0 - Why and how to make your own soap?
1 - How: the saponification process
Saponification starts very simple once you have
blended the oils and the lye solution (in a special order) and mixed them until
you get a "trace" (an important step I will talk more about in the
tutorial). From this point on, the dough will remain homogeneous and will thicken
and turn into hard soap within the next 24-48 hours. This reaction produces
heat. Once you've reached the trace, saponification has started, without you
having to do anything else but wait. We call this method the "cold
process"; it's the simplest of all so I won't describe others like ITMHP
(In The Mold Hot Process) where you cook your soap in the oven.
1 - How: the saponification process
Soap is the result of a chemical reaction between
fatty substances (oils, lard, vegetable butter) and sodium hydroxide also called lye or caustic
soda (NaOH). Caustic soda is a dangerous substance and is to be used very
carefully, but it is totally transformed through the process: none of it
remains at the end of the chemical reaction...if you used the right quantity of
lye.
If you use more lye than required your soap will be
"caustic" and irritating. Therefore it's recommended that you use
less soda and more oil than the exact amount required for total saponification.
Firstly, it's a safety precaution: using more oil than necessary for the
chemical reaction is a guarantee that the lye will be entirely transformed through
the process.
And more than that, with extra oil (nonsaponified -
remaining oil), your soap will be even softer on the skin. This extra oil is
called "superfast" (read more on superfat oil).
Another important thing you should know is that the
amount of lye depends on the oil(s) you use. Two different oils won't require
the same amount to be turned into soap.
The good news is that it's very easy to calculate this
amount, even for recipes with a lot of different oils, thanks to online calculators.
Saponification starts very simple once you have
blended the oils and the lye solution (in a special order) and mixed them until
you get a "trace" (an important step I will talk more about in the
tutorial). From this point on, the dough will remain homogeneous and will thicken
and turn into hard soap within the next 24-48 hours. This reaction produces
heat. Once you've reached the trace, saponification has started, without you
having to do anything else but wait. We call this method the "cold
process"; it's the simplest of all so I won't describe others like ITMHP
(In The Mold Hot Process) where you cook your soap in the oven. 
wow this makes no senese
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