It's no lye: Interest in soap making is bubbling
By Emily Young, Staff Writer, Eagle-Tribune, February 4, 2007
Boxford resident Renee Deal strapped on her respiratory mask and flipped down her full face shield. It was time to make some soap.
"I was at a nice bed and breakfast that had this great handmade soap, and the owner gave me the recipe," Deal said. "I sat on that recipe for years because I knew soap making could be dangerous - the lye really scared me, and rightfully so. You can burn yourself or even damage your lungs."
The art of making soap by hand requires a delicate balance of scientific prowess and imaginative craftsmanship.
While Deal and several other local soapers noted working with lye is something to treat seriously, it's not something to keep you from getting your hands dirty making soap at home. There are many lye-free kits available for hobbyists that are as easy as melting a soap base, adding fun scents and colorants, and pouring the mix into a soap mold to harden.
The basic ingredients in soap go back centuries. One of the earliest soap recipes, written on an ancient clay tablet, dates back to around 2200 B.C. That soap called for water, alkali and cassia oil, and the same principles - soap is the chemical result of mixing oils with sodium hydroxide and water - are applied by contemporary soap makers. Yet the materials used today are intended to foster a luxurious bathing experience: Deal uses goat milk in all of her soaps; other local soap makers use rich oils from natural sources like avocados or macadamia nuts.
Boxford resident Christine Wirkkala started making soap in her garage roughly five years ago, right around the time Haverhill resident Lovena Harwood started up her own soap-making company. Plum Island resident Michele Diodati-Ulchak started marketing her soap at craft fairs around 10 years ago, followed by Haverhill soaper Lisa Ross a few years later.
So what's the draw? It's different for all soapers. For Wirkkala, it's the therapeutic time spent alone.
"I've been known to make soap at 2 a.m., when the house is nice and quiet and I can make it in peace," Wirkkala said. "I started because I loved natural soap, and I loved having the ability to put my own oils in, and things I grow in the garden I can put into the soap. Then I got more serious about making and selling it after I had my son two years ago because I'm now home with him full time. So I make soap when he gives me a minute alone, when he's napping or gone to bed."
For Harwood, making soap connects her to her native home in Oahu, Hawaii. The former engineer uses ingredients indigenous to the islands, like macadamia nut oil and kukui nut oil, as well as fragrances that resemble natural beauties, like awapuhi ke'oke'o, a Hawaiian white ginger flower.
"I was homesick," said Harwood, who moved in 1984 to Massachusetts with her daughter and husband, a Peabody native. "And I stopped using store-bought soap. Our skin is so sensitive, especially in the winter when it's so dry. The water is also harder and more treated here than in Hawaii."
At-home how-to
There are several different ways to make soap. If you're looking to just experiment once or twice with the kids, you might want to start off with a Melt and Pour Soap, which you can buy in a kit. Here are the basic steps that are required for this simple process.
* Melt the purchased soap base in a double boiler or microwave. Set the microwave on high for about a minute and then stir the remaining unmelted pieces until they mix in. Be sure to cover your bowl with Saran Wrap. Or, boil water on a double-boiler before adding the soap base. Cover the soap base and turn the heat on low until the soap base melts.
* Add a colorant while the soap base is melting and stir it in well. Spray any "mica bubbles" on the top with rubbing alcohol.
* Once the soap base is fully melted, you can add a fragrance oil. Stir it until the fragrance is completely mixed in and the base no longer looks cloudy.
* Pour the liquid mix into the soap molds and spray the top with rubbing alcohol to get rid of any excess bubbles.
* Let the soap harden for a few hours and your soap is ready for use.
Source: Teachsoap.com
If you're ready to try something a little more difficult without the kids, here are some basic directions for the cold process method of making soap. Take note that lye is caustic and can burn you; inhaling large amounts of lye fumes can be dangerous, too. You should follow a recipe, which are available in books and online.
* Put on protective goggles, gloves and face mask.
* Measure the desired oils, making sure you properly calculate how much of each ingredient is needed.
* Heat until all oils are completely melted to liquid form. Remove from heat and let cool.
* Measure your cold water and lye. Put the water into a stainless steel pot and then mix in your lye, preferably with a wooden spoon. Try to do this as quickly as possible, then let it cool for about 30 minutes. Leave the room during the cooling period so you can avoid breathing in the lye vapors, which might permeate through a face mask.
* Once cooled, stir the lye water into your oils. Then blend with a hand mixer until the soap begins to become thick and dull, a stage known as tracing.
* Add and blend any essential or fragrance oils, colors or additives, into the thick mix.
* Pour the liquid soap into soap molds.
* Cover the soap with a plastic liner for insulation once the soap hardens a little bit. The soap will enter the gel stage roughly an hour later, appearing like a transparent Jell-O. Let it sit for roughly 12 hours.
* Take the hard soap out of the mold and slice it into bars.
* Let the bars sit and cure between four to six weeks, then they're ready to enjoy.
Source: Boxford soaper Christine Wirkkala, www.hiddenliltreasures.com
Tips from time-tested experts
Lye:
* Try to make soap away from your main living space so the lye fumes won't circulate throughout your house.
* Don't try making soap that includes lye with children younger than 11 or 12 years old, or any child not mature enough to work with it.
* Keep white vinegar on hand, as it will neutralize a lye burn should one occur.
* When working with lye, use stainless steel containers, not cheap metal pans or glass, which the lye will break.
* If the lye solution is too hot when mixed with oil, it can have a volcanic effect, burning and overflowing. Be sure to get the temperature just right.
* The pH must be at the appropriate level. If it's not, the soap will remain "hot" and burn you.
* If you're afraid to work with lye, start off with a Melt and Pour soap.
Oils:
* Beginners should start off with inexpensive oils, like Crisco.
* Only use oils recommended by other soapers. Some oils don't mix well and will rot after just a week.
* Be sure to buy fragrance oils intended for soap makers and not candle makers. Always read about the potential allergic reactions. And just because different companies have two oils with the same name, that doesn't mean they smell or react the same.
* Citrus oils are very difficult to blend well, while lavender oils are considered foolproof.
Other ideas:
* Get a soap-making book like "The Soapmaker's Companion," by Susan Miller Cavitch or "The Complete Soapmaker," by Norma J. Coney.
* Adding dried herbs is easy to do, but don't use anything larger than a lavender bud. It'll be too scratchy against your skin. Adding cornmeal is a great way to increase the scrubby quality of a gardeners soap, or you can add ground pumice.
* Using goat milk as an ingredient can get tricky, as lye can burn it. Keep the fresh goat milk frozen until you're ready to use it.
* If you apply the hot process method and cook the soap in the oven for an hour, you only need to let it sit for eight hours before taking it out of the mold and cutting it into bars. Then, let it sit for one week to cure, as opposed to four to six weeks the cold process method dictates.
Sources: Soap makers Michele Diodati-Ulchak , Renee Deal, Christine Wirkkala, Lisa Ross and Lovena Harwood
Cheat sheet for soap makers
* Saponification is a chemical reaction from mixing oils or fats with an alkali (lye) and water.
* Cold process method is most popular among contemporary soap makers. You use external heat to liquefy the solid oils. However, the heat generated by mixing the proper combination of oils, lye, and water is enough to result in saponification, creating soap rich with glycerin. The total chemical transformation isn't complete until the soapy mixture is poured into molds, cut into bars and allowed to cure for several weeks.
* Hot process method speeds up the saponification process by cooking the soapy mixture at a high temperature for an extended period of time. Transparent soap is, for example, made by the hot process method.
* Melt-and-pour soap is previously manufactured transparent soap that the individual melts, colors, scents and pours into a mold to make a new bar of soap.
* Glycerin is a moisturizing by-product of soap. One molecule of glycerin is made in relation to every three molecules of soap. Commercial soap makers usually remove the glycerin from their products to resell to cosmetic and pharmaceutical companies. Most homemade soap makers leave the glycerin in the soap, making it far more moisturizing.
* Lye is a caustic solution - used in products like drain cleaner - that looks like granular salt. When used properly, the lye won't be left in the end result - instead, when combined with fatty oils and water, it will structurally transform into soap.
* Coconut oil gives a great lather and resists rancidity.
* Olive oil is a good moisturizer that draws external moisture close to the skin.
* Avocado oil is a therapeutic oil, high in protein, amino acids, and vitamins A, D, and E, that regenerate skin cells, soften body tissue and heal scaly skin.
* Castor oil attracts and retains moisture to the skin.
* Shea butter has positive effects on burns, ulcerated skin, stretch marks and other skin conditions.
* Palm kernel hardens the bar and creates a nice lather.
* Apricot kernel regenerates and nourishes skin.
* Macadamia nut oil is high in palmetic acidhydrates and is great for hydrating and nourishing the skin.
* Kukui nut oil heals extremely dry, chapped or sunburned skin, and is great for mature skin.
* Palm oil produces harder, longer-lasting bars of soap with stable lather.
* Clay draws impurities out of the skin.
* Ground cinnamon is a gentle exfoliant.
* Goat milk contains alpha-hydroxy acids, which restore and rejuvenate your skin.
* Lavender oil smells wonderful and is gentle and soothing.
* Maple syrup is naturally loaded with potassium, calcium, iron, manganese, magnesium and phosphorus.
Sources: Handcrafted Soap Makers Guild (www.soapguild.org), and local soapers Christine Wirkkala, Renee Deal, Michele Diodati-Ulchak, Lovena Harwood, Lisa Ross
Super suds
You think all soaps do the same thing? Guess again. Here are five soaps made locally that benefit your skin in very different ways.
Cinnamon, $4.50, Bubbles & Bees, www.bubblesandbees.com
The combination of ground cinnamon for gentle exfoliation with the warm scent of cinnamon essential oil makes this soap one of Haverhill soaper Lisa Ross' best sellers. The deep brown is a natural by-product of the cinnamon. The soap also includes coconut, olive, avocado and castor oil, as well as shea butter, palm kernel and apricot kernel, which makes the soap over-the-top moisturizing, even for those with excema.
Green Mud, $3.75, Plum Island Soap Co., www.plumislandsoap.com
Loaded with green mineral clay from France, this soap draws impurities out of the skin. The clay is complemented with rosemary and ylang-ylang essential oil, known for its antiseptic qualities. Additionally, the dryness of the clay offsets the natural moisture of the soap, making it a great for your face. The soap also includes vegetable, coconut, olive and other oils.
Lavender Oatmeal, $4.50, Deal Farm Soap Co., www.dealfarm.com
Boxford soaper Renee Deal believes goat milk is Cadillac of soap ingredients. The milk contains alpha-hydroxy acids, known for their rejuvenating qualities. All of Deal's soaps use the milk of Nubian goats - raised locally in Rowley - which produce the fattiest milk of any breed for lots of moisture in the end product. The soothing oatmeal isn't abrasive, but instead makes the soap extra creamy. Lavender oil, Deal said, is the only essential oil safe for everyone, from children to the elderly. The soap also includes olive, coconut and palm oil.
Maple Creme, $4.25, Hidden Lil Treasures, www.hiddenliltreasures.com
This creamy soap is gentle on the skin, while creating enough suds for shaving. Boxford soaper Christine Wirkkala loves incorporating her soap-making hobby with her husband's maple sugaring trade. He even taps the trees on a friend's Danvers property himself. Wirkkala, who tests her soaps on friends and relatives (never on animals), says her subjects found the soap increased the softness and elasticity of their skin, while decreasing age spots and wrinkles. The soap also includes olive, coconut, soybean and fragrance oils.
Plumeria, $4, East Coast Tropics, www.eastcoasttropics.com
Haverhill soaper Lovena Harwood grew up picking plumeria flowers off her neighbor's tree in Oahu to string leis for May Day celebrations, luaus and weddings. Plumeria leis are also frequently given to island visitors. As a soap maker, Harwood discovered a scent that replicates the balance of floral and spice of the plumeria flower, and combines that with coconut, olive, castor, and palm oils. Macadamia nut (trees plentiful in Hawaii) and kukui nut (Hawaii's official state tree) oils are also used. Copyright © 1999-2006 cnhi, inc.
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