When people ask how long it takes to make a bar of soap, the answer is not straightforward. The actual making of the soap is only one small part of the process. For me, it really begins much earlier.
I start by deciding which essential oils I want to use. If it is a blend I have not made before, I will test it first. I blend the essential oils together before I make any soap so I can see what they smell like. What is interesting is that they do not always smell the same once they go through the soap making process. The process of saponification can change the scent quite a lot, and some oils just do not hold at all. Citrus oils are a good example of that. Because of this, I work with blends. I might use five or six essential oils, or sometimes just two. I tend to build them in layers. A base note- possibly cedarwood or patchouli (although there are others I use) helps hold the scent. Then I add middle notes, and finally top notes. In the UK there are limits on how much essential oil can be used in soap. Most are limited to around three percent in total, not per oil, and some are much lower than that. I tend not to go over two percent in total, as essential oils are very strong and often less is more. Once I have made a small test batch, I leave it. Not for a few days, but for several months. I want to see how the scent develops over time and how it holds with use. Before I have even started properly making a soap, this stage can take up to six months.
Alongside this, there is the preparation of the ingredients. I use hand picked Scottish botanicals in my soaps, but they are not always added in the same way. Some are used as petals in the soap, while others are infused into oils and then strained out. For example, with Scots pine, the needles are infused into oil. I use a cold infusion and leave it for around six weeks, often letting it sit in the sun and shaking it from time to time. Only after that is it strained and ready to be used. All of the oils and butters also need to be ready. My base oils are olive oil, coconut oil and sunflower oil, along with shea butter and cocoa butter.
When it comes to making the soap, I start by melting the harder butters first. The cocoa butter and shea butter go in first, followed by the coconut oil. Once everything is melted, I add the liquid oils such as olive oil and sunflower oil. Separately, sodium hydroxide is mixed with water. This part has to be done carefully as it is very hot and caustic. Both the oils and the sodium hydroxide solution are then left to cool before being combined. When they are brought together, I mix them and watch the change. It moves from opaque to more translucent and then begins to thicken. I am looking for what is called trace, where the mixture will leave a light trail across the surface.I often work just before this, at emulsion, or at a light trace. At that point I add in any other ingredients and the essential oil blend, then pour the mixture into large square moulds. The soap then sits in the moulds for around 48 hours before it is cut.
Once cut, the soap is still really warm and almost gel like in the middle of the block. It is still in what is called gel phase. I love handling it at this stage. It feels warm and cosy, and just slightly soft. However, it is still caustic and I wear gloves to gently place it into trays. As it finishes its saponification, and the process makes it into the soap we know, it gradually hardens and loses that gel like consistency, and is no longer caustic. After cutting, the soap is placed into storage trays and left to cure for at least eight weeks. Often it is longer than that. I tend to make much of my soap in September and October. The colder temperatures here mean the curing process takes longer, but by the time spring comes around the soap is well cured. A longer cure creates a harder bar of soap. More water has evaporated and the soap will last longer when it is used. That is important to me. I want the soap to be something that lasts and can be enjoyed over time.
From start to finish, you are looking at several months. The testing of the essential oils can take up to six months. Infusing oils can take six weeks. The soap itself then needs to cure for at least eight weeks, often longer. So although the act of making the soap may only take a day, the full process from beginning to end is much slower.
If you have any questions about the process, you are very welcome to leave them below.
