The Natural Soapmaking Handbook

Author: Tadiello, Marina and Garzena, Patrizia
Publisher: Demetra Publishing
Copyright: 2013
Number of Pages: 160
ISBN: 978-0-9874995-0-9
Price: $19.95

Starting with fundamental ingredients, additives, tools, equipment, safety precautions and workplace setup, the Handbook covers all modern handmade "paste" methods to manufacture as natural as possible, skin-soothing, eco-friendly, sustainable soaps.

Cold Process (CP), Discounted Water CP, No-Heat Applied CP, Hot Process (HP), Double Boiler HP, Oven HP, Crockpot HP, Microwave HP, CPOP (Cold Process Oven Process) and In The Mould HP are accurately illustrated in easy to follow step-by-step instructions.

Advanced techniques for specialty soaps range from liquid soapmaking to milk, butter and honey soap; from layered and swirled soaps to composite soaps and embeds.

Clear instructions for reclaiming, reshaping and rebatching all kinds of soap complement the authors' super-accurate troubleshooting guide to making the most of every batch.

As precious gems scattered along the book, you will be able to discover the truth on soda ash, lye-free soap and other common misconceptions in crisp "Soap myth buster" sections.

Table of Contents:

• Chapter 1: Soap and its bubbly world
• What is soap
• What soap is NOT
• What kind of soaper are you?
• Choosing a soapmaking method
• Chapter 2: The stuff soap is made of
• Meet the alkalis: NaOH and KOH (and ash)
• Fatty acids from fats and oils
• The solvents: water and other liquids
• Optional additives
• Shopping for soapmaking ingredients
• Chapter 3: Workplace safety and tools
• Safety considerations
• Tools of the trade
• Setting up your work area
• Chapter 4: Bar soap: Cold Process methods
• Basic Cold Process (CP) method
• Discounted Water Cold Process: DWCP
• No Heat applied Cold Process method
• Mixing temperatures
• Curing, storing, packaging
• Chapter 5: Bar soap: Hot Process methods
• Hot Process features at large
• Double Boiler Hot Process method: DBHP
• Oven Hot Process method: OHP
• Crock Pot Hot Process method: CPHP
• MicroWave Hot Process method: MWHP, MHP
• In The Mould HP, Cold Process Oven Process methods: ITMHP and CPOP
• Chapter 6: Bar soap: Special methods
• Milk and butter soap
• Transparent soap
• Layered soap
• Swirled soap
• Embeds and composite soaps
• Chapter 7: Liquid and whipped cream soap
• Liquid soap: Cold Process method
• Liquid soap: Hot Process method
• Whipped cream soap in summary
• Chapter 8: Rebatching, reshaping, reclaiming
• Hand-milling and rebatching
• Reshaping
• Reclaim, recycle and reuse
• Chapter 9: Troubleshooting problem soaps
• My soap did not come out as expected
• My soap mix does not trace
• My soap shows bright white, hard spots; or, my soap is brittle and crumbly; or, my soap has pockets containing a cloudy liquid
• How can I be sure my soap is not too caustic?
• My soap mix suddenly went too thick or too solid in the pot
• My soap is covered in a white, somewhat sticky, powdery film
• My soap does not come out of the mould
• My soap looks mottled or speckled
• My soap remains slimy, spongy and soft several days after pouring
• After 24 hours from pouring, my soap has an oily layer floating on top
• My soap, while or after curing, is covered in tiny droplets of water
• My soap mix looks lumpy
• The surface of my soap shows dark spots, softer to the touch than the rest of the soap
• My soap has dark brown spots and appears to be "sweating" dark droplets
• My soaps lose their scent
• Examples of visible problems
• Appendix