Practical Guide to Saponification

This book is a practical guide for a creative journey of experimentation in the world of handmade natural soap in an ecological and sustainable way. It presents the 80 most successful recipes of the Natural Collection workshop and soap making seminars of AMKE (Municipal Non-Profit Company) New Guinea, while at the same time providing all the necessary information to be able to create new recipes that meet your personal needs.

Through its pages, we will discover the history of soap in Europe and the Middle East and approach the different ways of making and using it. We will explain the chemistry of saponification and the differences between natural soap and synthetic cleaners. We will describe in detail the cold saponification method for making solid soap and explain how to deal with any problems that may arise. We will also study the properties of the natural raw materials used in soap making (oils, butters, herbs, essential oils, clays, etc.) and the properties they impart to the resulting soap. Finally we will explore natural materials that give color, texture and smell to the soap and we will describe different techniques that make the aesthetic result even more interesting.