How To Make Soap [PDF]

Zitiervorschau

SOAP-MAKING GUIDE ~ Body, House and Laundry soaps ~ Introduction

Soap is easy to make with a bit of help. Familiar oils can be used such as palm, coconut, shea, allanblackia and cocoa. The water used in soap manufacture can be infused with medicinal plants like moringa, even citrus peel or flowers to add fragrance. Additions such as honey, aloe and citrus juice all have beneficial properties. This guide presents succinctly the tool, steps and procedure for making soap. Also included are basic recipes for body, general use and laundry soaps.

~ Contents ~

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8.

Equipment Safety and Precautions Oils Caustic Soda Preparation Soap Making Recipes Moulds Labels

26-09-2013 par T Stanton-Kennedy

1. Equipment ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦

Pot for heating oil Filter for oil 2 tomato paste tins, clean and dry (approx 1/4 cup each) 1 plastic bottle that holds 1L 1 soup spoon 1 knife 1 small bowl or cup 2 plastic buckets 1 long wooden stick Latex gloves (or plastic bags to cover hands) Moulds (wooden, silicone or tetrapaks) 1 wooden or plastic spatula

Basic ingredients found in all soaps : ♦ Clean and filtered water ♦ Caustic soda (sometimes called > ) ♦ Filtered and pourable oil (warmed to the point it is fluid)

Cuso International 200-44 Eccles Street / Ottawa, Ontario, Canada K1R 6S4 www.cusointernational.org

Secrétariat du Réseau Africain de Forêts Modèles BP 33678 / Yaoundé, Cameroun Tél : +237-77696804 www.africanmodelforests.net

VSO Cameroon BP 25127 Messa / Yaoundé, Cameroun Tél : +237-22217607 www.vsointernational.org

2. Safety and Precautions

While making soap is simple, is can be dangerous if we do not take basic security precautions. 1. Always work in a well-ventilated and sheltered area to avoid toxic vapours from burning eyes and lungs.


ye protection atex gloves or plastic bags

2. Wear protective equipment : ♦ Glasses or goggles ♦ Face mask (like a scarf or surgical mask) ♦ Latex gloves ♦ Clothing that covers the length of your arms, legs and close-toed shoes

reathing protected by mask or scarf ong sleeves and covered legs

3. Never use any equipment made of aluminium if it will come in contact with the caustic soda.

eet protected by closedtoe shoes

4. Do not use soap-making equipment for any other purpose - especially the preparation of food. 5. The caustic soda is always added to water - never the reverse so as to avoid dangerous explosions.

Skin burns from caustic soda are very dangerous. Treatment : Rinse the area well with vinegar then follow with cold water. Repeat during 20 minutes.

6. Finished body soap must dry very well is a sheltered and protected area during minimum 4 weeks before use to ensure chemical burns do not occur. 3. Oils

Palm and coconut oils are naturally sudsing. Including them eliminates the need to buy and add an artificial sudsing agent. For all body soaps it is better to never use more the 75% refined palm oil as an ingredient as it can be very drying for the skin. As such, for a recipe requiring 1.5 L of oils one would not use more than 1 L of refined palm oil.

4. Caustic soda preparation

The caustic soda and water mixture should be prepared well in advance of the mixing with oil stage. If one wishes to make soap in the morning, the caustic soda solution should be prepared the night before. At least 12 hours should elapse to permit the solution to cool completely, which in turn will diminish the potential for burns. ♦ 3 full tomato tins of caustic soda (about 14 tbs or 200 mL) ♦ 1 L filtered water

The caustic soda is ALWAYS added to the water, NEVER the reverse in order to avoid explosions. Stir gently while adding the soda until all of it has dissolved.

Be careful as this mixture releases TOXIC VAPOURS!

Caution - this mixture can BURN you badly.

5. Soap Making

Soap is the result of a chemical reaction between oil and caustic soda called saponification.

1

4

Prepare the caustic soda solution

Add lemon juice and / or honey to the cooled and filtered oils.

2

5

At each step ensure hands and body are protected by adequate clothing. Use gloves even when cutting the soap after its initial set.

Allow the solution to cool between 12 and 24 hours.

Slowly add the caustic soda solution to the oils, gently stirring in a single direction the entire time..

If desired, whiten the palm oil. Warm oil to the point it pours easily and can be readily filtered. Filter the oil and then allow it to cool to room temperature. Combine all oils to be used together in one bucket. 3

Hold the stirrer at almost 90 degrees to the bucket while continuing to stir the mixture vigorously in the same direction during 20 to 30 minutes while monitoring for evidence of the trace. The trace is the stage where the mixture is well combined and ready to pour into moulds. It occurs when the mix 6 resembles fufu or peanut butter. A line drawn on the top remains.

** If one is adding perfume, add it at the stage of the trace and before pouring into moulds. Remove the soap from the moulds and cut or clean it as required.

lastic sheet or banana leaves

7

Place moulds on a large piece of plastic or banana leaves. Pour the soap into the forms and allow to harden during 24 hours.

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 weeks  body soap week  house cleaning soap

Allow the soap to dry on its side over 4 weeks in a well-ventilated area, protected from dust and inaccessible to children. Be sure to rotate the soap from side to side each week to ensure even drying. This step - called the cure - ensures the soap is well-dried and hard as well as ensuring that the chemical 8 reactions of saponification have finished thus diminishing the chance of burning the skin. If making house cleaning soap, the bars are useable after one week of curing.

Clean your tools well in readiness for the next batch!

fin

6. Recipes

You can experiment with oil type, infusions in water as well as natural additions like citrus, honey and aloe. To make soap you only need oil, water and caustic soda - but additions bring their own benefits for skin. The important thing to remember is to not exceed the 5 small tomato tins of liquid in the recipe (about equivalent of 23 tbs or 340 mL).

ody "oap ♦ 1 L clean and filtered water ♦ 3 tomato tins of caustic soda ♦ 1.5 L oil ♦ 3 tomato tins of honey ♦ 2 tomato tins of lemon juice or other acid fruit (oranges, limes, grapefruit, pineapple, etc.) ♦ 2 soup spoons of fragrance (if desired, not required)

The recipes below were developed by the women’s shea butter cooperative COFTRAKOL , from Bangangté, Cameroon. [email protected]

#ouse "oap ♦ 1/2 L clean and filtered water ♦ 1 tomato tin plus one soup spoon of caustic soda (210 g)

aundry owder ♦ 1.5 L whitened palm oil ♦ 5 L clean and filtered water ♦ 1 kg caustic soda 5 L palm oil, warmed to liquid ½ kg sodium bicarbonate 1 cup kitchen or sea salt 5 soup spoons (10 mL) liquid bleach 1 soup spoon of fragrance 1 coffee spoon of laundry blue powder 1 spoon to 500 mL of artificial sudsing agent (as desired based on level of bubbles sought) ♦ Large plastic sheet over which to pour mixture ♦ 1 metal screen to shred hardened soap into powder ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦

$irections ♦ Add the laundry blue to the oil, then add the salt, bleach and sudsing agent. ♦ Stir vigorously. ♦ Slowly add the caustic soda solution while continuing to stir. ♦ Stir the mixture until the trace stage is reached. ♦ Add fragrance if desired. ♦ Pour the mixture over the plastic cloth and allow to dry during 24 hours. ♦ Grate the soap using a metal sieve or screen. ♦ In a thin layer, leave the powder to dry several days more on the plastic sheet.

7. Moulds

Anything can be used as a soap mould unless it contains aluminium. The best moulds make removing soap easy and are simple to clean. You may need to clean the bar of soap using a knife if there are stained or uneven areas. Silicone moulds are the best for soap production but are unfortunately expensive. A mould can be made of wood with many openings to create bars of identical measure thus eliminating the need to but a large block into even sizes. However, removing the soap takes time. A single block of soap must be measured and cut, but the form can be lined with plastic to ease removal. Tetrapaks can also be used as moulds, but are easy to destroy after a single use.

8. Labels

If you are hoping to sell soap, a label adds visual impact and permits the buyer to contact the maker. A stamp can also be used to mark the bar with a design or logo but needs to be very sharp to be effective. Cloth bags, homemade paper or ribbons can all be used to create simple but attractive packaging. ♦ A simple label is a piece of paper covered with clear

tape or cling film. ♦ List ingredients used in the soap by order of

greatest proportion to least. ♦ Don’t forget to include contact information!

Cuso International recognises funding support for this project from the Government of Canada ’s Ministry of Natural Resources