know that the oils have been processed completely into soap and that the bars are now gentle enough to allow the oils and butters to nurture the skin without being harsh. We test every bar of soap that goes on the shelves! |
| At last- the soap is ready to be packaged and delivered to a store or sale near you. Vintage Cottage Made in Lake City, MN. |
