Auntie Clara’s

All soap is made with two ingredients: oil (fatty acids) and lye (sodium hydroxide or potassium hydroxide in a solution with water). Lye on its own is a harsh, caustic and highly corrosive compound, but when lye and oils are combined a chemical reaction called saponification occurs. In the reaction oil and lye are spent and the outcome is soap and glycerine. This means that even though lye is used as an ingredient in soap, it does not remain in the final product.
All soap is made like this. If a product is not made from oil and lye it is not, by definition, soap.

Handcrafted soap is made by an artisan soapmaker, often in small batches with a stickblender and a scale being the only electrical appliances used in the process. The soap is typically cast in larger moulds where it sets up and becomes firm. It is then cut into individual size bars which are placed on a curing rack for the following 4-6 weeks. During the curing time water evaporates from the soap making it harder and longer lasting. The lather and general feel of the soap also improve with cure.
From weighing out oils to handing the wrapped and labelled bar to the customer, each of our soaps goes through a process of at least 15 operations – all done by hand.
One of the main differences between industrially manufactured soap and handcrafted soap is the glycerine content. In industrial soapmaking the glycerine is removed. This makes the soap hard and long-lasting but it also means that the skin conditioning benefits of the glycerine are lost. Industrial ‘glycerine soap’ is made like any other industrial soap, but at the end of the process glycerine is added back to the soap – together with copious amounts of alcohol for a transparent look. In handcrafted soap all the glycerine is retained making for a gentle, conditioning product without additional alcohol.
Well-made handcrafted soap is formulated with a specific purpose in mind. Different oils, amount of superfat and additives all bring different characteristics to soap and the artisan soapmaker will compose a blend of oils and additives suited for the intended use. Bath and toilet soap is formulated to be mild and conditioning for the skin whereas laundry or cleaning soap is formulated to effectively remove oil, dirt and stains. The formula for a baby soap will be quite different from the formula for a mechanics hand soap etc. Because handcrafted soap can be made in small batches it is also possible to custom formulate the soap to meet the specific needs and preferences of an individual user.

 

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