Soap is a simple thing. It's a chemical process. The by-product of making soap is glycerin, a viscous product the big corporations remove from the soap. Soap crafters leave it in the soap. It has humectant properties, which means it draws moisture to it, keeping your skin moist. Big companies remove it and formulate creams with it. We also put it in our creams, but we never take it our of our soaps.
Soap also lends itself to all sorts of interesting and inspired creations. You'll see that here at Herb Garden Naturals, we add oats to some, herbs to others, salt to several, as well as goat's milk, essential oils and plant dye colors.
Cold Process Soapmaking Soap is made by mixing lye (sodium hydroxide -NaOH- dissolved in water) with oils, butters and fats. A chemical process, saponification, begins right away. The process creates heat as the chemicals "cook" together. Long complex chains of fatty acids form as oil and lye molecules combine and the mixture thickens up. If you have ever cooked a pudding or made gravy, the process is like that (the scientists are shaking their heads, but the comparison gives you a visual at least.)
At a certain point, the raw soap is thick enough to pour into molds and left to "saponify" for the next 24 to 36 hours. It continues to heat and solidify. When it has cooled off, we unmold it, cut it up and allow the soap to "cure". Curing continues the saponification process, allowing excess water to evaporate. The soap molecules finish bonding and voila, the soap is ready to use.
When we cut our soap, we don't skimp! We have three sizes depending on the soap: 5.5 oz, 11 oz and 6.5 oz. There will be some weight loss as curing continues and the water evaporates, but a dry bar lasts even longer! (Please keep your soap out of puddles in the shower and by the sink). Most soap hand crafters cut or pour bars that are between 3 and 4 ounces. And they charge a lot more than we do.
Our desire is to give you a good sized bar of soap that you will use because you can afford it. Keep it dry and it will last a long time!
All of our soaps have the option to buy a Four Pack. When you purchase four of the same soap, we give you a ten percent discount. Buy four of a kind and save!
Cheaper by the Dozen! When some folks fall in love, they fall all the way...so now we offer our soaps by the dozen!
Soap Collections We group certain soaps together for special reasons to give you a chance to try several. Check out Soap Collections here!
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