Soap Making: A Quick Soap Making Book, Including Homemade Soap Recipes, Soap Making Supplies, Lye, Process and More!

109 Pages·2013·0.75 MB·English

by  Kelly Kohn

Make Your Own Soap the Easy Way
Your Complete Guide to the Art of Soap Making

Kelly Kohn

PUBLISHED BY:
Kelly Kohn
Copyright © 2012
All rights reserved.
No part of this publication may be copied, reproduced in any format, by any
means, electronic or otherwise, without prior consent from the copyright owner
and publisher of this book.
This is a work of fiction. All characters, names, places and events are the
product of the author's imagination or used fictitiously.
Table of Content
Introduction
Chapter 1 - The squeaky clean truth about soaps
A brief history of soap
What is soap?
The soap making procedure
Chapter 2 - Every soap maker should have this – Equipment used in making soap
Chapter 3 - What goes into soap? – Ingredients, ingredients, ingredients
Fats and oils
Lye
Moisturizers
Thickeners and hardeners
Water alternatives
Bubbles, Bubbles, Bubbles
Botanicals
Fragrance
Color
Chapter 4 - Basic Techniques in making your soap bar or liquid soap
The Cold Process
The Hot Process
Melt and Pour
Rebatching
Liquid Soap
Whipped soap
Cleaning up
Storing soap
Chapter 5 - Adding your dyes, botanicals, essences and fragrances, cutting those shapes
Scents
Color
Yellow/Orange
Brown/Black
Green
Red/Pink
Purple/Blue
Botanicals
Designs
Chapter 6 - Easy and simple soap recipes
Basic Oil Soap
Grocery Store Soap
Vanilla Kitchen Soap
Oatmeal Melt and Pour Soap
Moisturizing soap
Soap for acne-prone skin
Vegetarian Soap
Melt and pour loofah soap
Rosemary Mint Handmade Soap
Mango and Shea Butter soap
Lavender Soap
Apple Spice Soap
Aloe Soap Balls
Good Morning Scrub Bar
Tea Tree and Kelp Soap
Dog Soap
Orange Julius Soap
Berry Mint Foot Soap
Mint Refresher Liquid Soap
Chapter 7 - The Dos and Don’ts of soap making
Do’s
Dont’s
Chapter 8 - Trouble shooting in soap making
My soap will not trace!
My solid soap has turned to liquid!
My soap has separated in the pot!
My liquid soap has separated!
My soap has seized!
My soap is too thick
My soap is oily soap
My soap is sweating
My soap has orange spots in it!
My soap has water pockets!
My soap has oil pockets!
My soap is dry and brittle!
My soap is soft and mushy!
My soap is coated in powder!
My soap is lighter around the edges!
My fragrance has disappeared!
When is it necessary to give up and throw away a batch of soap?
Chapter 9 - Selling your beautiful handmade soaps
Conclusion
References
Introduction
Welcome to learning the art of soap making. If you preparing to read this
article then you are probably a crafty person looking to dive into something
new. Once the process is learned, soap making can be an easy, fun, and
productive hobby. People choose to make soap for a variety of reasons including
for personal use, gift giving, or as a product to sell in a home-based business.
Once you become a soap maker, you will no longer have to waste time shopping
for a soap that will not irritate your sensitive skin or make a last minute run to
the mall for a birthday gift. Many people enjoy soap making because they can
produce unique and useful items. The scientific nature of this craft can appeal to
those of us who like to have a guideline to follow while learning, but then be
able to work within some general parameters to create one-of-a-kind products.
There are several advantages to making your own soap. First, it’s fun! Once
you understand the process, the creative possibilities are endless. Elements of
color, texture, shape, scent, and design all come into play when making soap.
The process does not require a great time commitment so just by having an
afternoon free you can make a batch of soap. Of course, it will need to harden
after that afternoon, but that process does not require you to be actively doing
anything other than flipping it over occasionally.
Secondly, homemade soaps are much healthier for you and the environment.
By the time a typical person finishes his or her morning routine, he or she has
likely already come into contact with over one hundred chemicals and about
sixty percent of what we put on our skin is absorbed into our body. By making
your own soap, you have complete control over the quality and naturalness of
the ingredients. This is especially great for people with allergies or sensitive
skin. You will know that the soap you make does not contain artificial dyes or
additives, unless of course you want them in there. When making your own
soap you can choose the fragrance and how strong it is. You can decide if you
want liquid soap, hard soap or soft soap when you are finished. You can also
decide how you want it to function. Do you want it to exfoliate? Condition?
Moisturize? Cleanse? A combination of the above? When you make your own
soap that can happen! As an added bonus, homemade soaps usually contain a
large amount of glycerin which makes them much better at moisturizing than
commercial soaps. Making soap is also better for the environment as it
conserves energy and the process of creating it does not involve the use of harsh
synthetic chemicals that can harm our waters and other natural resources.
Let us end this introduction with some fun facts about soap to hit
home the idea that soap making can be fun, interesting, profitable, and easy.
· Soap has been made in some form for at least the last 2,000 years.
· Early soaps were not used for bathing but for cleaning clothes and
animal hides.
· June weddings were made popular because back in the early 1500’s,
people typically only bathed with soap once yearly and most often in late
May. This allowed brides to be fresh for their upcoming nuptials.
· The first soaps were made from animal fat and ashes from wood
fires.
· Soap can be made in liquid, bar, powder, cream, foam, and gel forms.
· Soap not only stings yours eyes because it contains lye, it is also
chemically reacting with the fat molecules in your eyeball.
· The first known literary reference to soap used for cleansing purposes
was by Galen, a Greek physician, in 1700 A.D.
· Early 7th century Arabic chemists created the first soap using only
vegetable oil. Prior to this it is thought that all soaps had some amount of
animal fat in it.
· The English government imposed a tax on soaps for many years until
1835, making 1 million pounds a year.
· 10,000,000,000 pounds of soap are produced per year world-wide
· 1/3 of all soaps are produced in the United States
· In the United States, 25 pounds of soap are used per person, per year.
The world average is 6.6 pounds.
· 85% of the soap used in the United States is used in cleaning laundry
and 12% is used for bathing.
· Most of the ‘soap’ purchased at a store is not soap but bars of
synthetic detergent.
· By 1890, five major soap companies were in business; Colgate,
Morse, Pears, Bailey, and Albert.
· The Palmolive Company is named after its most popular soap which
was made with palm and olive oils.
· Elephants are frequently washed with Murphy’s Oil Soap.
· Ivory soap was never meant to float. The company was over mixing
the soap which created air bubbles causing the bar to float. Since it was so
well received by customers, the company continued over mixing their soap.
· Liquid hand soaps were first created and sold in the 1970s
No matter how far and how much of an expert you want to become on soap
making, this report will give you a great start towards understanding soap, its
history, the soap making processes, and also some ideas on how to start a soap
selling business.
Chapter 1 - The squeaky clean truth about soaps
A brief history of soap
Soap has quite the past. For a very, very long time people have known that
combining fats with ash from a fire would make a substance that could be used
to clean things. There is a widely told story that the word soap came from the
ancient Romans however, the truth of it is widely debated. According to the
story, Romans sacrificed animals on Mount Sapo and then it rained, all of the fat
from the animals and the ashes from the sacrificial fires, were washed down the
mountain and into the Tiber River. This created clay in the river that made
washing easier. Those that discount this story as fantasy have the belief that the
word soap derives from the Latin word, “sapo” and was borrowed from the Celts
who created a substance from animal fat and plant ash that they called saipo.
Historians have several ideas about where and when soap making first began.
Many believe that soap was invented by the Babylonians. This is because a stone
tablet was discovered during an excavation of ancient Babylonia indicating that
around 2800 B.C., Babylonians were making soap. Another clue that soap has
been around since ancient times is the Eber’s papyrus which contains a recipe
for soap made by salt mixed with animal fats indicating that early Egyptians
used soap for textiles and medicinal purposes. Early Romans made soap in the
1st century A.D. by combining goat fat with wood ashes and salt. In fact, a salt
factory was discovered among the ruins of Pompeii, a city which was destroyed
by a volcanic eruption in 79 A.D.
In the 2nd century A.D., Galen, the famous Greek doctor, publicly
recommended washing with soap to prevent disease. Prior to this, soap was used
primarily to treat diseases or for textiles. This proclamation resulted in more
people using soap for bathing however, for a long time still; soap was used
mostly for non-bathing purposes.
Moving into Europe, ancient German’s created soap from ash and animal fat.
It was used primarily for styling hair. In 1200 A.D., Marseilles, France and
Savona, Italy were soap making hubs. In the 8th century, there is evidence that
people in Italy and Spain were using goat fat and beech tree ash to make soap.
At the same time, the French began using olive oil in their soap. Soap came to
Bristol, England in the 12th century and could be found in London in the 13th
century. Beginning in the 16th century, finer, more luxurious soaps that were
vegetable based, most using olive oil, were more widely available in Europe. In
England, soap makers had to pay tax on the soap that they made until 1853. This
was enforced to the point of equipping soap pots with locks so that soap makers
would not be able to produce soap without being observed. When the tax was
alleviated, inexpensive soap was created and became widely available
throughout England by 1880.
In 1791, a Frenchman by the name of Nicolas LeBlanc discovered a way to
make sodium carbonate or soda ash from common salt which allowed soap
makers to create soap very inexpensively. Prior to this, soap was expensive and
in very high demand. In 1811, another Frenchman named Michel Eugene
Chevreul identified the relationship between glycerin and fatty acids. These two
discoveries marked the beginning of modern day soap making.
In the late 18th century, industrially manufactured soap became available
however, up until around the turn into the 19th century, Europeans continued to
use soap primarily for purposes other than bathing. This changed when German
chemist Justus Von Liebig announced that the amount of soap used by a nation
was a great indicator of the country’s wealth and level of civility.
When the first settlers came to America, they brought a large supply of soap
with them. This can be verified by viewing the records of ships that came over
from England. In 1630, John Winthrop, before he became the first governor of
the Massachusetts Bay Colony, wrote to his wife asking her to bring soap when
she traveled over to America. After establishing themselves in America and
surviving their first harsh winter, the colonists discovered that they had a large
supply of ash and animal fat as a result of their daily routines of hunting and
cooking food. They came to the realization that they could make soap from
those products. When they began doing this, soap was no longer an expensive
product that was in high demand. It could be made for virtually no money and
was generally made annually or semiannually. For the colonists, making their
own soap had the added benefit of allowing them to be increasingly more
independent of England.
In 1916, the soap making process changed significantly when German
chemists discovered and began creating synthetic detergents. Commercially
made soap as we know it today became available during World War I. At that
time, factories were using the batch kettle boiling method for making soap. This
process had some significant drawbacks. Not only did it take four to eleven days
to complete a batch, the quality of the produced soap was inconsistent and