Soap is made by mixing fats, oils, and a reactive agent. Read on to find out more about the most commonly used soap-making ingredients and how to find them.
This is particularly important if you are going to experiment with creating your own soap recipes. It is a good idea to gain at least a basic understanding of the common ingredients. And also some idea of how they react to each other!
In soap making, there are three main types of base ingredients. Reactive agents (the chemicals), carrier oils and fats, and water or milk. You do not need any additional ingredients if you are making a basic white soap.
But what if you want to add a fragrance or a colour?
Main Soap-Making Ingredients
Chemicals Used as Reactive Agents in Soap Making
The chemicals used in the soap-making process include caustic soda or sodium hydroxide, borax or sodium borate. KOH or Potassium hydroxide are used if you are making liquid soap.
Carrier Oils and Fats Used in Soap Making
You can use just about any type of fat or carrier oil for making your soap. Each oil has different properties. The quantities of water and chemicals will vary depending on the composition of your fat and oil base. So if you are going to mix and match your oils and fats to create different types of soap, make sure you check out your recipe with a lye calculator to make sure that you have got the proportions right.
The most common fats and oils (and the easiest to obtain) include Olive Oil, Lard, and Tallow.
Water Used in Soap Making
Although you can use mains water for making soap, for the best result it is generally better to use softer water like distilled water or rainwater. Distilled water can be purchased relatively cheaply from the cleaning aisle in your supermarket.
Additional Soap-Making Ingredients
Fragrances Used in Soap Making
Most soap makers use essential oils to add a fragrance to their soaps. Some use essential oils or fragrant oils that are commercially available. Yet others extract their own oils from aromatic plants in their own gardens.
Lavender is one of the most popular fragrances for handmade soaps. However, the range of fragrant oils that are readily available is quite extensive. So your options are quite variable.
Colour Additives Used in Soap Making
You have quite a few options for colouring your soap. You can source commercially prepared compounds. Or you can add natural ingredients with their own colour after your soap has been traced.
Base Ingredients for Melt and Pour Soaps
If you are not keen on making your soap from scratch, you can buy base ingredients for melt-and-pour soap instead.
Extra Ingredients Used in Soap Making
The possibilities for other ingredients for your soap are virtually endless. Depending on what you intend to use the soap for. You can add ingredients to create texture or to add interest, like oatmeal for example.
Or you could add natural clays to beauty soaps to change the moisturizing properties and add colour. Sand or other abrasives can be added to create a soap suitable for mechanics or gardeners. Adding grit to the soap can help to remove stubborn stains on the skin.
Solvents used for Transparent Soap Making
If you decide to experiment with Glycerine or Transparent soaps you are going to need to use a number of different solvents for your soap making. Typical solvents include alcohol (vodka or ethanol), glycerine, and sugar.
