Eva Antonel
A couple of weeks ago I made soap, not
because the family needed to wash but
because I wanted to give it a try. I blame this
new obsession on a bottle of orange essential
oil I purchased while on vacation. A quick
search on Google and I learned that essential
oils of all kinds are added to handmade soap
in order to infuse it with healing properties
as well as an aroma only Mother Nature could
have conceived.
Before the day was over I found myself
at Michael's roaming the aisles for anything
related to soap making. What I found wasn't
encouraging but allowed me to dabble in the
experience before deciding if a bar of Dove
really was better than anything I could create.
That night the family had a few bars of
Lavender Shea Butter and Orange Green Tea
soap to sample. Even though what I produced
could not be defined as handmade soap, it
proved to be the springboard to further
exploration.
For those interested in a craft that takes
only an hour to complete and results in a
product that is ready to lather, melt-and-pour
soap is the method of choice. Bricks of
ready-made soap are purchased and
fragrances or enhancers are added to make it
your own. Real soap making, however, can be
as complex as you desire. Like any art form,
it is a marriage of defined principles with
intuitive self-expression. Some rules apply
here as well. The quantity and types of fats
used dictate the amount of lye necessary to
saponify them. The temperature of the lye
solution needs to coincide with the
temperature of the fats before the two are
Click here to see
soap-making in
action
combined. When blending different fats, their
properties need to be kept in mind when
making the decision to use them. Do you
want the final product to be moisturizing or
clarifying? Do you want it to produce a thick
luxurious lather or do you prefer a less
lathering soap? Do you want a hard bar or a
softer one, one with a slippery feel or one that
you can hold on to? And that's only a
sampling of the considerations that need to
be kept in mind when designing a soap
recipe. Actual online calculators are available
to make this task easier.
Once the principles of soap making are
understood and relegated to memory, the
artisan aspect can come into play. Which oils
are used, in what proportions, whether they
are infused with herbs, flowers or spices, what
additives are used, which colorants, in what
combinations, the shapes of the molds and
the method the soap is poured are just some
of the aspects that make each bar unique.
Like a fingerprint left at the scene of a crime,
each handmade bar carries with it the
imprint of the creator. Whether that imprint
is a blessing or a liability only becomes
evident after several weeks of curing.
Being fortunate enough to live in a time
and place where the making of soap is an
artistic expression rather than a necessity
allows us to make bars of concentrated
indulgence scented with favourite childhood
memories that also happen to clean. In my
case, it gives me a chance to be creative in the
kitchen without having to deal with the
calories that usually accompany such
endeavours. While I await the results of my
handiwork, my family enjoys the aromas
emanating from the spare bedroom closet,
where the little treasures are incubating.
Wafts of orange, pink grapefruit, oatmeal and
honey and most recently, bergamot, lavender
and cypress accompany our days. The bar of
Dove has been relegated to the back of the
bathroom cupboard.
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September 2014 - The HUB 9