Since we are in the business of making hand-made soaps, many people have asked,
“Why Buy Hand-Made Soaps?”
For many people who are not into Artisanal, Hand-Crafted goods, the question is valid and I would like to take the opportunity to explain the reasons.
Soaps are made from fat (eg. tallow, coconut oil, olive oil, etc) and an alkali, usually Sodium Hydroxide (commonly known as lye). These two ingredients react together in a chemical process known as saponification.
Firstly, you need to know about cold-processed and hot-processed soap making.
Cold-Processed Soap Making.
This is typically the process used in making small batch hand-made soaps. The process involves mixing ingredients and allowing the reaction of saponification to occur at room temperature. It is important to note that the making of fine soap involves accurate measurements because it is a very exacting process; too much fat will produce rancid soap and too much alkali can cause skin irritation. Soap-making requires skill, practice and strict measuring.
In other words, you can’t Glug Glug!!
Cold-Processed soap results in a small excess of fat (this is called super-fatting). Also, the glycerin component of the soap remains (compare this to industrially made where all glycerin is extracted as a side product). For these reasons, hand-made soaps are more moisturising than shop bought soaps.
The other advantage of Hand-Made soaps is that the maker can choose the fats and oils according to the qualities that they wish to impart to the soap. For instance, we use coconut oil which allows a rich creamy lather and has characteristic emollient properties.
At this point, I would like to mention briefly that some “Artisanal Soaps” may be made from Melt and Pour Soap. I will go into more detail about this another time. For all intents and purposes, this is a commercially made soap which requires Melting and Pouring into moulds only. In other words, the soap has already been made…people are just re-pouring it. Therefore no soap-making skills are required in this process.
We make Cold-Processed Soap!!
Hot-Processed Soap Making.
This is the process of making your shop-bought soap which is sold by the millions or billions. The fat and lye are added together in extremely exacting amounts so there is no “super-fatting.” This is boiled and after saponification occurs, the excess fluid is drained off. This fluid contains all of the glycerin component which is extracted as another industrial raw material. So, at this point the soap can be rolled, pelletised and/or flaked so that they can be put into a machine that can make the bars.
Industrial soap does not have the extra fat and glycerin that a cold-processed soap contains.
So, the reason why you might choose to buy Hand-Made Soaps is to have the extra emollient qualities of the soap. You are also supporting an individual rather than an industry.
