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Cold Process Soapmaking

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Cold process (CP) soap is a lot more work than melt and pour soap, but the rewards are greater and you’ll have complete control over the ingredients that go into your batches. Once you’ve mastered the technique, you can experiment with different fats and oils, additives, colours, swirls, and all kinds of neat stuff!

While the actual process of making CP soap isn’t difficult, you have to be extremely careful working with the lye. Always add the lye to cold water; using hot water or adding water to lye can cause a volcano effect that results in contaminated surfaces, skin burns, and a toxic mess. This is obviously something you want to avoid! Wear protective gloves and goggles, and don’t wear your favourite sweater or jeans.

Another important thing to remember is that all of your ingredients will be weighed (except for maybe your fragrance and a few solid additives). You’ll need to invest in a very reliable, electronic kitchen scale that can measure very small weights. If you buy your scale second-hand, test it out to make sure it’s 100% accurate.

Since the basic instructions for making a batch of cold process soap are rather lengthy for a blog post, check out AquaSapone for the best set of instructions I’ve ever found online. Marina covers just about everything, from safety issues to recognizing trace.

If you’re using a tray mold (which I do recommend), you can cut the soap into bars after unmolding it. While you can use this soap right away, it’s best to let it continue to cure for at least four weeks - six if you can stand the wait. As it cures, the soap gets harder and you’ll end up with much more lather than a fresh, soft bar.

Now that we’ve got the basics covered for both M&P and CP soap making, we can start looking at soap recipes! There will be lots of those coming up, so make sure to bookmark this blog and check back regularly. We’ll also discuss making wax candles, gel candles, rolled candles, bath bombs, rebatched soap, hot process soap, and lots more.

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Posted in Cold Process Soap on April 24th, 2007

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About Wax and Bubbles

Wax and Bubbles is your oasis for candle and soap making. Create luxurious items for your own home, or make beautiful gifts for every occasion. Find out about new trends, innovative designs, where to find supplies, how to package and sell your soap and candles, and discover oodles of recipes. Whether you're a total newbie or an experienced crafter, Wax and Bubbles is the perfect place to begin!

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