Wow! I am super excited to share this tutorial with you today. I am making a handmade mold and using the kiss pour technique for this gorgeous soap. This soap is not only beautiful but also has some amazing ingredients and is super skin loving. Keep reading for all the instructions on how to make the mold, determine the right amount of oils needed and the wonderful recipe I used for this cold process soap.
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If you are a beginner soap maker I suggest you watch several videos on soap making safety. Safety protection is very important because all true soap is made with lye (Sodium Hydroxide for Cold Process/Hot Process soaps) and it is caustic and can burn your skin and hurt your eyes. Please make sure to use the proper protective equipment if trying this soap tutorial and use gloves, eye protection and long sleeves. All soap is made with lye but there is no lye left in the soap after saponification. Soap is defined as the “alkali salts of fatty acids,” that is, the material you get when you combine fats or oils with an alkali, such as lye.
Now with all the safety precautions in place lets make some handmade mold and a gorgeous soap!
How to make a handmade mold for cold process soap making
First you will need a cardboard box of your preferred size. The one I am using here is 8.25 by 6.375 by 2 inches. I like that it is small and I can use it for small batches and testing recipes, fragrances and colors.
Materials you will need to make a cardboard cold process soap mold
- cardboard box
- extra cardboard
- utility knife
- glue
- self healing cutting mat
- freezer paper
- clothes pins
First measure out the sides of the cardboard box and cut pieces from the extra cardboard, then glue them together to reinforce the sides of the soap mold. Hold the glued pieces together with some clothes pins and allow to dry for a few hours.
Do the same for the bottom part of the mold. Cut some extra cardboard of the size of the bottom of the cardboard box and glue them together. Put some weights inside the mold and allow the bottom reinforcement cardboard to adhere for a few hours.
Then cut the freezer paper to the correct size. To do this first measure the sides and determine how much extra paper you would like to extend over the sides of the new mold. For our mold that I am using here I ended up cutting it at 18 in long by 12 in wide. This allows about 1/2 inch extra over the sides of the mold.
The shiny side of the freezer paper is the one that will contain the soap. Make sure that the shiny part is facing up. To properly place the freezer paper on the new mold fold over the sides on the long end, place inside the mold and mark the areas where to fold for the other two sides. Fold the other two sides and place inside the mold. Carefully lift the sides and cut at the corners just to the top of the mold. Fold over the sides of the mold and adhere with some tape.
How to determine the amount of oils needed to fill the new handmade soap mold
The simplest way to calculate the amount of oils needed to fill the mold is using a simple equation based on the size of the mold. Measure the length, width and height of the mold in inches and multiply by .4 (or 40%). This will give you a good approximation to start with and give you space to allow for the sodium hydroxide and water. For this mold I used 8.25 x 6.375 x 1 x .4 = 21 ounces. I used the one inch for the height since I would like to have a one inch thick soap bar.
Ready to start making your own cold process soaps? Then this eBook with 25 different cold process soap formulations is the perfect resource. With so many formulations, you will have lots of inspiration to experiment and find the perfect one.
This eBook also includes best practices to modify the formulations to your liking.
How to make cold process soap using the kiss pour technique
As I mentioned earlier, make sure to follow the proper safety precautions and you are wearing gloves, safety glasses and long sleeves.
First weight out the ingredients. For this soap I am using a wonderful recipe that makes an amazing super conditioning bar of soap! One of my favorite parts of cold process soap making is formulating new recipes. I have tried so many recipes with lots of different ingredients and I love using avocado oil and shea butter in my soaps. Those ingredients just make truly wonderful bars. I’ve been experimenting with lard as well and I am liking the results. Once I figure out the perfect recipe with lard I’ll share that as well.
Ingredients for kiss pour technique cold process soap
- 2.1 ounces Avocado Oil (10%)
- 2.1 ounces Shea Butter (10%)
- 9.45 ounces Olive Oil (45%)
- 6.3 ounces Coconut Oil (30%)
- 1.05 ounces Castor Oil (5%)
- 2.93 ounces of Sodium Hydroxide (lye)
- 6 ounces Distilled Water – I purchase mine at the grocery store
This recipe has a 6% superfat and the water to lye ratio is approximately 2:1. My favorite lye calculator is soapcalc.net. Below is a snapshot of the recipe in soapcalc.
Additional materials needed for cold process soap making
I like to make the lye water solution first so that it starts cooling while I work on weighing out and melting the oils.
Weigh out the water and the lye in separate containers. Make the lye water solution by combining the lye into the water. Always add the lye to the water, never the water to the lye. It will volcano and you definitely do not want to have to waste your ingredients or have to clean a spill.
While the lye water solution is cooling weigh out the coconut oil and shea butter and melt in the microwave in 30 second intervals. Then add the liquid oils to the melted oil and butter.
I like to soap at temperatures between 80 to 90 degrees Fahrenheit. I usually wait until both the lye water solution and the oils are in that temperature range.
Once the soaping temperature is reached, add the lye water solution to the melted oils and mix using the immersion blender or using a whisk until you have reached emulsion.
Coloring the soaps and color selection:
Split the soap into four equal parts into the funnel pitchers and color the soap using mica colorants or natural colorants. All the micas I am using for this soap are from Mad Micas. The colors I used are Pumpkin Head (dark orange), Sexy Stranger on a Train (brown), and Tequila Sunrise (light orange). I love how they give these fun names to their products! The last color was titanium dioxide to achieve a bright white color.
I decided to use the white and the light orange in one pitcher and the darker orange and brown into another pitcher for the kiss pour.
Now we are ready to use the kiss pour technique to pour the soap into our new handmade cardboard mold.
Optional additives:
I decided to add some fragrance to the soap, I only use phthalate free fragrance to scent my soaps. I also like using essential oils to add scent to the soaps.
Another additive that I like to use is kaolin clay mixed with the fragrance oil, this helps get a harder bar, helps with scent retention and gives a very nice slip to the soap.
I also added Tussah silk and sodium lactate to the lye water solution. Both also help achieve an even harder more luxurious bar of soap.
Time to pour the soap!
To pour the soap carefully connect both pouring ends of the pitchers and slowly pour the soap. Try to keep the spouts connected at all times. You can pour directly from the center of the mold. You can also move around for a more complex design.
Now you can cover the soap with some cling wrap and allow the soap to go through the saponification process. I like to unmold and cut the soap close to 24 hours after the pour. This allows the soap to harden enough to come out of the mold smoothly. Lastly allow the soap to cure for 4 to 6 weeks and your soap will be ready to use.
A note on the cure time
While the saponification process is completed in the first 48 to 72 hours, it is important to allow the soap to properly cure. The curing time allows for the water to evaporate. This in turn gives you a harder soap bar that will last longer in the shower. All our soaps at jasandjulsoaps.com are cured a minimum of four weeks before they are available for purchase.
All the cold process soapmaking most common questions finally answered in one single place
If you want to learn more about natural cold process soap making head over to the All Natural Aloe Vera Cold Process Soap post. In that post I share another great recipe and a fantastic essential oil blend that smells amazing.
If you are new to cold process soap making and are looking for a basic recipe with only three ingredients I share one in my Joy of Cold Process Soap Making post. For the coffee lover I have a fun soap idea in my Coffee Soap and Scrub.
You can purchase my soaps at jasandjulsoaps.com.
More Cold Process Soap Making Ideas and Recipes:
Coconut Milk and Water Cold Process Soap
Summer Vibes Cold Process Soap with Double In The Pot Swirl
Mahogany and Amber Cold Process Soap
Lemonade Stand Cold Process Soap with Ground Walnut Shells for Exfoliation
I made this soap and it turned out beautifully! I normally cure all my soaps for 4 months, so stay tuned till the end of December for my usage. Looking forward to feeling this luxurious soap.
Hello, Melanie, that is so awesome. I am so excited to hear that it turned out beautifully for you! I love this technique because it creates some gorgeous designs.
I am looking forward to hearing how you like it. I love this soap formulation because shea butter and avocado oil are two of my favorite ingredients in soap.
Hi Jasmine, Can’t wait to try this. Can you share how you came up with the fragrance ratio #. I use a fragrance calculator so I know the amount of fragrance to use but I’d like to include it in my recipe.
Hi Michele, the vendor for each fragrance oils should be able to provide the IFRA maximum usage rate. It depends on each scent and varies significantly. With the number provided by the fragrance oil vendor, I enter that ratio on soapcalc.net. Places like Bramble berry has its own fragrance oil calculator as well that is very useful. Remember it is dependent on the fragrance oil you are using so I fragrance calculator is the best way to determine how much fragrance oil to add to your soaps. I hope this helps.
How much of the micas are you using? Are you mixing the mica with anything? How much I of the clay and the two other ingredients do you use?
Hello, in general I use 1/2 tsp of mica per pound of soap batter. Most of the time I add some of the soap base oils to the micas to get them mixed before adding the soap batter, but you can also add them directly to the soap mix and mix them well to incorporate. For the kaolin clay and the colloidal oatmeal I add one tablespoon per pound of oil. The tussah silk is very fine and hard to measure, I simply pull a small amount, like the size of a small cotton ball and add that to the lye water solution so that it dissolves. Lastly for the sodium lactate, I add one tablespoon per pound of oils.