Soap Making Methods

On this page, I am going to explain the four different soap making methods used today and refer you to valuable supplemental information about each technique...

So, which soap method is best? Well... that's completely up to you. What is your skill level? How much time can you devote to learning this new craft? Do you want to know every single ingredient that touches your skin? Are you patient, or do you always need to do things in a hurry?

These are all the questions that need to be answered to determine which of the soap making methods is right for you.

So let's get started...

Melt and Pour Soap Making Method:

1. Buy a pre-made soap base.
2. Melt the soap base into a liquid.
3. Add extra ingredients like soap making dye, essential oils, herbs and nutrients.

4. Pour the soap into your mold of choice.
5. Let it harden.

That's it! Simple, right? Since this is the easiest of all the soap making methods, it is an absolutely wonderful way for beginners to start out making their own soap. Even with this basic technique, you can explore your creativity through the mixing of scents, and adding colors.

Be informed that not all melt and pour soap making is easy... Some soap makers create beautiful and extremely detailed works of art that take incredible skill to complete. Click here for more information about melt and pour soap making

Cold Process Method:

How? Through a chemical reaction called saponification.

Saponification is the grouping of a base and an acid to form a salt. In other words, you mix Sodium Hydroxide, also known as lye (which is your base) with an oil or fat, (which is your acid) to form soap (which is your salt). Sorry if I'm getting nerdy on you!

As the chemical reaction occurs, other ingredients are added. Some of these additional components change with the reaction, and some remain the same, but are embedded within the soap.

Out of the four soap making methods, this is by far the most popular technique for home soap makers and is the method that this site mainly focuses on.

With this technique you get the extra value of knowing exactly what goes into every bar of soap and are able to completely eliminate the use of artificial ingredients if you so desire. Click here for more information about the cold process soap making method.

Hot Process Method:

The hot process soap making method is very similar to the cold process method except that heat is used to speed up the saponification process. Heat is applied at different stages using an oven, crock pot, or microwave depending on your method.

This method is more historical in nature. I think you've all seen the picture of a pilgrim mixing a huge pot of soap over an open flame...

One huge disadvantage to this style of soap making is that it can sometimes be extremely difficult to remove the soap from its mold. Hot process soap making is useful, however, for soap makers who use their skill for commercial purposes because it is a much quicker process.

After all, when it comes to business, time is money! Click here for more information about the hot process soap making method

Rebatching Method:

The rebatching soap method, also known as the milled soap method, involves shredding your own soap creation, melting it and adding additional ingredients.

As you can tell, this method is very similar to the melt and pour style of soap making except that you do not use a pre-made soap base.

Although this technique cannot really be practiced without knowing either the cold process method or hot process method first, it is widely used to "save" unsuccessful batches by re-melting the soap for a future project. Click here for more information about the milled soap method

Each soap making method has its benefits, and disadvantages. As you continue learning how to make soap through this resource, you will form your own style and surely adopt one of these four soap making methods as your favorite.