FRENCH CLAY WITH SEA SALT SOAP

MONDAY,  FEBRUARY 4TH, 2013 | SOAP-MAKING

When Ground Hog Phil predicted an early Spring this year (something he's only apparently done six times in the last hundred years) something in me perked up. But it wasn't excitement. February's here and the city's only seen snow for a total of five days straight now. And I love Winter: snow, hibernation, the excused sluggishness. And besides the fact that I haven't gone sledding, thrown a snow ball, broken in my new pair of expensive Winter boots, the cold months have willed me to some interesting cavernous activities; I've become quite obsessed with making everything from scratch, a practice that may not endure in the alluring Spring weather. My latest creation: Glycerin-based soaps. 

Making soap from a glycerin base is not only pretty cheap, simple and doesn't use the sometimes-daunting ingredient that is lye, it can still be quite exquisite like my latest soap using french green clay and sea salt. Starting the soap-making process with glycerin also gives you a chance to get a handle of the process before having to be very finite with your measurements and invest in a little bit of equipment and supplies when working with lye. Once you've bought your glycerin base, you can pretty much play around with whatever ingredients you want/have lying around the house.

Here's what you'll need

• Glycerin Soap Base (Not the liquid base): You can either buy unscented bars of glycerin soap or buy the base from a craft store. I go for the cleanest, purest base, one that only lists about three ingredients at the most.
• Homemade or Store-Bought Double Boiler: This is as complicated as it'll get. While double boilers can be purchased, they're almost as easy to create. I like this set up the best. All you need is a heat-resistant container and a shallow yet wide pot
• An Old Milk Carton or Tetra Pak Container cut in half
• Your Soap Additives and/or Fragrances: In this case, they're French Green Clay (which I found at my neighborhood natural market) Sea Salt and Rosemary Essential Oil
• And it's helpful to have a pair of Oven Mitts, Tongs and a Spatula

Now, here's how to do it

Get your double boiler set up. You'll want the water to come to a light boil, nothing past that.

While your water's heating, chop your base into small cubes. Add these to your heat resistant container set in the water. Heat until it becomes liquid and stir as needed.

By this point, you've probably noticed that I didn't give you any measurements. Since there's no real science involved, you can add as much or little of something as you'd like. I've been experimenting with my measurements, trying out my final products then adjusting the next time around. But if you want a very basic measurement for this specific soap, melt 32 oz or about four soap bars and add to it about four teaspoons of French Clay, two teaspoons of sea salt and ten drops of essential oil. Mix well.

Carefully remove the heat-resistant container with your melted soap base using tongs and/or oven mitts. Pour the base into the bottom half of the carton or tetra pak and let sit until completely solid.

Once your soap has dried, cut the open the carton or tetra pak and slice your soap to desired block size. Now enjoy!