Starry Night Cold Process Soap
Introduction: Starry Night Cold Process Soap
This year my 10yo daughter started making soap with hopes of running her own soap business "froggy soaps". We learned soapmaking together for a few batches, and now I just watch and keep the shelves stocked. Recently I saw the soapmaking contest on the instructables page and asked if she wanted to enter. She came back with this idea and made it, while I documented and helped with the write up.
Cold process soap is easy to make and you can complete it quickly, but once its demolded you will need to allow the soap to cure for 4-6 weeks on a shelf before it is useable (the lye mixture is very alkaline, and the soapmaking process will result in a netural pH soap; but using it before it gets there may not be kind to your skin, which is the opposite of what we want with a skin care product like soap).
Supplies
13.11oz Distilled water
5.30oz Lye (food grade NaOH)
19oz Coconut oil (warmed to 92F)
13oz Olive Oil
2.5oz Avocado Oil
1 tablespoon food grade activated charcoal powder
[optional] 1oz fragrance oil (essential oil or fragrance oil of your choice)
Two glass measuring cups (4 cup and 2 cup).
Lye safe cup for measuring lye prior to mixing (can use glass or a disposable plastic/paper cup)
Metal spoon (for mixing water and lye).
Silicone mixing/scraping spatula (for moving and mixing soap into molds).
Wand mixer (any cheap one will do, probably not a good idea to use soap tools for food later).
A well ventilated area to work in as well as eye protection, gloves, and a mask.
Soap molds (we used two loaf molds that hold around 42 oz each, but any kind will do).
Some white colored soap that you can break down into small particles.
[optional] some little accents to add to the top of the soap (we used little white soap moons)
Step 1: Saftey
Soap is created by combining oils with an alkaline solution triggering the saponification process resulting in soap.
The alkaline solution for this recipe will be water and lye and that liquid is hazardous. We should treat it with respect and protect ourselves by wearing gloves and eye/respiratory protection when handling it.
Once the soap is created the pH begins to neutralize and after the curing time the pH will be neutral (you can use an inexpensive pH test strip to confirm before lathering up with your new soap).
Step 2: Water and Lye
Before the ingredients start getting mixed you'll want to have your molds ready to receive the soap, and shave a few bars of any solid white soap into small particles to add to the soap in the final steps (they will become the stars in the night), we used a cheese grater to make ours. 643
The amount you'll need will be a reflection of how many stars you want in your bars. We added about 20% of the soap volume for this recipe.
Once the prep is done we can start off by mixing the water and lye together, the time it takes to fully dissolve can be long depending on the temperature and how much you're mixing it, so best to get it started first.
*always add lye to water* never the other way around.
Put on your gloves, mask and eye protection, if you get some of the mixture on your skin just wash it off with soap and water, but you'll want to wear protection to keep sensitive areas like your eyes safe at all times. If you're smelling the lye water as you mix, you might want to step back to avoid inhaling the fumes.
Work in a well ventilated area (we usually go outside) and mix up the water in the smaller container with the metal spoon and add the lye while stirring.
You should see the water become cloudy and temperature increase as the lye dissolves into the water.
stir to make sure there isn't a solid forming on the bottom (if it does, just keep stirring until it's broken up) then set it aside as we move to the second step.
Step 3: Oils and Saponification
Measure out your oils into the 4 cup glass. Some oils like coconut are solid at lower temperatures, you'll need them liquid for this process. You can put the coconut oil jar into hot water or if it's in a microwave-safe container you can microwave it as well.
Once all of the oils are liquid and in the cup add the lye water you made in step 1 (the water should be clear by now without any solid lye remaining) and stir. 643