to download a PDF of the page below.

DO IT YOURSELF
In the Summer
2014/15 issue of
Platteland…
we introduce you to
six entrepreneurs who
make soap for a living.
Two copies of Bev’s
book are also up for
grabs. This issue will be
available countrywide
from 1 December 2014,
or order it at
go-southernafrica.
com and click on “Shop”.
Make your own
COLD-PROCESS
SOAP
Follow these step-bystep instructions from
Bev Missing’s book The
Rain Book of Natural
Soap Making to make
approximately 1kg of basic
all-purpose soap at home.
You can also go to
rainafrica.com/tutorials
to watch a step-by-step
video for beginners.
Get ready
SHOPPING LIST
• 300g coconut oil
• 600g olive oil
• 80g castor oil
• 141g caustic soda/lye (sodium hydroxide)
• 352g distilled water
TOOLS
• glass mixing jugs or plastic buckets
• accurate scale
• gloves
• goggles
• facemask
• thermometer
• stainless steel pot – never use an
aluminium or cast-iron pot
• fragrance, essential oils and additives
of your choice
• rubber spatula or wooden spoon
• stick blender
• soap mould(s) >
This is how
caustic soda as it can cause an eruption and
burn you. You now have a lye solution that is
instantly hot and has to cool before you add
it to the oils.
1
9
A Place a glass mixing jug or plastic bucket
onto the scale.
reads zero.
1
Tare the scale so that it
6
E Place the thermometer into this container
and leave it there until the temperature drops
to around 45°C. 6 While you wait, start on the
oils. (You can temporarily remove your gloves,
goggles and mask.)
2
B Don gloves, goggles and face mask, then
weigh out and set aside 141g of caustic soda–
accuracy is very important. 2
10
H Place the pot of oils and butters onto a
low heat (or heat it in the microwave) to gently
but fully melt all the fats together. 9 The
oil temperature should be rising to meet the
falling temperature of the lye solution. The lye
solution and oils should both be around 3035°C when you combine them. 10 When the
temperatures reach this zone, don your safety
goggles, gloves and mask.
7
3
11
C Place another glass or plastic jug onto
the scale, make sure the scale reads zero and
weigh out the water or liquid portion of your
recipe – 352g. 3 Set aside.
4
5
D In a well-ventilated room or outside, add
caustic soda to the water and stir untill the
crystals have dissolved. 4 The liquid turns
milky, gets hot and starts to steam. Avoid
inhaling these fumes. 5 Never add water to
8
3
F Place a bowl onto the scale, check that it
reads zero, then weigh out the oils and butters
in any order – keep a calculator handy to add
the weights of each oil as you go, and work
with an accumulative total. 7 Otherwise you
can weigh each one in a separate dish and add
them all to the pot at the end. Put all oil and
butter into a stainless steel pot.
G Weigh or measure out the fragrances,
essential oils and additives you wish to use and
set aside. 38 Normally these are added after
trace (read more about this in “What is trace?”
on the next page), but there are exceptions.
I Using a rubber spatula or wooden
spoon, gently pour the lye solution into the oil
mixture, stirring all the time until thoroughly
combined. 11 Be careful of splashing – this is
when you may get lye solution in your eyes.
12
J Now take the stick blender, submerge
it into the mixture and only then switch it on,
otherwise you will splash. 12 >
DO IT YOURSELF
Move it around the pot to make sure you get
thorough coverage. When the oils no longer
rise to the surface and the mixture seems to be
one constant colour, the water and oils have
emulsified. This stage comes before trace.
for adding colour, then fragrance, and then
pouring into moulds. The thinner the trace,
the more time you buy to play with any
fancy techniques. 14
16
13
14
K Continue blending until the soap starts
to thicken slightly – you are nearing trace.
13 Slow down the blender so that the soap
does not thicken too quickly. Keep checking
for signs of trace. Thin trace is good enough
WHAT IS TRACE?
An important concept to understand
when you make soap is that of “trace”.
You have achieved “trace” when you
reach the critical point at which a soap
mixture thickens enough to leave a
little pathway across its surface when
you dribble the liquid from the stick
blender or spoon. If it momentarily sits
there like a spidery line (a bit like instant
pudding), your soap has reached trace.
This is a most important stage in the
soap-making process. View the soap
in good light and at varying angles
to be sure that you can see this line
forming. Initially you have what is called
a thin trace, when the mixture has the
consistency of pancake batter. Medium
trace is a thicker consistency, almost
like cake batter, and heavy trace means
you had better get the soap into the
moulds quickly. If the consistency is too
thin, you may have had what we call
false trace and your soap will not set.
Experience will help you play with this
timing to your advantage.
15
L Heavy ingredients such as herbs, oats,
coffee or seeds will sink to the bottom of the
mould if added at thin trace. Keep blending
till you get a thicker trace (a bit like Taystee
Wheat porridge), then add colour, additives,
and lastly fragrance. Fragrance or essential oils
are left for last as essential oils often accelerate
trace, forcing you to get the batter into moulds
before colour or additives have made it into
the pot. 15
M Stir to mix well. You can do a last run with
the stick blender to make sure everything is
well combined.
N Pour the batter into the mould – keeping
your gloves and goggles on. 16 Avoid
splashing the mixture as it is still very caustic at
this point. Neaten the surface of the soap and
wipe away any spills.
O Cover the mould
with a lid, a piece of
17
cardboard, a chopping
board or tea tray 17
and wrap with an old
towel or blanket to keep
warm. Keeping the mixture
warm helps the gelling phase take place. The
exception to this is honey or milk-based soap
– they will curdle with the extra heat. Leave
overnight, and with some oil combinations
and depending on the weather, 12-24 hours.
18
P Remove the blanket and unmould the
soap. 18 Measure and cut into slices, or use a
soap or cheese cutter. Trim. Stack soap slices
onto a drying rack or shelf with good air
circulation and leave 4-6 weeks to cure.
The Rain Book of Natural Soap Making costs R220 and is published by Metz Press
metzpress.co.za 021 913 7557

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