Many soaps that you see for sale online are not handcrafted, well, they aren't handcrafted by the company selling them. Many purchase a loaf of soap from another company to resell, or purchase a block of soap called Melt and Pour. MP soap is melted then colorant and fragrance is added. We do not do either of these. We hand craft our soap by adding all the ingredients and mixing in our studio.
We start by measuring out all of the hard butters and oils, such as coconut oil, olive oil, castor oil, shea butter, mango butter, and cocoa butter. Each of these ingredients plays a crucial role in creating a high-quality cold process soap. Coconut oil helps to produce a fluffy lather, olive oil conditioning properties, castor oil contributes to a stable and creamy lather, and butters like shea, mango, and cocoa add nourishing and emollient qualities to the soap. Once the hard butters are measured out, we carefully heat to melt. Sodium hydroxide, also known as lye, is added to distilled water to create a caustic solution that will react with the oils in a chemical process known as saponification. This reaction transforms the individual ingredients into soap, glycerin, and other byproducts. It is a precise and delicate process that requires attention to detail and accuracy to achieve the desired results.
One thing to note: you CAN NOT make soap without lye. If someone is stating they sell "soap" and it is lye free, it's either not soap, or they are not being transparent about the ingredients, or they simply buy the soap from another company to sell and do not know the ingredients.
Once the butters have melted, they are added to the oils. The sodium hydroxide is then added to the oil and butter mixture, carefully blending together. After the soap mixture reaches trace, where it thickens to a pudding-like consistency, we can add in any fragrances, colors, or clay additives if desired. The soap is then poured into molds and left for 2 days, allowing the saponification process to complete. The soap is then removed, cut and stored for 4 weeks to ensure the water content has evaporated, allowing the soap to harden.