First of all, there must be 2 to 3 hours of completely undisturbed time, because the use of lye, for the safety of the process and the success of the results, must be very concentrated. Therefore, it is recommended to have a complete and continuous time, it is best to unplug the phone, children, pets placed elsewhere to create an environment and time where no one can disturb. Some soaps are quicker, about 1 hour total***, but it's best to allow enough time in advance so as not to disrupt other plans. I once didn't allow enough time and ended up not being able to make dinner in time. I'm really sorry about that. 2) Clear out the table where you plan to work, and place all the necessary utensils and materials, such as recipe sheets, pens, and molds, aside. In order to facilitate the handling of the aftermath, you can use newspaper to spread out a range, one can protect the furniture, one is convenient to collect. 3) Wear rubber gloves, masks and wear an apron, long-sleeved clothes and long pants are safer, have to wear goggles is the best, if not, at least better to wear glasses, in short, must do a good job of protection. 4)Coat the surface of the model with a thin layer of oil to make it easier to remove the mold after soap molding. 5) If there is a ready-made recipe sheet, familiarize yourself with it first. If not, you should calculate and configure a suitable recipe. ★ Note: Do not place snacks, drinks or drinking water on the work surface, lest there will be a danger of accidental drinking or eating. 2. Measure the water: take out the pre-prepared containers, heat-resistant glass containers or stainless steel containers can be, but be sure not to use aluminum pots and so on, because the back will be added to the alkali, be careful to use the alkali will not be corroded by the container. In addition, the process of dissolving alkali will produce high temperature, so it must be heat-resistant. Take water according to the weight amount of water in the recipe. It is best to use distilled or purified water, not tap water or mineral water, because it contains too many impurities or minerals, which will affect the results of the saponification reaction. Cold water or ice water can be used, do not use warm or hot water. Procedure: 1) Place the container on the electronic scale. 2) Zero the scale. 3) Pour the water into the container until it reaches the weight to be measured. 4) Pour the water into the container until it reaches the weight to be measured. 5) Pour the water into the container. 3. Add the solid sodium hydroxide to the measured water: Measure the solid sodium hydroxide according to the weight in the recipe. It is important that the solid sodium hydroxide is measured correctly because a slight discrepancy will make a subtle difference in the use of the finished soap. While making a sodium hydroxide solution can be done without as much stress, it is best to dispose of the sodium hydroxide as soon as possible. Because it is difficult to handle because it easily absorbs moisture and starts to become sticky, it is important to stir it immediately after adding the lye with a tool that is not corroded by the lye, such as a glass rod, stainless steel rod, or spoon. Zixin once neglected to do this and didn't want to waste it, so it took about 20 minutes with a soap cutter to dispose of the lye that was sticking to the plate. Note: When stirring and mixing sodium hydroxide and water to make a sodium hydroxide solution (or lye), the temperature of the solution will rise and a white fume vapor will be emitted, giving off a distinctive pungent odor. It is recommended that this mixing action should be carried out in a ventilated area, and if operating in the kitchen, remember to activate the range hood and be careful not to inhale these gases. It is better to wear a mask. Do not make handmade soap in a confined space. When using a range hood, pay attention to the direction of ventilation. If the air flow is from the direction of the container to you, intentional ventilation can be counterproductive. If the container has a lid, just stir it immediately after mixing and quickly put the lid on the container before the white smoke vapor is produced, and wait a few minutes for the odor to disappear. After stirring, the sodium hydroxide will completely dissolve in the water and the sodium hydroxide solution will be clear. Once the mixing is complete, the temperature is around 80-90°C. Wait for it to cool down to around 50°C before mixing it with the grease. Please take care to keep your pending sodium hydroxide solution in a safe place so that you don't spill it or accidentally drink it and hurt an innocent family member. When mixing sodium hydroxide and water, a high temperature of about 80-90°C is generated, so do not use hot or lukewarm water to mix sodium hydroxide, even when the temperature is very low. If you put distilled water into the refrigerator beforehand, it can reduce the high temperature generated when mixing sodium hydroxide and water, so do not use hot water or lukewarm water. 4. Measure the oils in the recipe: Next, weigh the oils in the recipe and pour them into a large stainless steel pot for soap making. Be sure to use a stainless steel pot, as you will be adding the lye later! 5. Mix the fats and sodium hydroxide solution: Measure the temperature of the sodium hydroxide solution and the fats and oils, this statement is more, some say 50 ~ 55, some say in 35 ~ 40 ℃, there are a variety of other statements, I feel as if they can be, the key is that the two temperatures are the same, but do not be too low, or else you need to be behind the longer stirring time. Pour the sodium hydroxide solution slowly and evenly into the oil container, while pouring and stirring slowly, you will find that the turbidity of the oil has changed. When measuring the temperature, there is a key point, that is, the thermometer should be placed in the center of the liquid to measure, rather than throwing the thermometer into the pot directly read the thermometer's scale, in addition to stirring a few times (note; do not use the thermometer as a stirring rod, lest accidentally interrupted to deal with the aftermath of the problem will be very troublesome), so as to measure out the temperature more accurately. Be careful not to let the sodium hydroxide solution splash out on the skin, if there is stained to rinse immediately. So be sure to do all the work in advance to protect ah, the process should also be careful! 6. Stirring: Stirring is an important task in order to mix the sodium hydroxide solution and grease completely. Method: 1) use a mixer, such as a rubber spatula, whisk, or stainless steel rod, etc. can be, Zixin used a 24-centimeter rubber spatula, more smooth. Rubber spatula picture I put in the album for your reference. The key is that the material must be not corroded by alkali on it. If you have a stainless steel electric stirrer, of course you can save some effort, but manual stirring is essential. Only manual mixing can be all the lye and grease fully mixed, and keep track of the progress, not over-mixing. So you can stir manually for a while, and then use the electric mixer and manual stirring for 5 seconds each, almost trace when the manual stirring. 2) When using the electric mixer be very careful to place the front of the mixer completely under the liquid surface of the soap so as not to cause the soap to splash out and cause injury. 3) Continuous stirring until the soap is well mixed, the rubber spatula can be used to draw a clear figure 8 on the soap, and will not disappear immediately when it is good. 7. additives: add ingredients are generally added after trace, Zixin said the general Oh, because the soap soap is too many changes, so do different soaps may have different processes it. Color: like environmental protection and natural health friends will choose to use natural colors, such as plant leaves, flowers and so on. However, natural colors do fade. If you want long-lasting bright and beautiful colors, you'll most likely have to add coloring. It's up to your friends to decide on their own preferences. Scent: As mentioned in Why make handmade soap, you can add essential oils or flavors, just like coloring, flavors can give out a long-lasting scent, but after all, they are not natural. Essential oils are natural, but will evaporate, so even if a certain percentage of essential oils added to the handmade soap, after a period of time, the vast majority of the flavor is still evaporated, of course, in addition to essential oils, there are other effects, different essential oils have different roles, these ingredients will still be retained. Other additives: such as flowers and herbs, fruits and vegetables, stone clay, powdered functional additives, etc., according to your expectations of the role of the soap soap to add. Don't expect one soap to have multiple functions. It's not a good idea to have a lot of different things. Still need to specialize to be more effective. SF: Soap has a superfatting saying, referred to as SF. The main role of the soap is more moisturizing soap. The main function is to make the soap more moisturizing. Generally, there are different practices of reducing lye and adding oil. Lye reduction is to deduct about 5% of the amount of lye that should be used in the recipe, so that after the final reaction the oils don't have enough lye to work and stay and play their role. Oil-adding refers to making the soap in the normal proportions, but then adding 5% or so of certain oils of your choice to the trace, which does not have the lye to react with, so its effects can be left in the soap. There are soap makers who use both methods, and they each feel good about it. Zixin also do not want to evaluate which one is better, friends to choose their own preference. 8. into the mold: mold is generally plastic or silicone, silicone touch will be better, but the price is more expensive, you can also buy your own silicone back to do your own mold. Here we do not discuss how to make silicone molds. Zixin usually use ready-made plastic molds, such as mooncake boxes, yogurt cups and so on everything suitable for the east. I have also used paper yogurt cups, because using castor oil to make soap will be very difficult to release the mold, so I specifically used paper yogurt cups, remembering the words of a soap enthusiast: "It is not yet out of the mold I will destroy it!" Oh. Whatever you choose to make molds, make sure it's easy to get out of the mold, such as thinner walled and softer. Mold brushing with oil will help. Be careful when pouring the soap and pour slowly to avoid soap runoff. Finally, use a rubber spatula to scrape any residual soap that sticks to the walls of the pan into the mold. Ideally, you can cover the mold or seal it with plastic wrap and keep the soap warm with a towel, blanket, quilt, or whatever. It doesn't matter if you don't do this though. It just may be easy to produce soap powder, but this is normal and will not have any effect on the soap, do not worry. Into the mold of the action is completed, you can begin to clean up the mess, some of the utensils clean, in order not to hurt the hands of the jade, the washing is best to wear gloves. Zixin preferred to first set up a few days, so that the equipment attached to the soap completely saponified and then add water to heat, a pot of soap water to clean the equipment used. Because the alkalinity is still high, you can also end up washing the sink and so on, the effect is quite good. I often wash all the sinks in the house a few days after I make soap, so my family says that they support me in making soap because of this, haha. However, no matter when you wash, you should always clean up the area immediately after the soap is molded so that it doesn't interfere with other things and other people. 9. Forming, demolding, cutting: Generally 24 hours can be out of the mold, some soaps need to be a little longer, such as castor oil soap needs at least 48 hours, put a little longer also does not matter. Be careful not to put it where children can get it. If you gently press the surface of the soap with your hand, you can snap it out of the mold if it's about the same softness as Cheese. If it is still soft, don't worry, let it sit for a few more days. If you can't get it out of the mold, put it in the freezer for a few hours and then take it out of the freezer, it's usually easier. If it doesn't work, take it out of the freezer and flush hot water from the bottom of the mold, and it should snap out easily. If this doesn't work, you'll have to break the mold. After the mold is removed, the soap can be cut in 1 to 2 days. If you want to cut it beautifully, you have to measure the thickness of the cut with a ruler and use a knife to mark the cut. If you use a smaller mold, you do not need to cut soap. A thin knife is better for cutting soap, it's easy to cut and doesn't affect the soap. Zixin use this knife is really very thin, very easy to use, Zixin still have more of these knives, if any friends want, you can also reply to me in the log below. It's still best to wear gloves when cutting the soap because the lye value shouldn't have come down yet. After cutting the soap into cubes, put it in a cool, dry and ventilated place and wait for the soap to mature. The general situation is like 4 weeks, but some special soap, such as castor oil soap may need eight weeks time it, must have patience oh! After the maturation period can be used ah! Because there is no added stabilizers and other chemical ingredients, so the mature soap soap as soon as possible, under normal circumstances, handmade soap can be stored for a year, the best place to store in a dry and ventilated place.