A cold process soap is a soap made slowly, without heating the mixture, then left to dry for several weeks. An artisanal method, the opposite of industrial soap. Here is how it is made, why it is different, and how we chose our soaps.
What is cold saponification?
To make soap, you need two ingredients: vegetable oils and lye (sodium hydroxide). Mixed together, they react and turn into soap: this is saponification. With the cold process, the mixture is not heated. The reaction happens slowly, at low temperature.
During drying, the lye is entirely transformed: none is left in the finished soap. The reaction also naturally produces glycerine, which stays in the soap.
How it is made
- Weighing and mixing: the soap maker carefully weighs the oils and the lye, then mixes them.
- The “trace”: the mixture thickens to the consistency of a cream. This shows the reaction has started.
- The scent: the essential oil, true lavender or lavandin, is added at this stage.
- Moulding: the paste is poured into moulds, then unmoulded and cut a few days later.
- Drying, or “curing”: the soaps dry in the open air for 10 weeks.
Why 10 weeks of drying?
Many artisanal soaps dry for 4 to 6 weeks. Ours dry for 10 weeks. This gives the reaction time to finish completely and the water time to evaporate: the soap becomes harder, melts more slowly and lasts longer in the shower.
Cold process or industrial soap: the differences
| Cold process | Industrial soap | |
|---|---|---|
| Making | At low temperature, by hand | Heated, continuous production |
| Glycerine | Kept in the soap | Often partly removed |
| Drying | 10 weeks for our soaps | A few hours to a few days |
| Ingredients | Organic vegetable oils, essential oil | Sometimes animal fats, synthetic fragrances |
Our cold process soaps
Our soaps are made by a partner artisan soap maker who shares our philosophy: organic and quality first.
- Bar soaps: made with organic olive oil. Organic true lavender soap, lavender soap, grooved soap, unscented natural soap, and our soap shavings for laundry and cleaning.
- Liquid soaps: made with a blend of organic olive oil and sunflower oil. Lavender liquid soap, from 100 ml bottles to 3 L refills.
How to make your soap last
- Use a soap dish that drains: soap left in water softens and melts quickly.
- Let it dry in the air between uses.
- To make it last even longer, cut it in two and use one piece at a time.
All our soaps: cold process soaps and organic liquid soaps. To discover other uses of lavender: the benefits of lavender.
