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Our soaps are made using a process called the Hot Process
Crock Pot Method. Most soapmakers use the Cold Process Method, which requires the soap to 'cure' for one month.
In order to speed this process, we prefer to fully cook our soap, to ensure there are no traces of lye left in
the soap. This allows us to cut, wrap, and ship our bars weeks earlier than most. This also gives our bars
a very unique texture.
This process starts with the melting of fruit and vegetable
oils and butters in a 5-quart crock pot. While the oils and butters melt, lye is added to water in a large bowl.
This is needed to 'saponify' the oils, in other words, make soap! Lye is necessary and soap is not made without
it. However, once the cooking of the soap is completely, as mentioned above, the lye is no longer present - therefore,
no chemicals are present either. Once the oils and butters have been completely melted to a liquid form, the lye bath
is carefully stirred in. We then use a hand blender to bring the mixture to 'trace', which simply means the mixture
is thick enough to leave traces on the top when the blender is lifted out of the mixture.
Now we place the lid on the crock pot and allow the mixture
to cook for approximately 30 minutes. The mixture then goes through three stages; The first looks like applesauce; The
second looks like thin, watery mashed potatoes; And the third looks like thick, fluffy mashed potatoes. At this
final stage, we test the batch to make sure the soap is fully cooked and no lye is present. Once this is determined,
we add the necessary additives, such as ground flowers, herbs or oatmeal, and/or essential oils. The mixture is
now poured into a wooden mold and allow it to cool for 12 hours. We then take the soap 'log' out of the mold and
hand slice the individual bars.
Because we cut each bar by hand, no two are identical,
and weight can vary slightly, but typically range between a very generous 5 - 5.5 oz. each.
Chamomile
Eucalyptus
Mint
Grapefruit
Lavender
Lemongrass & Oatmeal
Mint Oatmeal
Patchouli
Sweet Orange
Tea
Tree
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