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As much as you can imagine are the various types of soaps you can create in your home. The nature of soap depends on the elements used in it and the process followed to make it. Generally soap options are unlimited and can be made in various types.
But in general there are soaps like basic soaps, milled soaps, glycerin soaps and cosmetic soaps. These soaps vary according to the material used to make them. Although the type of a soap depends greatly on the material used to make it, it also depends on the process followed to make it. There are basically two process followed to make a soap. The processes are
Cold Process
Cold process is a method which does not require external heat source to initiate saponification or the soap making. Although in this process heat may still be required to melt fats or oils that are in a solid state at room temperature. Sometimes the heat is also applied to speed up the process. To make a soap using this process the lye solution is mixed with the fats and oils and stirred to blend well. Essential oils, fragrance oils, herbs, oatmeal or other additives are also added at light trace, just as the mixture starts to thicken. This mixture is then poured into wooden molds to get hardened.
Hot Process
Hot process is a traditional process of making soaps which is still used by many soapmakers. In the hot process method of soap making, fats and oils are boiled in a lye solution which is either sodium hydroxide or potassium hydroxide. After saponification or soap making has occurred, the soap is sometimes precipitated from the solution by adding salt, after which the liquid component is drained.
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