Scandia Spa Handmade Soap

Soap Making Terms

In an effort to educate and take the mysteries out of the terms used in soap making, this list of commonly used terms in the soap making industry has been presented.

Aromatherapy Soap
Aromatherapy soap can indicate many things. In our application, it means that aromatherapy grade essential oils are added to the soaps enhancing the benefits of the soap. For a list of our aromatherapy soaps, proceed to our Aromatherapy Soap Products. To learn more about Aromatherapy, we have created an informative glossary of terms.

Cold Process - Cold Kettle Soap
No heat is applied to the soap making process, hence the term cold process or cold kettle. All of the soap at Scandia Spa is handmade and manufactured using the cold process method.

Commercial Soap
The soap that is commonly found on supermarket shelves can be referred to as commercial Soap. These soaps are not real soap since all of the valuable glycerine has been removed, hence, removing all of the moisturizing properties. They do this so that they can use this valuable glycerin in their more expensive products. Many people find that they cannot use commercial soap, and thereby find that natural soaps work much better for their skin.

Exfoliating Soap
Exfoliating refers to an ingredient such as ground oatmeal or loofa which acts as a scrubbing agent on the skin to gently remove dead skin cells. Soap with oatmeal is considered an exfoliating soap.

Glycerin
Naturally occuring glycerin is found in all of our natural soap products. Glycerin is wonderful for the skin and has great moisturizing properties. Vegetable Glycerin is humectant and emollient. It is commonly added to creams and lotions since it can add wonderful moisturizing ability.

Hand Milled Soap - Rebatching - Rebatched
Hand milled soap is also known as rebatched soap. The first step in rebatchingor hand milling soap is to moisten the grated soap for several days. Then the mixture is heated until it is in a liquid form. Once the mixture is smooth, herbs, fragrances, essential oils, and/or fragrance oils are added to the mixture. Pour the liquid soap mixture into molds, let stand until hard, then remove the soap from the molds and let cure.

Handcrafted Soap
Handcrafted soap is a generic term used to describe a method of soap making where most of the process is done by hand. Rebatched, handmilled, cold process, cold kettle, all can be classified as handcrafted soap.

Handmade Soap
Handcrafted soap is a generic term used to describe a method of soap making where most of the process is done by hand. Rebatched, handmilled, cold process, cold kettle, all can be classified as handcrafted soap.

Hot Process Soap Making
In hot process soap making, heat is applied to accelerate the soap making process. For example, the kettle is on a stove and brought to higher temperatures to make saponification occur sooner.

Lye Soap
Lye - aka sodium hydroxide aka NaOH - The ingredient responsible for converting natural oils to soap. All soap contains sodium hydroxide. It is important to note that no sodium hydroxide is left in the final product.

Melt and Pour Soap - M&P Soap
Melt and pour soap making is one of the simplest way to make soap. M&P Soap base can be purchased at fine craft and hobby stores. Simply melt the base and pour into molds. Add fragrances/herbs if desired.

Natural Soap
Natural soap is a very generic term used in the soap industry. It generally means that no artificial chemicals or preservatives are added to the soap. For instance, soap made with Olive oil, Coconut oil, and Lavender essential oils can be called natural soap.

Superfatted Soap
Superfatted soap or superfatting is a term used to describe that extra emollients/moisturizers/oils have been added that are not processed during the soap making. Instead, these valuable emollients are left in the final product so that your skin can experience the therapeutic properties of these ingredients. For instance, our soap contains African Shea butter, much of which is left in the final bar of soap, yielding a very moisturizing and silky bar of soap.

You may also be interested in the aromatherapy glossary, the soap making process, and the history of aromatherapy.

The information provided here is for educational purposes only. These statements have not been evaluated by the FDA. Consult your physician.

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