The Art of Soap Making
From lye to luxury
Jim and Freda Sojka
Columbus Junction, Iowa
¾ Jim the Bridge Builder/Soap Creator
¾ Freda, retired after 23 years at Monsanto
What is Soaping?
¾ Soap is the result of combining fats
with some sort of caustic agent such as
lye, using water as a catalyst.
¾ The old fashioned term was lye soap,
which is misleading for today’s soap.
z There is no lye left in the final product
z The lye has reacted with the oils to form
soap and glycerin.
Why Hand Made Soap?
¾Mass manufactured soap has had all of its
naturally-occurring glycerin removed so it
can be sold as a separate commodity for
greater profit. In hand made soap, the
glycerin is left in, which helps draw
moisture to the skin and contributes to the
silky smooth feel of hand made soaps.
What is Cold Process Soaping?
¾ The `Cold Crafted' method of making soap
uses low temperatures for only a short
period of time during the process in order
to bring various oils to their natural melting
points. Once this is achieved no further
external heat is applied, preserving the
moisturizing properties of the special oils
and butters.
Saponification
¾ The term saponification is the name given
to the chemical reaction that occurs when
a vegetable oil or animal fat is mixed with
a strong alkali.
¾ The products of the reaction are two: soap
and glycerin.
¾ The name saponification literally means
"soap making".
Schematic of the chemical reaction
for soap making (saponification)
Making Soap With James Hershberger,
A Chemical Engineer
¾ Fats are made up of fatty acid molecules.
¾ Fatty acid molecules are tied together into
what are called "triglyceride" molecules
¾ Let‘s Take a look
The Chemistry of Soap Making
¾ One end of the molecule is attracted to fats and
repels water and the other end of the soap
molecule with the two oxygen atoms and the
sodium atom (Na) loves to be around water but
repels fat.
A fat droplet in suspension, surrounded by soap molecules
The Art of Soap Making
¾ The oils used in modern h