Following my post on Melt and Pour (MP) soap making, I tried to make cold processed soap during another visit to Soap Ministry--this time at its outlet at Pioneer Point. As previously mentioned in my previous post on Soap Ministry, the cold process is a method of soap making where soap is made from its primary ingredients of oils (fats) and lye (sodium hydroxide).
Soap Ministry currently offers various Cold Process (CP) soap making workshops, such as:
Level 1: Gardener's Hand CP Soap (SGD$110)
Level 2: Facial Treatment CP Soap (SGD$180)
Level 3: Body Treatment CP Soap (SGD$180)
Level 4: Basic Layering CP Soap (SGD$180)
Level 5: French Olive Castile CP Soap (SGD$180)
Level 6: Basic Swirl CP Soap (SGD$180)
Level 7: Breast Milk or Milk CP Soap (SDG$200)
For me, I got the Level 1 and 2 workshops, with the basic swirls technique class (Level 6) weaved into my Level 2 workshop. The two workshops took around 4 hours in total. Both workshops include: Coaching fees, theory notes on soap making, (soap) formula calculation sheet, and all the ingredients required for the session.
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| My handmade Gardener's Hand Soap (Level 1). |
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| My handmade Facial Treatment Soap (Level 2), with Basic Swirl (Level 6) |
Prior to the Cold Processed Soap workshops, there were certain safety precautions that have to be done before we even start. As the Cold Processed soap workshop involves the use of lye solution (sodium hydroxide), which is corrosive in nature, one had to wear gloves, masks and safety goggles to prevent any contact with lye.
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| Safety Measures! :D |
You could see me looking all geared up. :P
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| Me with goggles, gloves and mask. :D Very safe indeed. |
With the safety precautions in place, I started with my Level 1 workshop--making a block of Gardener's Hand CP soap (1kg, approximately 12 pieces of soaps). My teacher-of-the-day was Kerry. Following Maria, she's yet another skilled soap crafter in Soap Ministry. And of course, one who is very insistent in ensuring the safety of her students! :D
The Gardener's Hand CP soap that I made for my Level 1 workshop was the Coffee Soap, a type of family soap that has strong cleaning ability. For my Level 1 workshops, the soap making 'recipe' was given to me, and thus the amount of lye solution, fats and essential oils were all pre-calculated. All I had to do was to prepare the oils (fats), essential oils and lye, before mixing them up together.
So step one: Preparing the oil mixture. The oils that I used for the Coffee soap were Castor oil, Coconut oil, Palm oil and Olive oil. :D One interesting fun-fact to note from the oils is that they were all derived from natural plant sources, which meant that it was animal-friendly! :D
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| Oils galore! :D |
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| Pouring the oils into a big mixing jug. :D |
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| Tada! All the oils are poured in! :D |
Then step two: preparing essential oils. The essential oils I used were tea tree and lime. As shared by Kerry, tea tree oil can help kill germs, increasing the cleaning properties of the soap! :D On top of the essential oils, I was told to prepare some coffee powder for the coffee soap! :D
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| Tea tree and Lime essential oils for my soap! :D |
Step three: Preparing the lye solution. The lye solution was made from caustic soda and water. Small amounts of caustic soda and were added to water each time, and were allowed to dissolve before more caustic soda is added. In my case, I took around 10-15 minutes to dissolve all of my caustic soda. Quite a tedious but rewarding task. Kudos to the skilled soap makers in Soap Ministry who repeats the process on a daily basis! :D
(Word of caution, do not add a lot of caustic soda at one go, as caustic soda and water reacts rigorously, producing massive heat. In addition, as told by my teacher Kerry, one must not add water to caustic soda, as that could cause a very rigorous reaction as well.)
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| Caustic soda used to form lye solution. :) |
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| Mixing caustic soda with water. :D |
Step four: mixing the oils (fats) and the lye solution. This is the most tiring and tedious part of the entire workshop. Firstly, before I could add the lye to the fats, I had to ensure that both the fat and lye solutions/mixture are both at the optimal temperatures of 40-45 degrees Celcius. This means that I have to heat or cool the lye solution and the oil mixture before I could mix them! :D Spent quite some time doing repeated rounds of heating and cooling before the optimum temperature is reached. :D
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| Cooling my lye solution. :) |
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| Briefly heating up my oil (fats) mixture. |
After getting the oil (fats) and lye solution to the optimal temperature, I thought everything was done. But not quite so! :D More work ahead! I have to mix the oil-lye mixture together, manually and consistently, for 20 minutes. :D This hand mixing process will increase the viscousity of the oil(fat)-lye mixture such that a trace-like texture is achieved.
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| My oil-lye mixture prior to hand mixing. |
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| Mixing my oil-lye mixture by hand. :) |
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| Trace-like texture achieved! :D |
After achieving the trace-like texture, the essential oils and coffee powder are added in, and are mixed and stirred again for 5 minutes--this time with a mixer. While you could be curious about the need for hand mixing when the mixture is mixed with a mixer at the later step, I was told that the hand mixing step will increase the smoothness of the soap. :D
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| Adding in my coffee powder. :D |
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| Stirring and mixing the oil-lye mixture again, now with a mixer! :D |
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| Mixing in action! :D |
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| My teacher, Kerry helping me with the mixing. :) |
Once the mixing is completed, the now-ready soap mixture is poured into a block mold, covered with a plastic cover, wrapped in towels and kept in a covered styrofoam box. This is to allow saponification, a reaction that forms soap molecules when lye reacts with oils(fats), to take place.
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| Pouring my now completed soap mixture into a block mold. :D |
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| Tapping to ensure that the soap surface is flat and smooth! :D |
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| Putting my block of soap mixturre in a styrofoam box, and covering it with towels. |
Then my Gardener's CP soap is completed! :D And I proceeded on with my Level 2 workshop--making a block of Facial Treatment CP soap (1kg). Level 2 was very different as compared to the Level 1 workshop. Apart from preparing the oils (fats), essential oils, and mixing everything up, the Level 2 workshop allows one to customise the different types of oils, essential oils and herbs for your very own Facial Treatment CP soap. :D This seems so interesting and I was really excited as a first timer! :D
So before I got started with any hands on stuff, I sat down with Kerry to work out the types and amounts of oils, and essential oils I want to use for my soap. With more than 20 types of oil to choose from, I was certainly spoilt for choice. I settled with 20% Coconut oil, 10% Palm oil, 20% Olive oil, 20% Sweet almond oil, 10% Grapeseed oil and 20% Hazelnut oil. :) In addition, I also fixed on using bamboo charcoal as my choice of herb, and tea tree, lavender and peppermint as the essential oils for my soap.
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| Calculating the amount of oil and lye needed for my block of soap! :D |
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| Bamboo Charcoal Powder. :D |
With the percentage composition of oils in place, both Kerry and I started calculating the amount (by weight) of oils needed, and the relative amount of lye solution needed for each of the oils. After all the calculations are done, the process of CP soap making (ie. adding the oils and lye, mixing the oil-lye mixture) is repeated.
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| The oils I used for my Facial Treatment CP soap. |
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| My choice of essential oils for Facial Treatment CP soap--Tea Tree, Lavender and Peppermint) |
However, after mixing the oil-lye mixture, I got to split my mixture into two portions in preparation of my basic swirl lesson. Bamboo charcoal was added into one of the portions to create a black colour mixture, while the other portion was kept untouched.
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| Splitting my oil-lye mixture into two portions: one with bamboo charcoal, and one without. :D |
I also got to split my soap mold into three different portions using plastic separaters. :D What's going to happen next? Suspense suspense...
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| Splitting my mold into three portions. :D |
Well, I filled up the middle portion of my mold with the cream coloured soap mixture (i.e. the one left untouched), and remaining portions of the mold with the black coloured soap mixture. :D
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| Pouring the mixtures into the mold. |
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| Kerry helping me to pour some of the remaining soap mixture. :D |
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| Kerry helping me to pour some of the remaining soap mixture. :D |
Once the mold is completely filled up with soap mixtures, plastic separaters were lifted. And Kerry started teaching me how to do basic swirling on my soap mixture. Swirling is actually simpler that what I thought, and it was absolutely something everyone can do! :D Contrary to the conventional 'swirling' in latte art, the swirling in soap art requires just a glass rod. One can achieve the swirling effect by just moving the glass rod in a zig-zag motion, across the three separated portions of soap mixtures. Then, tada, it's done! :D
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| Swirling in action! :D |
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| Swirling in action! :D |
After much hard work, here's the final product! :D The Facial Treatment CP soap will be kept in a styrofoam box for two days for saponification. After saponification, the soap will be removed from its mold, and cut into pieces, and placed in a ventilated area for a 4-6 week long curing process. Curing is a process where excess alkali (lye) present in newly-made soaps evaporate, lowering their pH, thus making them safe for usage. While commercial soap companies use chemicals to lower shorten the curing process, Soap Ministry insists on using the more traditional, chemical-free curing process. :D
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| My completed Facial Treatment CP Soap. :D |
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| My completed Facial Treatment CP Soap. :D |
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[Conclusion] Had a really nice day at Soap Ministry learning about cold process soap making. Didn't realise that there were so many steps, calculations and hard work behind making soaps. Will be more appreciative of handmade soaps from now on. A lot of details are involved in making just a bar of soap. The experience was truly eye opening, and I would recommend everyone to try out. :D Apart from the Level 1 and 2 workshops which I've tried, the Level 7 (Breast Milk CP Soap) seems interesting, and perhaps mothers can try it out too! :D Thank you Soap Ministry for planning this session for me and enriching my knowledge on soap making. It was a very informative session. :D
Note: Cold Process soap making sessions are only available at Soap Ministry Pioneer Point. For safety reasons, the minimum age required to attend the workshops is 16 years old.
[Soap Ministry Pioneer Point]
5 Soon Lee Street
#01-55 Pioneer Point
[Telephone]: 6465 9098
[Opening Hours]: 9am-6pm
[Soap Ministry Liang Court]
177 River Valley Road
#02-33A
[Telephone]:9669 5953/6634 1920
[Opening Hours]:10am-9pm daily
Website: http://www.soapministry.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SoapMinistrySG/timeline
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