Geeking Out on Soap. A Guest Post from Iron Lion Soap
Guest post by Avi Rubin from Iron Lion Soap
Since the very beginning of Iron Lion Soap, before we even decided to make a soap business, when we were crafting soap in our home garage; the focus and efforts have always been on overreaching the standard for quality and tradition.
Sourcing the worlds best raw materials through small plantations and family farms and searching high and low for contacts that you can't find using "Google", to testing more oils than anyone should, and attaining the best ingredients at the absolute most paramount quality, we began our R&D on the soap making process. It didn't matter what it took, we wanted the best bar of plant-based soap.
The science behind soap is quite simple, with an acid and a base mixing to create a weaker fatty acid (from the plant oils), leaving salt which evolves in the saponification of the total ingredients. The saponification process, through the friction of blending, causes all the base ingredients to break down into their simplest molecular form. Once they are broken down, they reassemble into a soap molecule. In the soap bar, the glycerin remains as the reaction continues for many days after the soap is poured into molds.
Cold-process handmade soap differs from today’s conventional, industrially manufactured soap, as it is often 'superfatted' and the glycerin is left in, which acts as a moisturizing agent. Superfatted soap works with the glycerin to serve as natural humectants to hydrate and soften skin. Commercial soaps, on the other hand, are made in large batches in a mechanized extrusion process where the glycerin is removed, and fillers and synthetic detergents are added in its place. Commercial soap manufacturers can recover and purify glycerin, which is then sold separately as a lotion or moisturizer. Most use stock soap bases and add custom additives to differentiate the specific custom brands they manufacture.
Our cold-process soap at ILS is made by hand in small quantities. This soap making process is an art that requires exact measurements of lye and oils at specific ratios, using saponification values (the amount of lye required to mix with oil) to ensure that the finished product is a perfect bar of soap every time.
We're proud to be offering Iron Lion Soap through our friends here at Jits Shop, and we've put together some special bundles just for you, that we're sure you'll love. You can check them out HERE. Stay Klean out there!
