Title: Master Instructions for Hand-Milled Soap
Categories: Soap *
Yield: 1 Batch

12	oz	Basic soap
9	oz	Water

1. One to seven days after removing the block of basic soap from the primary mold, the soap will be hard enough to cut into chunks and grated. Exactly how long this hardening process wil take depends on several factors, including the type of basic soap you've made (recipes vary in degrees of final hardness), the air temperature, and the humidity.

2. When the block of basic soap had dried suffieciently, use a sharp knife to cut it into rectangular or square chunks that will be easy to grip as you grate them. Wear your gloves as you do this; the soap may still be caustic to the touch.

3. Using a hand-held kitchen grater, grate the soap into small pieces. Work over and air-tight container, letting the pieces drop into it. If the soap is so soft that is compresses under the pressure of grating or yields drops of liquid, STOP! Your soap needs just a bit more drying time.

4. When you're ready to start the remelting process, place 12 ounces of grated soap and 9 ounces of water in a stainless steel, glass, or enamel saucepan.

5. Using a wooden spoon, gently stir the grated soap and water, stirring just enough to mix them together. Then place the saucepan over medium-low heat. Your goal is not to boil the soap but to heat if very gradually.

6. Continue to stir periodically until the soap has liquefied completely. Depending on the basic soap with which you're working and whether or not you have increased the size of the recipe, this may take from 20 minutes to 1 hour. If you're making a plain soap for household use, a few lumps of unmelted soap aren't worth worrying about, but if you're making filled, colored, or scented soaps, the melted soap must be smooth so that the additives will be evenly distributed.

7. When the soap has liquefied, remove it from the heat and stir it gently as it cools. If the soap is too hot when it is poured, it will shrink a great deal in the molds.

8. Just before pouring the soap, mix in the additives, scents, and/or fragrances specified in your selected hand-milled soap recipe. Stir the mixture thoroughly to disperse tha ingredients well.

9. Pour or ladle the cooled soap into the individual molds. If the soap has thickened significantly, tap each filled mold on your work surface so that any air pockets will be filled with soap. Fill each mold as completely as possible, but avoid letting soap spill over the sides as this will affect the look of the finished bar and will make removal from the molds difficult.

10. Allow the surface of the sopa in each mold to skim over, then place the molds in the freezer.

11. When the bars have frozen olid, remove them from the molds. Your molded soaps are now ready for a final drying. Place the soaps in a protected area where they won't be disturbed.

12. The bars are sufficiently cured when they're hard to the touch and when they don't give under pressure from your fingertips. The length of this curing time will depend on the basic recipe ingredients, the drying conditions, and the additives you have used. Curing may take from two weeks to a month - or even longer for extra large molds.

13. Check the bars about 1 week after they've been unmolded. You may notice that they've warped slightly. To combat this warping, check to see that the upper surface has hardened and then turn the bars over. You may need to turn the bars several times depending on the molds you've used.

Making Larger Batches of Hand-Milled Soaps:

: Grated Soap Water : 3/4 lb 9 oz 1 lb 12 oz : 1 1/2 lb 18 oz 2 lb 24 oz 3 lb 36 oz

Source: "The Complete Soapmaker" by Norma Coney

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