Whatever you are doing, the most important thing to remember is not to overheat your soap base. You need only heat it until it melts and no further (exceptions to this rule are the Natural or Organic bases which should be heated to 75degC to avoid 'blooming' in the finished soaps). Cutting the soap base into small chunks will help this, especially if using a microwave, although small chunks will melt far easier with any method used, so it's worth the time in doing this. Tip... To avoid 'bleeding' of colours into each-other, use a 'pigments' rather than dyes. Pigments have a larger particle size and are generally not water soluble, so will not bleed their colour. Alternatively, choose a specific colouring system like Zenicolour 5, made for the purpose. Clean-up is easy. (After all, it’s just soap you’re cleaning off your supplies.) Just soak the molds in hot water, rinse and dry well.

It’s important to understand that all handmade soaps contain natural glycerin. Glycerin is a byproduct of the saponification process, which is the chemical reaction that occurs when oils or fats combine with an alkali, such as lye, to create soap. So, technically speaking, any handmade soap is, in fact, glycerin soap. What sets apart the soaps we commonly refer to as glycerin soap is the addition of extra liquid glycerin and solvents. And, obviously, being transparent. By now most of you know I’m a soap maker. I have a small business that makes more than 400 bars a month and it’s still growing. I sell a lot of soap at the tailgate markets in the summer and I always have people asking for a glycerin soap base. It’s still a common myth that glycerin soap is milder and better for you. That can be true in some cases, but when you hand-craft a good cold process bar of soap, it contains just about as much glycerin. Step 3– You don’t have to let it cool down. Pour the lye solution into your melted oils/glycerin and blend to trace. Step 4: Once my oils were melted I created the lye solution. I wanted it to be nice and hot. To make a lye solution weigh the water and sodium hydroxide into two separate containers. Pour the lye into the water and stir.Use your transparent soap as-is or use for embeds! Here is what mine looks like. Not perfect, but I love it!

Oils – You want to choose oils that are high in stearic acid and that have a low amount of unsaponifiables that can cloud your clear soap. You want to choose oils that are not yellow or green tinted…Harriet uses tallow, coconut, castor and rice bran. Because you do add lots of solvents (some with water), you want to use a high amount of hard oils to create a hard bar. I would shoot for 60%+ of tallow, lard, stearic acid or palm oil. I tried a few different blends. The more solvents I used, the more stearic acid/coconut oil I used. Joshua Zeichner, MD, is a board-certified dermatologist and the director of cosmetic and clinical research at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York, NY.Step 10– After two hours, test your soap for clarity. You can do this by pouring a bit of soap mixture onto a cold glass cup. When you first remove the press and seal, you’ll notice lots of foam. I simply sprayed with alcohol and it went away. Isopropyl – Isopropyl is also commonly called rubbing alcohol. It comes in different strengths, from 50%, 70% and 90%. Like I said, isopropyl doesn’t seem to be the best in transparent soap but it is cheaper than ethyl and does work. Use the highest strength that you can find. Step 9– Let the soap cook for 2 hours. During this time the solvents will work on dissolving the soap crystals that form, creating a clear soap. No need to stir.