MAKING SOAP

Ingredients:

• 6 lb. shortening, or lard (animal fat). A combination of both may be used.

• 1 12 oz. can of Lye

• 5 cups COLD Water Makes 9 lbs. soap, approx. 40 - 50 bars.

CAUTION: Only make soap in a well ventilated area, outside if possible. Wear goggles, and rubber gloves while making soap.

Dissolve lye in the water in a stainless steel pot. Stir until dissolved with a stainless steel, or wooden spoon.. Note: you cannot use a plastic container, because it will melt. Any other metal besides stainless steel will corrode from the lye.

Add shortening to the water and lye mixture, and stir. Mixture will become very hot while mixing, and give off steam.

If you want scented soap, add 2 tsp. perfume, or scented oils, at this time, while the soap is easy to stir.

If you don’t add any coloring, the natural color will turn out beige. Food coloring may be added to color to your taste. You may have to continue adding coloring as the soap mixture goes through the chemical reaction, as the color will continue to change.

For a greater scrubbing action, you can add 1/2 cup sand, or oatmeal to your soap mixture.

If you would like increased sudsing action, add 3 tablespoons of 20 Mule Team Borax ®.

Stir mixture until a metal spoon can stand up straight in the bowl by itself, will require about 10 minutes of mixing (warning: as the soap thickens, you can wear out several pairs of arms mixing it).

Pour into mold to cure. Since the chemical reaction has finished by this time, your mold can be of any material. A 10” × 16” × 2” cardboard box lined with saran wrap makes a good mold.

Allow to sit for 1-2 days before cutting into bars. If you are going to wrap it, wait an additional 1-2 days before wrapping. Soap will not get fully hardened for about 2 weeks.

EXPLAINING THE CHEMICAL REACTION

The chemical reaction that makes soap is called saponification (sa - po - ni - fi - ca - tion). Actually, the chemical reaction is quite different than it appears. Instead of the lye mixing with the fat, the lye acts as a catalyst to break down the grease.

Simple fats consist of two components. The first of these is amino acids, the same thing that proteins are made of. This is why your body stores excess energy as fats. The amino acids can be used to make proteins, the basic building blocks of muscle and other tissue. Or, the amino acids can be further broken down into simple sugars, and used as energy in our bodies. In addition to the amino acids, fats also contain glycerols.

First of all, the Lye reacts with the grease, causing heat. This heat is needed to help bring about the rest of the chemical reaction. Secondly, the Lye starts breaking down the fat, into it’s two basic components, amino acids and glycerols. The cold water that we added acts as a solvent for these components.

Once the fat is broken down, the next phase of the reaction takes place. Amino acids, lye, and glycerols reform to make the actual soap.

After this, the only thing left is for the soap to solidify. The water that was added as a solvent evaporates, leaving a solid bar of soap.