Soap making recipe
All of us often wonder how the most common commodity used by us everday - soap is manufactured. It was in the 19th century that commercial production of soap began with the discovery of basic chemicals that could be used in bulk to mass produce cakes of soap.
The whole concept of making soap is quite simple. All it takes is a mixture of caustic soda and any oil like coconut oil to produce a cake of soap. The actual process of course needs to be controlled and monitored to produce soap that is usable.
The basic concept in soap making is that caustic soda (sodium hydroxide, called "lye") reacts with both oils and fats to make soap. This is called saponification.
There are three basic methods of making soap. When made at home, these cakes are rich in glycerin. Industrial processes remove the excess glycerin.
Cold Process Soap
This is the grandmother's soap recipe. The art of soap making involves using the right proportion of basic ingredients - lye (sodium hydroxide) and water with fatty acids. Approximate time for this is 6 weeks.
Cold process soap is normally hard and long lasting.
Melt and Pour Soap
The easiest and safest way to make soap at home is to buy melt and pour kits. As the name suggests, the various ingredients need to be melted and mixed in the prescribed proportions. Various colors, fragrances and other ingredients can be added as well.
Hot Process Soap Making
This is as simple as mixing all the ingredients and placing them in a container and then heated up to evaporate water and leave the soap solution behind. This cools off to become soap.
For more information visit:soap making recipe
The author is a freelance writer and associated with http://www.soap-making-recipe.info
Article Source: ArticlesBase.com - Soap making recipe