What supplies do I need to make cold process soap?

Written by Bahamas Soap Maker in Cold Process Soap

Soap making can be a very addictive hobby, so much so that persons soon turn their hobby into a business. Whether its a hobby or a business you will need to have the right tools and supplies to make cold process soap.

So what supplies will you need to make cold process soap? Soap making supplies are divided into tools and ingredients that are needed to make cold process soap. Below are the basic supplies you will need to begin your soap making journey.

Tools

Ingredients

This list of items will be broken down into 2 parts. The first section will list the tools needed to make the soap while the second will discuss the basic ingredients.

The tools you use will be reused over and over again but your ingredients are what make your soap special.

Cold process soap making tools

Immersion Blender

An Immersion blender is primarily used by bakers to mix their batter when baking. In soap making the same tool does a good job of combining your lye water and oils.

Finding a good immersion blender can be a task as you never really know which brand can take a good licking and keep on ticking. We have used a particular brand of immersion blender for years and in our classes.

You can view this brand and even purchase yourself from our Tools Guide section.

Silicone Spatulas

We recommend using silicone spatulas for two main reasons.

  • They hold up better under the extreme heat of lye water and soap batter mixing.
  • They are easy to find, store and clean.

We recommend you have a few different sizes on hand for your cold process soap making as each size can be used for different steps in the process. When it comes to cold process soap making supplies this is one tool that will come in handy.

Mixing Bowl

This may seem to be a simple task but the mixing bowl is the most often overlooked tool in the cp soap making process.

This bowl should be made of either heat tempered glass or hard plastics. Any thing thinner as a glass may shatter or as a plastic may melt.

We recommend a 2 quart mixing bowl with a handle for easy pouring. If you cannot find a 2 quart glass bowl then a hard plastic container that can hold 2 quarts with a bit of space can be used.

Heat tempered measuring container

Much like the mixing bowl we recommend heat tempered glass measuring containers.

We recommend this because with the super heated lye water its best to keep it in a container from start to fininsh.

Food grade glass measuring cups are a great addition to your cold process soap making supplies.

Food Grade Scale

When we say food grade scale we refer to the scales often used in small kitchens.

These scales can measure in ounces and pounds. In most cases you will be using the ounces option.

It may be nice to have a stronger surface other than plastic when measuring your lye but if you follow safety procedures it would not matter.

Hand held laser thermometer

These thermometers come in very handy. You will need this as you become better at cold process soap making.

The thermometer gives you a reading with a laser which reduces the need for you to get your hands near the batter.

Thermometers are used to keep track of the temperature of the lye water and even your soap batter.

Silicone Mold

Making soap in to a shape whether its the traditional square or rectangle shape or a beautiful sunflower shape. Silicone molds can help with your design.

We recommend silicone because they can handle the heat that the soap batter will create. Keep in mind that making cold process soap causes a chemical that produces heat when you make your lye water and when mixing your batter.

Soap cutter

When its all said and done, if you make a loaf of soap, you will need a way to slice and dice the soap to your liking.

A soap cutter is use to cut slices out of loaf molds and other soap related actions. These cutters come in various shapes and sizes.

Cold process soap making ingredients.

The Oils

To make cold process soap you need a few items. The main ingredients in cold or Hot process soap making are the oils.

We’ve got the best oils for soap making. Here is why I say this. If you haven’t heard of the term adulterated oil as yet then now is the time to skip over to our post on the subject. It may shock you a bit to know what is really going on with your oils.

Firstly before you may believe that we are just a supply company let me assure you we are not. We were in the same position you are most likely in at this moment.

We used to sell soaps in individual bars as well so we know what you are looking for. Good oils to make your soap good items to add to it and all at an affordable price.

I get it trust me I really do. We spent over two years just testing various oils from different companies to ensure we were getting the best oils on the market. Unfortunately the good stuff does come at a little bit higher cost.

You see we started making soap because we wanted a natural way to help with our daughter eczema. You can read about that story HERE.

We simply wanted to make sure we were not causing any additional harm to our daughter by using natural soaps. So to ensure that we spent a pretty penny finding the best ingredients for our soaps.

This led us to bring in affordable oils that are great for soap making and are not adulterated. in any way.

Lye

Sodium Hydroxide aka Lye aka caustic soda was not as easy as we thought to source. Its labeled as hazardous substance so to bring in bulk required a permit.

We needed to have bulk in order to remain competitive in the market and keep cost down for the final product.

There were two types of lye we tried the flakes and the pearls. Although they do the same thing it was a matter of which was easier to work with.

We found that the flakes when weighing was harder to get exact weight because a flake or two were too big. and no one likes to handle lye. So we tried the pearl type and found it much easier to pour and weigh. Hence why we offer pearl type lye for soap making.

Distilled Water

All Water are not created Equal

If you have been making soap for a while and did your work as we did you will know that tap water and even drinking water has dissolved solids in them that can react in your soap.

Many persons still use tap or drinking water and wonder why their lather is so weak. Its just one thing we learned along our two year journey of testing what works and what didn’t.

Water is ofcourse a major ingredient in the soap making process. We only use distilled water but do not presently sell the water. No worries we are working on this matter to offer low cost clean and mineral free distilled water.

Essential and Fragrance Oils

Much like the oils we again searched around for good essential oils or fragrance oils that will work best and behave well in cold or hot process soap making.

This was a difficult task as there was a variety of companies offering good prices but what we found was that even essential oils can be corrupted.

Those large bottle essential oils at a low cost turned out to be essential oils mixed with a light weight purified seed oil, often almond oil or even sunflower seed oil.

This was a big problem because to make a good recipe and to gain all the benefits of oils and not to mention to use the right amount of lye to get the desired result. These watered down essential oils or rather oiled up essential oils were messing with our recipes. We got soft, sometimes gooey soap with a slimy type lather because we could not account for the extra seed oil.

After much research on how essential oils are made and how they get to market we had more knowledge to pick out the right kind of essential oils at a good price point.

We tested them and found a good supplier of great undiluted essential oil and therapeutic grade essential oils. This is what we offer to soap makers for cold process or hot process soap making.

Color

One thing we prided ourselves on is ensuring that our soaps would not only be great for the skin but that they will be quite appealing to the eye. We took our time again and searched out then tested various way to color our cold process soaps.

We came across liquid colors, mica, oxides, food coloring, dried roots and other natural colorants and we tried them all. Again… this was not an easy nor a cheap method but we had a mandate to make genuine ingredients to make our soaps.

We soon was able to source good colorants that worked well in soap making and did not run or fade easily. These colorants are what we offer now for you, tested by us.

Sourcing Soap Making Supplies for You

Sourcing good soap making supplies is not an easy task. We all want to produce a good product at low cost but sell for a good price to make an awesome profit. We get it… I get it after all it was the reason we took so long to come to market.

We avoided the oils in the food stores, although they are cheaper they were not consistent and adulterated. The olive oil in the store even the ones you may cook with are not all 100% olive oil.

We talk about this in our adulterated oil post. Companies will often take coconut oil and label it as extra virgin coconut oil or other fancy name but none of that matters except that you will pay more.

We GET IT!

We know what it takes to make handmade soap. We know the best ingredients to make and we know the cheaper ingredients to make soap. We know that you are concerned about your bottom line and really just want to make a living especially during this covid crises.

We get it, we are all trying to live. Well this is why we took the time to ensure our pricing will not hurt you in the end. The cost of the ingredients in the portions we offer will help you get your business started.

Once you price your product accordingly with the market which usually is between $8.00 – $15.00 per bar you will be okay.

Again we have been there and know your struggles. Our soap making supplies are priced for you to succeed in your small business or hobby. Not to forget but we also offer various molds and accessories for soap making.

They will all go a long way in re use and beyond your initial investment to purchase a soap making kit, your refills on ingredients will yield higher profits.

Shop at Home

This may come as a shock to you to know that you can now get all your soap making supplies here in the Bahamas. Its been a long time coming but the change had to come. That’s right cold process soap making supplies and melt and pour soap making supplies are available here at Bahamas Candle and Soap website. Just click the link for more.

Ok maybe we are not located on every island in the Bahama but we do ship to each and every island either by mail boat or by plane, which ever is best. We are Bahamas Candle and Soap and we do offer candle supplies as well but for now I want to tell you about our soap making supplies.

We have done the work for you so why reinvent the wheel? Brows our online store for your soap making supplies and remember that we are a 100% online business based at home, which means we deliver to you.

We have various options to make payment from Credit Card to Pay Pal to Cash on Delivery.

Whether you are located on New Providence or any of the island in the Bahamas. If a plane or boat visits your island we can ship directly to you.

Bahamas Soap Maker

Rashad has been making soaps since the inception of Bahamas Candle and Soap in 2008. Since this time he has taught a number of students how make homemade soap using the melt and pour process or the cold process of soap making. His preference is cold process soap making because of the versatility you have in designing not only the ingredients but the aesthetics of the soap. Soap making became more than a hobby for Rashad and he loves trying new techniques and teaching others how they too can make their own soap at home.

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