Natural Process
Our Soap making begins in our purpose built studio. This is part of an old Methodist chapel that we have been renovating for the last four years. The chapel, which had fallen into disuse twelve years ago, had been standing forlornly empty for several years in a designated area of outstanding natural beauty in the Shropshire hills, when one day we happened across it one fine sunny winter morning out on a walk. We knew immediately we had to have it (lo and behold there was a 'For Sale' sign outside) and thus began a long journey of purchase, planning applications and renovation. Four years later we are lucky enough to be living and working in a beautiful rural landscape surrounded by rocky hills and and not just a few sheep!
Back to soap making. People have been making there own soap for aeons using the cold process method. This simply entails mixing an oil with a lye (a solution of water and sodium hydroxide). The two ingredients mixed together produce a chemical reaction called saponification which produces soap.
The secret of good soap making of course is the type of oils you use and in what combination. Different oils will produce different qualities in the soap such as hard and softness and varying lather. Also the lye has to be finely balanced with the oils to produce a Ph. neutral soap that will moisturise as well as cleanse the skin.
Once the mixing has begun we'll also add some essential oils and, depending on the type of soap we're making, perhaps some clays for colouring and it's moisturising quaulities.
