What is handmade soap?
Mixing water, fat, and lye results in a solid composed of soap and glycerin through a process called saponification. In times gone by, lye was leached from wood ashes. It was an inexact process which sometimes resulted in soap that was mushy and harsh. Now lye is made in a standardized process, so we can get perfect soap every time. Once saponification is complete, there is NO lye present in the soap. You cannot make handcrafted soap without lye, if someone tells you their soap was not made with lye, then they are probably trying to sell you detergent! Cold process begins with a lye and water mixture. Once this mixture and the oils have cooled to the same temperature, they are then combined and stirred vigorously till they begin to thicken like pudding (which is called “tracing”). At this time, the botanicals, herbs and essential oils are added. Soap is then poured into molds and allowed to harden overnight. While the soap hardens, it’s normal for it to go through a “gel phase” where t
