Whether you want to provide good-quality soap for your family and friends or create a small business, soap making is a fun hobby. Natural soap is made with lye and fat or oil. Not everyone wants to deal with using lye, which is very caustic, so many soap hobbyists use melt and pour soap, also called glycerin soap base.
Glycerin
Glycerin is a byproduct of the process of making soap. Lye reacts with fat in a chemical reaction that produces soap and glycerin. Although glycerin is separate from soap in the final product, it is still blended into the soap and requires a further process to extract the pure glycerin. Soap makers add salt to the liquid soap, which makes the soap curdle. Once the soap curds are removed from the mixture, what remains is glycerin, salt and any impurities that might be in the products used to make the soap. The glycerin is distilled to purify it.
Glycerin Uses
Glycerin is edible and slightly sweet, so it is used in food products to make them sweeter, smoother and thicker. It is used to make the explosive nitroglycerin, which is also used to treat angina pectoris, or chest pain. Glycerin is used in antifreeze, because it lowers the freezing temperature of water. Glycerin is a humectant and moisturizer and is used in cosmetics and personal products to moisturize and lubricate skin. Glycerin absorbs water, so on your skin it pulls water from cells and keeps your skin moisturized.
Use in Soap
Glycerin occurs naturally in the soap-making process. Soap manufacturers extract the glycerin and sell it separately in lotions and creams, which are more profitable than soap. Deglycerinized soap can be drying to your skin, so homemade soap is much better than many manufactured soaps because it contains glycerin and is naturally moisturizing and soothing to sensitive skin.
Glycerin Soap Base
Glycerin soap base, also called melt and pour soap base, is soap sold in large blocks to hobbyists and small businesses who use it to make their own soap bars. It is natural soap, so it is made from lye and fat or oil, often coconut oil. Sometimes additional glycerin has been added, to make a more luxurious soap. The downside is that the more glycerin used in the soap, the faster it melts when it comes in contact with water.
Melt and Pour Soap Base
Glycerin soap base melts easily. It is sold in two-pound blocks to hobbyists and in 50 pound blocks to small businesses. Cut it in cubes and melt it in your crock pot. Once it is fully melted, at about 160 degrees F, you can add fragrance, color, herbs, clay, flower petals, silk protein and many other additives to make a soap that is uniquely yours. Pour it into soap molds and allow it to harden before unmolding the soap. Allow it to air dry to make a harder soap, although you can begin to use it as soon as you unmold it.
References
- Pioneer Thinking: What is Glycerin?
- "Dermatol Clin"; Therapeutic moisturizers; Draelos ZD; Oct. 2000
- "Am J Clin Dermatol"; Role of topical emollients and moisturizers in the treatment of dry skin barrier disorders; Lodén M; 2003; 4(11):771-88.
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