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About four years ago, I read a blog post about cold processed soap and I thought it was interesting. At the time it wasn’t even on my radar to give it a try. I was starting to learn about melt and pour soap, a pre-made soap base you can melt down, add color and scent, and mold as desired.
I spent around a year and a half experimenting with melt and pour soap. As I started to do more research, I came across some cold processed soap tutorials and thought it looked pretty cool. The main thing holding me back was the 6 week cure time. Who wants to make something, then wait six weeks to use it?
It turns out, the soap is worth the wait.
I finally ordered some sodium hydroxide (lye) online, along with a few other oils to experiment with. My first batch of soap included leftover bacon grease, olive oil, and castor oil. I poured the mixture into a tupperware container and let it sit overnight. The next day I cut the soap into bars and tried a small sliver to see if it “worked.” After six weeks, I used one bar, then saved the rest. I still have one in my soap supply room!
I thought I would make a couple batches of cold processed soap, then go back to melt and pour, but I quickly fell in love with making my own soap from scratch.
The process:
