The Craft
Why Real Soap Is Alkaline, and What pH-Balanced Bars Really Are
True soap always tests alkaline, usually between pH 8 and 11. Here is why that follows from the chemistry, and what a bar sold as pH 5.5 actually contains.
Section
The Craft
What happens in the pot and on the curing rack: saponification, superfat, pH and time.
The Craft
Superfat and Lye Discount, Explained With a Worked Example
Superfat and lye discount are the same adjustment described from opposite ends. Here is the arithmetic, worked in full, and how to pick a number.
The Craft
How Long Each Type of Soap Needs to Cure
Cure times by recipe type, what is actually happening during the cure, and which of the numbers everyone repeats are measured rather than inherited.
The Craft
What Is Saponification? The Chemistry of Every Soap Bar
Saponification is the reaction that turns fat and lye into soap and glycerine. Here is what happens molecule by molecule, and why no lye survives it.
The Craft
Cold Process vs Melt and Pour vs Hot Process Soap
The three common ways to make soap differ in chemistry, control and cure time. Here is what genuinely separates them, and which one suits what you want.