torterena

Last Sunday I spent a few hours in the company of my friends Irmi and Steffi on soap making. In recent years, there has been a revival of the home-based soap making process. But of course, these days we are more relaxed about it. Instead of mixing different oils with a base solution, such as lye, we prefer to use the pre made soap base “melt & pour”. All you need to do is to cut up the soap base into small chunks, put them in a microwaveable cup, microwave for 30 seconds (repeat as necessary) into a smooth liquid, stir in fragrances, herbs, and whatever other ingredients your heart desires. Pour it into molds and let it cool for a few hours. Once it has hardened fully, it’s ready to be used. But of course, by choosing this option you can't say the result is a 100% home made soap as you can't decide fully about the ingredients. I would say, the melt and pour alternative is a good way for beginners before going further. The waiting time was another reason we decided on the pre made soap base, otherwise we would have had to be patient for 4-6 weeks, before using it! We had at our disposition essential oils like bergamot, orange, lime, cinnamon and lavender, a couple of flowers and herbs. Unfortunately only one really adequate mold. For the soap base leftovers we simply used candy molds in shape of a heart. These will be mini gifts for friends. It was really fun and we will do it again in a few months.