Soapmaking is an ancient craft that combines natural fats and oils with chemistry, patience and formulation. At its heart is saponification, the process through which fats or oils react with an alkali to become soap. Yet good soapmaking involves much more than following a recipe. The choice and quality of oils, the balance of a formulation, the method used, the additives selected and the curing time all influence the finished bar.
At Medna Soap, our soapmaking department, we practise cold process soapmaking, our preferred method for creating traditional handmade soap. It allows us to work carefully with natural fats, oils, botanicals and essential oils while respecting the chemistry and time required to produce a properly cured soap.
Traditional Ingredients and the Art of Formulation
Traditional soapmaking developed around the fats and oils available in different regions, with each ingredient bringing its own characteristics to the finished soap.
Olive oil has a particularly strong tradition in Mediterranean soapmaking. A 100% olive oil soap produces a distinctive, mild and creamy bar, but it develops slowly. While many cold process soaps are cured for approximately 4 to 6 weeks, 100% olive oil soap benefits from a much longer cure. Our Just Olive Oil bars are cured for a minimum of six months, allowing them to mature and develop their characteristic qualities.
Coconut oil is valued for its cleansing properties and generous, bubbly lather. Tallow has a long history in European soapmaking and produces a firm, durable bar, while lard was traditionally used in household soapmaking as a practical way to transform available fats into useful soap.
Understanding these differences is an important part of formulation. The fats and oils selected influence the hardness, lather, cleansing characteristics and longevity of the finished bar. This is the principle behind our Medna Hygiene single-fat collection: Just Tallow, Just Coconut Oil, Just Olive Oil and Just Lard soap bars.
Beyond the base oils, soap can be personalised with botanicals, clays, natural colourants and essential oils. We are particularly interested in essential oils not simply for their scent, but for the aromatic and aromatherapeutic qualities they can bring to a formulation when selected and used appropriately.
Cold Process Soapmaking: From Oils to a Finished Bar
There are several methods of making soap, including hot process and cold process. Cold process is our method of choice at Medna Soap.
The process begins with carefully selected and accurately weighed fats and oils. A calculated sodium hydroxide and water solution is prepared and combined with the oils in the correct proportions. This initiates saponification, transforming the fats and oils into soap.
As the mixture is blended, it reaches a stage known as trace, when the soap batter has emulsified and thickened sufficiently for additional ingredients to be incorporated. Depending on the formula, these may include essential oils, botanicals, clays or natural colourants. The soap is then poured into moulds, allowed to set and removed.
The final stage is curing. During this period, water gradually evaporates from the soap, allowing the bars to become harder and longer lasting while their characteristics continue to develop. A typical cold process soap is generally cured for around 4 to 6 weeks, while our 100% olive oil Just Olive Oil is cured for a minimum of six months.
Soapmaking also requires respect for the chemistry involved. Sodium hydroxide is caustic and must be handled with appropriate protective equipment, accurate measurements and proper procedures. Learning the craft means understanding both the creative and technical sides of the process.
Why Make and Use Handmade Natural Soap?
Learning to make soap gives you knowledge and control over what you are making. You can choose your fats and oils, understand their properties and develop formulations according to your needs and preferences.
There are also practical and environmental reasons to consider handmade solid soap. A well-formulated bar can have a simple ingredient profile, requires less packaging than many liquid products and does not require water to be packaged and transported. Traditional soapmaking also allows us to work with ingredients that have been valued for generations rather than simply selecting a finished product from a shelf.
Perhaps the greatest benefit is awareness. Once you understand how soap is formulated, you begin to look differently at everyday products and become more conscious of where ingredients come from, why they are included and how they fit into the finished formulation.
At Medna Soap, you can send us your own ingredients or choose from our range of base soaps, essential oils, nourishing carrier oils, botanicals and kaolin clays to create a personalised soap for yourself, a special occasion or your business.
Learn the Art of Soapmaking
You do not need to be an experienced soapmaker to begin. Understanding the principles of cold process soapmaking, learning about your ingredients and starting with simple formulations can open the door to a fascinating traditional craft.
Medna Soap is offering soapmaking workshops and free online soapmaking events, where we introduce the fundamentals of single-fat soapmaking and explore customisation with essential oils, botanicals, natural colourants and skincare ingredients.
Sign up to our newsletter to receive information about the next free online event and upcoming soapmaking workshops.
You can also join the Medna Soap Club and receive our Soap of the Month, including the month's featured soap formula and a bar to experience it for yourself. It is a way to continue learning about different fats, oils, ingredients and traditional formulations while discovering a new soap each month.
Whether you want to learn natural soapmaking for yourself, explore a traditional craft, develop your formulation skills or simply discover a new soap each month, we invite you to become part of the Medna Soap community.
Contact us and let’s formulate thoughtfully, create with purpose and choose consciously.