The Methods Of Soap Making

Methods of making soaps

There are many small artisans who produce their soaps in small batches of high quality.

There are two main ways of making shaving soaps: the hot process and the cold process.

Each has its advantages and disadvantages.

Some manufacturers prefer the faster melt and pour method.

There is also the additional step of triple milling which some soap makers choose.

Hot process

Uses an external heat source to (carefully) accelerate the soap making process ('saponification').

Soaps produced by hot process generally take less time to prepare: a few hours for saponification and about a week's rest.

Additional ingredients are added near the end of the 'cooking' process and the texture of the soap is generally coarse.

Cold process

May also use a heat source, but is used to liquefy solidified oils for blending.

Actual saponification comes from an exothermic thermal reaction between the fatty acids of the oils and a base with which they are blended.

Soaps produced by cold process take about a day to prepare and several weeks of rest.

Additional ingredients are added early and the texture of the soap has a smoother appearance.

Melt and pour

This term, means that to make the soap, the manufacturer uses ready-made bases that he melts and then adds extra ingredients and fragrance.

These bases are made in large quantities in special facilities with the appropriate equipment.

Thus the most time-consuming and difficult processes are already completed and time is saved.

Triple milling

You may have heard the term "triple milling" (or perhaps "French milling").

These are soaps that have been passed between large steel rollers, squeezing more air and water out of the soap (and also provides some extra mixing of the soap, making it more uniform).

Because more air and water have been removed, triple-ground soaps are denser and last longer than unground soap.

There are a few companies involved in the production of triple-milled shaving soaps, such as Saponificio Varesino, Tabac and 

Mitchell's soaps, companies with a long tradition of producing high quality traditional shaving soaps and more.