How interesting is the world! What has only recently been the exclusive prerogative of professionals, today can easily become an exciting and original hobby. Here, for example, soap making. Of course, most home-grown soaps use ready-made bases sold in specialized stores, or soap from soapy residues or from harmless children's soap. However, advanced needlewomen can even soap from scratch! Do you know what it is? Oh no! This is not just a comprehension of the foundations and laws of soap-making art in the total absence of such knowledge. Soap making from scratch - this is the preparation of a soap base of chemical components, and only then - self-soap. A similar method of soap making at home is known in two basic variations or methods. Cold and hot way of soap making. In fact, these methods are very similar, but they have certain differences. Let's learn more about them. 
Cold way of soap making
Soap making "from scratch" at home -The process is quite dangerous, since you will have to work with chemicals. So in addition to the components of the soap base you need to stock up and auxiliary equipment. So, for cold soap you will need:
- material to protect the working surface (newspaper, oilcloth);
- a measuring or ordinary glass for weighing alkali;
- electronic kitchen or pharmacy scales (with an error of up to 0.1 g);
- glass heat-resistant glass for alkali;
- two laboratory or culinary thermometers;
- a glass or metal pan;
- capacity for cooling of alkaline solution;
- a wooden spoon or spatula;
- blender or mixer;
- table vinegar or citric acid in case of alkali on the skin;
- mold for soap filling;
- food film for lining the mold;
- towel;
- knife.
In addition to these materials and tools, you willPersonal protective equipment is also necessary: a respirator, glasses, gloves. And most importantly - all the dishes that will be used for soap making, should be designed only for this purpose. It is strictly forbidden to use it for food products! And, of course, the ingredients needed for soap making from scratch:
- alkali;
- water;
- basic (basic) oils;
- essential oils or fragrances;
- dyes;
- fillers.
The alkali we need is also known as causticsoda or sodium hydroxide. Water we need a soft, preferably bottled or pure spring, but not chlorinated. Base is small - this is the oil of sea buckthorn or dog rose, orange or peach or even ordinary burdock or olive oil. As fillers, you can use dried flowers or medicinal herbs, oat flakes, coffee and all that is used in normal soap making. So, the process itself. We cover the table and the floor near it with oilcloth or newspapers, open the window or turn on the hood, put on glasses, gloves and a respirator and prepare all materials and equipment. First we prepare an alkaline solution. On electronic scales put the glass and adjust them to the mark "zero". Now measure the necessary amount of caustic soda, pouring it into a glass with a spoon, so as not to raise alkaline dust. We take a heat-resistant glass and, placing its canopies, set the mark "zero" and weigh the right amount of water. A glass of water is placed in the sink and we turn on running water, which will cool our alkaline solution. Accurately fall asleep a dry alkali in a glass with water. Caution: the solution will heat up strongly and emit fumes. Be careful and lean low towards the sink. And further. It is important to fill the powder with water, and do not reverse it. Now stir the solution until the powder is completely dissolved and leave it to cool. We measure the required amount of base oil with electronic scales and heat it in a water bath. Now with thermometers we measure the temperature of the oil and alkaline solution. If their temperature is the same and at the same time it is not less than 30 and not more than 70 degrees, then mix both ingredients. The permissible temperature difference before mixing is not more than two degrees. So, we pour alkali into the oil with a thin stream, with constant stirring. In the process of mixing, the mass begins to thicken and grow dull, turning into a soap base. After that, beat it with a mixer or blender, making even more dense. We beat the soap base to the so-called state of the track, when droplets dripping from the blades of the mixer or from the blender leave visible marks on its surface. Then add all the additional ingredients: dye, flavors, fillers. We mix the mass and spread it into a mold, covered with food film. Cover the form with a film (paper, cover), wrapped with a towel leave for a day (at least). When the soap hardens sufficiently, carefully remove it from the mold, cut into pieces and put it on a tray or cutting board for several days. After three or four days, wrap the soap in parchment and leave for a month to ripen. You can only use ripened soap. 
A hot way of soap making from scratch
If the cold way of soap making in the homethe finished product must be ripened for a few more weeks, then the hot method avoids this long process. By and large, the hot way completely repeats the cold, only the soap does not ripen in its final form, but is cooked before it is poured into a mold (or mold). So, materials and tools are needed the same as for cold soap making, and in addition to them you will need a capacity for a water bath. So, as in the first variant, mix alkali with water, heat the base oils, equalize the temperature of the alkaline solution and oil, and beat the soap base to the trace stage. After this, put the saucepan with soap base on the water bath so that the water in the container is at the same level with the soap mass. Now cover the container with a soap base with a towel, and then cover it. If you do not cover the soap with a towel, then when boiling it will drain condensate. Boil the mass for about two hours, stirring every thirty minutes. In the process of boiling, the soap base first starts to turn into a gel, and then it acquires the consistency of liquid wax. At this stage, the soap should be boiled for ten minutes. Determine the readiness of soap can be a breakdown on the language. To do this, you need to scoop up a little soapy mass and touch it with the tip of the tongue (tip!). If the tongue does not burn, then the soap base is ready. Without removing the container from the water bath, we add to the soap mass all the additional ingredients: essential oils, reef (oils that do not come into chemical reaction and soften the skin), dyes and fillers. We mix everything thoroughly and pour soap on the molds. Each form is taped on the table so that air comes out of the soap and there are no voids in it. Soap making at home in a hot way allows you to get a ready-made soap after a day.
Soap Recipes from Scratch
Soap making is a fascinating process. The variety of recipes for man-made soap is amazing. You can prepare a moisturizing or nutritious soap, a therapeutic soap and an exfoliating soap. In your hands (in the literal sense of the word) and cream-soap, and glycerin soap. The recipe can be thought up on its own, and you can use the already prepared recipe. Here are just some of them. Soap "Milk and honey"
- 247 g of water;
- 94.2 g of alkali;
- 65 g of cocoa butter;
- 98 g of castor oil;
- 98 g of coconut oil;
- 98 g of palm oil;
- 65 g of sunflower oil;
- 52 g of butter (rehash);
- 15.6 g of apricot kernel oil (rehash);
- Coconut flavor;
- Light honey (for one layer);
- Titanium dioxide (for the second layer).
Grape soap
- 85.7 g of alkali;
- 220 g of water;
- 30 g freshly squeezed grape juice;
- 100 g of grape seed oil;
- 40 g of castor oil;
- 24.4 g of coconut oil;
- 100 g of corn oil;
- 330 g of palm oil;
- 2 tablespoons ground grapes;
- Grape fragrance;
- Titanium dioxide (for a light layer).
Carrot soap
- 247 g freshly squeezed carrot juice;
- 93, 56 g of alkali;
- 11.7 g of lactic acid;
- 33 g of beeswax;
- 98 g of castor oil;
- 65 g of coconut oil;
- 65 g of flaxseed oil;
- 228 g of palm oil;
- 65 g of carrot oil;
- 33 g of pumpkin oil;
- 65 g of shea butter;
- 52.16 grams of a mixture of apricot and peach kernel oil (reef);
- Odor with the smell of honey and tropical fruits;
- 2 tablespoons buckwheat honey.
Orange-chocolate soap
- 340 g of water;
- 100.3 g of alkali;
- 80 g of castor oil;
- 80 g of coconut oil;
- 80 g of linseed oil;
- 160 g of milk fat;
- 160 g of olive oil;
- 240 g of shea butter;
- 50 g of orange oil;
- 2 tablespoons orange peel;
- 1 tablespoon sea buckthorn oil (rehash);
- 30 g of grated cocoa.
Soap with clay and sea salt
- 304 g of water;
- 64 g of olive oil (rehash);
- 114.7 g of alkali;
- 80 g of cocoa butter;
- 120 corn oil;
- 120 g of castor oil;
- 128 g of coconut oil;
- 240 g of palm oil;
- 112 g of shea butter;
- Essential oils of anise and mint;
- A mixture of blue and black clay (one layer);
- Sea salt (second layer).
Making soap recipe "from scratch"
Turning your house for a while into achemical laboratory and using ready-made recipes, you can master almost professional soap making in the home. However, the advanced soaps are the recipes of such soap themselves. Of course, professional soap making is an art that requires certain knowledge and skills. Here, for example, how to make a prescription for soap "from scratch"? The main thing here is the accuracy of calculations and measurements. A mistake of even one gram can lead to the complete collapse of your venture. The amount of alkali directly depends and varies from the amount of base (base) oil. This dependence is expressed in a certain coefficient, called the saponification number. The amount of alkali is calculated by the formula: the weight of oil in grams, multiplied by the number of saponification and multiplied by 95%. The resulting number will be the weight of the alkali in grams. The amount of water also depends on the weight of the oil. To calculate the weight of water, the total weight of the base oil must be multiplied by the number "0.375". Different oils have different numbers of saponification. Here are the characteristics of some oils used in soap making:
- 0.066 - jojoba oil;
- 0.069 - beeswax;
- 0.126 - mustard oil;
- 0,128 - grape seed oil, shea butter and castor oil;
- 0.132 - wheat germ oil;
- 0.133 - avocado oil;
- 0,134 - flaxseed, olive, sunflower oil and peach seed oil;
- 0.135 - peanut, pumpkin oil and apricot kernel oil;
- 0.136 - walnut oil and sweet almonds;
- 0.137 - cocoa butter and sesame oil;
- 0.141 - palm oil;
- 0.190 - coconut oil;
- 0,193 - rosehip oil;
- 0,255 - milk fat.
And in conclusion of our excursion to the world of professional soap making, we want to remind you once again about security measures and some nuances.
Be careful, attentive and careful. With due patience, you will certainly master these methods of soap making from scratch. Good luck! We advise you to read:
