Soap is basically made by adding alkali and fats and ensuring that they react with each other. This involves pouring the fat or vegetable oil, adding in the mixture of lye and water to create an alkali, and combining the same at a specific temperature. The reaction continues in the double boiler and when the required consistency is achieved the soap is poured into a mold for setting. While the hardening process does not take more than a couple of days the curing process can take weeks and depends on the specific material used for the lye and the fat.

Good soap can be made if you are using a good formula and have weighted the ingredients accurately. Proper technique is also essential in order to ensure that the end result is smooth and usable. There are essentially 5 methods of making soap. The cold process is the one that is used most often when someone is making soap at home. The semi boiled method involves neutralizing the alkali and the fatty acids at a certain temperature in a double boiler. The full boil method is similar to the semi boiled method but the neutralization takes in a large container where direct heat is used to cause neutralization. Transparent soap can be made by adding solvents and alcohol to prevent soap crystals. Soap made from this method is also called glycerin soap even though there is no addition of glycerin in this soap. The melt and pour method is basically making soap from soap and is mainly used to create different shapes, colors and fragrances of soap.