Confetti soap

Difficulty: Intermediate
Time: 1 1/2 hrs
Yields: 1000 g soap

If you make soap, it is most likely that you have little leftover pieces of soaps, or soaps that you didn’t like for some reason. Instead of throwing them away, there are ways to re-use the soaps in new soap creations. Making confetti soap is one of those techniques, and one of my favourites, because it allows me to use up coloured bits of soaps, soaps that can’t be ‘over-fragranced’, and even older soaps that I’ve never found a use for. The confetti pieces in the soap are simply grated soap, grated with a good old fashioned cheese grater!

If you have never made cold-process soap before, I strongly suggest you check out the basic cold process soap tutorial first.

Before starting, please read the safety and precautions post, especially since this tutorial requires the handling of caustic soda!

Preparation: Choose your bits of soaps that you want to re-use. Aim for something that will contrast with the colour of your base soap, which will be white for this tutorial. I’m using bits of red, green, blue and other soaps that I’ve collected over the past year or so. Grate the soap using a cheese grater. Don’t try and take a short cut here, because food processors and Zyliss graters won’t work – you’ll just end up with a sticky mass of soap!

ONE: Next, prepare your lye. Weigh out the caustic soda in a small container. Measure the water in a small pyrex or other heat proof glass jug. Then carefully add the caustic soda to the water and gently stir until all the caustic soda has dissolved. Stir two teaspoons of sodium lactate to make the soap harder. Set aside to cool.

TWO: Weigh out the coconut oil in a pyrex jug and heat in microwave on high for one minute or until melted.

THREE: Add the remaining oils to the now-melted coconut oil and set aside to cool.

When the lye has cooled down to room temperature, it is time to add it to the oils.

FOUR: Make sure you are still in protective gear (goggles and gloves), carefully pour the lye to the oils, avoiding any splashes. Give it a quick pulse with the stick blender.

FIVE: Add your fragrance or essential oil, and alternatively pulse and stir with your stick blender until you reach thin trace. Don’t blend too long, because you don’t want a thick trace.

SIX:  Pour a thin layer of soap into your soap mold, about 1 cm.

SEVEN: Add a few handful of grated soap on top of the base colour and gently press it in (with your spatula!). You can mix all your grated soap colours together, or, as I’m doing here, use one colour per layer.

EIGHT: Slowly pour some base soap over the grated soap, until most of the grated soap is covered. Tap the mold on the bench a few times to release any air bubbles.

The reason we are doing this in portions is to minimise the air bubbles that can be trapped in the grated soap. I try to avoid stirring the soap with the spatula after pouring for the same reason. I found that pouring in portions had a better result in the end.

NINE:  Continue alternatively adding grated soap, pouring base soap, and tapping the mold on the bench, until your base soap is used up.

TEN: Leave the soap to cure in the mold for a few days before cutting into bars. The soap will need to cure for another 6-8 weeks to fully harden.