How to make soap (Effortless Ways)

Soap is something we use every day. It comes in so many different sizes, smells, types, shapes, etc.

Every person stocks up on these as they are used in so many different aspects of our life.

We use soaps for cleaning ourselves, for washing dishes, for wiping floors and so much more.

How are these bubbly wonders created and how do they have the property of making things shiny as new?

What is soap?

Before we dip our feet into how they are made, let us first go through what is a bar of soap. 

The scientific definition of soap is “A substance used with water for washing and cleaning, made of a compound of natural oils or fats with sodium hydroxide or another strong alkali, and typically having perfume and coloring added”.

There are many different kinds of soap that we found around us.

How is soap made?

The method of soap making is a very detailed and structured process that must be followed for the optimum result.

For the best understanding of this, we can divide two significant methods of soap making.

First, we will focus on how soaps are made in factories.

We can break down the steps involved in the following way:

Raw materials:

Soap requires two major raw materials: fat and alkali are the major raw materials of soap.

The most commonly used alkali used today is sodium hydroxide. Another option for the same is Potassium hydroxide.

Potassium-based soap creates a more water-soluble product than sodium-based soap, and so it is called "soft soap."

These are used commonly for shaving products.

Earlier animal fats used to be directly obtained from slaughterhouses.

Now fats are processed from fatty acids.

This eliminates many impurities, and it produces as byproduct water instead of glycerin.

Vegetable fats such as olive oil, palm kernel oil, and coconut oil, are also used in soap making.

On top of all, additives are normally used to enhance the color, texture, and scent of soap.

Many kinds of fragrances and perfumes are added to the soap mixture to cover the odor of dirt and to leave behind a fresh-smelling scent.

Abrasives to enhance the texture of soap include talc, silica, and marble pumice (volcanic ash).

When soaps are made without the addition of any dye their color tends to be a dull grey or brown. 

In factories, there are two possible ways in which soap can be made.

KETTLE PROCESS

1. Boiling

The first step is to melt the fats and alkali in a metal kettle.

This metal kettle is a steel tank that is normally around three stories tall and can golf several thousand pounds of material.

The steam coils inside the kettle heat the batch which brings the whole thing to a boil.

After this step, the mass ends up thickening as the fat reacts with the alkali, producing soap and glycerin.

2. Salting

The two substances: soap and glycerin can be separated.

This is further treated by salt, which leads to the soap rising to the top as the glycerin settles to the bottom.

Following this, the glycerin is separated from the bottom of the kettle. 

3. Strong change

The parts that have not been saponified need to be removed.

This is done by adding a strong caustic solution which is added to the kettle.

The mass is boiled again so that the last of the fat turns to soap. 

4. Pitching

After all of this, the soap is boiled in the kettle along with water.

The mass eventually separates into two layers.

The top layer is called "neat soap," which is about 70% soap and 30% water.

The lower layer, called "nigre," contains most of the impurities in the soap such as dirt and salt, as well as most of the water.

The soap is called after the neat layer is skimmed off the top.

THE CONTINUOUS PROCESS

1. Splitting

A vertical stainless steel column called hydrolyzed is used to split natural fats into fatty acids. diameter of a barrel called a hydrolyzed.

Molten fat is pumped into one end of the column, while at the other end water at high temperature (266°F [130°C]) and pressure are introduced.

These high temperatures split fat into fatty acids and glycerin.

The fatty acids are then distilled for purification.

2. Mixing

This purified fat is mixed with precise amounts of alkali to form soap.

At this stage abrasives and fragrances can also be incorporated.

The hot liquid soap may then be whipped to incorporate air.

3. Cooling and finishing

The soap is cooled by pouring it into molds.

It is allowed to harden into either larger slabs or cut into smaller bar sizes after cooling it in special freezers.

The bar soaps are stamped and wrapped. 

4. Milling

Most toiletry soap undergoes additional processing called milling which makes the soap smoother, with a finer consistency, and makes them bars that lather very heavily.

After the soap emerges from the mills, it is pressed into a smooth cylinder and extruded.

The extruded soap is cut into bar size, stamped, and wrapped.

At home, all these steps can be minimized from an industrial level to a domestic level.

People have quite passionately started making soaps at home while expressing extreme creativity.

With different smells and shapes, soaps are a necessity and luxury good that can be used in so many ways.