JEWELRY NEWS NEWSLETTER ARTICLE

THE MAKING OF SOAP
by Michelle Harrington of Lost Arts Found

There has been a great resurgence in the past 20 years or so of good old back to the basics handmade soap-making. I made my first batch about 6 years ago and haven't bought the commercial stuff since! It's been a magical and spiritually moving experience for me. The ritualistic preparation of materials, the focus necessary to weigh and measure everything just so, the daydreaming out the kitchen window while stirring, the scents, the velvety smoothness while pouring all sing to me. But that's not all, the next day I get to remove the warm batch from it's blankets and smell the solid results, then I get to cut bars and roll the remnants into balls of soap. A very therapeutic process...

True soap is a chemical reaction known as saponification. Only two ingredients are necessary to produce it, Sodium Hydroxide and a fatty acid. When the right proportions are mixed at the right temperature and held there for the right length of time soap is produced. Sodium Hydroxide is also known as Lye and can be tricky to work with. It is activated by moisture (even just the moisture in the air) and can heat up to temperatures in excess of 200 degrees. One small flake of lye on the skin that is not immediately and thoroughly washed off or neutralized with an acid can leave a nasty little scar. I have a few to prove it. Fatty acids on the other hand are much easier to work with and come from many sources. Traditionally lard or animal fats were used but vegetable oils like olive became popular when supplies were abundant. Most of today's handmade soapers rely on a variety of of vegetable and nut oils in their products.

Much of the bar soap commercially available today includes resins, fillers, tallowate and petroleum products which in many cases is really detergent not true soap. One of the more desirable results of the saponification process is the naturally occurring glycerin. Unfortunately, many mass producers mill the glycerin off and sell it to cosmetic, pharmaceutical and explosives manufacturers. Without the glycerin, the bars can dry your skin out. As a result there are also many handmade pure glycerin soap makers out there now too.

The use of soap for personal cleansing wasn't very common until the last 200 years or so when the "water cure" became popular and B.O. became unpopular. Until that time, it was an expensive commodity whose secret recipes were closely guarded by soap guilds and monopolies and was heavily taxed. Cleopatra and the early Romans who are famous for their baths used no soap to bath with. Queen Isabella of Spain boasted of having only two baths in her lifetime and Queen Elizabeth's attendants said of her "she hath a bath every three months whether she needeth it or no." Fortunately people began to understand the more pleasant nature of the bath and began to bath with soap more regularly.

If you are interested in trying your hand at soap-making, it can be a very satisfying experience. There are many good reference books available out there. I have three that I really enjoy: "The Soap Book" by Sandy Maine, "Soap, Making it, Enjoying it" by Ann Bramson, and "The Art of Soap Making" by Merilyn Mohr. I throw a bit of caution your way though, follow all instructions very carefully. A batch of soap can be an unpredictable creature and essential or fragrance oils used to scent with can be very costly. Working with lye can cause irreversible damage to yourself and your kitchen. Focus on the process and avoid all distractions while you're creating your vision.