Each month Cranberry Lane will feature an essential oil. Our display outlines general information about the oil, including everyday applications along with its beneficial and therapeutic qualities. For those of you who wish to create your own soap formulas, we have added a lye calculator to our web site. Simply key in the weights of the oils and the calculator will determine the amount of Sodium Hydroxide and water required. This traditional soap technique, commonly referred to as rebatching, is once again popular.
Many people question whether the end result produces a harder, longer- lasting bar of soap.
Hand milling requires additional water in order to help form a semi- liquid state allowing for incorporation of herbs, grains, essential oils and other additives. This soap needs more time in the mould and more curing time out of the mould due to the extra moisture content. Soaps that are well cured and have a low moisture content are the longest lasting soaps. The best reason is to achieve a product that has a much higher medicinal value than first run soaps. Herbs and plant matter are not strong enough to weather the saponification storm, therefore lose significant therapeutic value when added after trace.