Why use an immersion blender for your homemade soaps: the story of Aurelia and her electric mixer

Cold saponification is a bit like a chemical cooking recipe, only better: it smells good, it’s environmentally friendly and, above all, it’s ultra-satisfying!

However, just as in the kitchen, the wrong equipment can turn a magical experience into a disaster…

And that’s where my friend Aurélia comes in, an enthusiastic novice, but not really armed with the right tool.

Aurélia and her discovery of homemade soaps

Aurélia is the kind of friend who’s always up for trying out new things. The day she told me she’d bought a kit to make her own dishwashing soap, I applauded her.

A few days later, Aurelia called me, proud of having made her first soaps:
– I followed the instructions, but I’m not sure I did everything right. Do you think it will work?

I reassure her and ask her a few routine questions:
– Did you respect the temperatures of the coconut butter and soda?
– Yes!
– And the citric acid, well integrated?
– Yes! With the water as you explained.
– OK. And did you mix the soap paste until you got the famous “trace”?
– Yes, yes, it was thick and white just like you said!

Nothing to report. For me, everything was perfect!

A few days later, Aurélia proudly sent me a photo of her beautiful, hard soaps.

Mission accomplished… or so I thought.

Brittle soaps and a mystery to solve

A few weeks go by and Aurelia confides in me that her soaps are far from being the champions of cleaning:
– They don’t lather, they’re brittle and… worst of all, my dishes stay all greasy afterwards.

My chemist’s apprentice brain is boiling! How could she miss such a simple recipe?

Intrigued, I suggested that she come home and go through the process again together.

One Sunday morning, I was all set to solve the mystery. I prepare everything carefully: I weigh the ingredients, I make my soda lye, I melt the coconut butter, and…

– So, Aurelia, where’s your hand blender?

She opens her drawer and, much to my surprise, pulls out… an electric mixer. Yes, an ELECTRIC BEATER!

Why the electric mixer is a fatal mistake

Well, that explains it. Aurelia had mistaken a hand blender for an electric mixer, and that’s when everything went wrong!!!!!

So that you don’t make the same mistake, here’s why you shouldn’t use an electric mixer for cold saponification:

1. Splashing
   When you mix warm oils with washing soda, the chemical reaction begins. The beater, with its ill-fitting paddles, causes splashing, which can lead to burns if the lye touches your skin.
2. Insufficient power
   Even a good-quality electric mixer simply doesn’t have enough power to mix the ingredients properly, thus triggering the chemical action known as SAPONIFICATION.
3. For good saponification, you need an immersion blender with at least 1400 watts (2000 watts is even better!).
4. The texture of the dough
   The mixer doesn’t allow you to achieve the famous “trace”, that moment when the dough becomes thick and homogeneous. Without this crucial step, the oil and soda molecules don’t combine properly. The result: a soap that’s poorly saponified, brittle and non-foaming.

The advantages of the hand blender

To make homemade soaps like a pro, invest in a hand blender. Here’s why:

• Perfect homogeneity: it mixes ingredients at the right speed to create a smooth soap paste.
• Splash protection: With a hand blender, the risk of burns is a thing of the past.
• Appropriate power: Saponification requires energy to trigger the chemical reaction “saponification”. A good hand blender is therefore your ally.
• Time-saving: In just a few minutes, you have a ready-to-pour dough in the moulds.

Moral of the story

Aurelia learned a valuable lesson that day: in saponification, the material counts as much as the recipe.

Her electric mixer is back in the baking drawer and she has invested in a proper hand blender. Since then, her dishwashing soaps have foamed to perfection, and her crockery sparkles.

So, if you too would like to try your hand at cold saponification, remember this:

Electric mixer = no,

Hand blender = yes.

And above all, don’t hesitate to experiment… with the right tool, of course!

Have a good soaping!

Alexandra