Cocoa Butter Soap Base 1kg

01 · MELT IT, DO NOT SAPONIFY IT

From the bain-marie to the mould

It is a melt and pour base: the saponification is already done. Chop it, melt it in a bain-marie, add whatever you like and pour.

A kilo gives about 20 bars of 50 g. Cocoa butter melts near body temperature — which is where the rich feel comes from — and adds hardness to the bar.

02 · DO NOT GO OVER 60 DEGREES

The base spoils if it boils

Melt it just until it runs and take it off. Above about 60 °C the base loses water: it thickens, becomes hard to pour, and the bar comes out with bubbles and an uneven surface.

Fragrance goes in last, off the heat: in a full melt much of it evaporates before it reaches the mould.

03 · WHY BARS SWEAT

It is the glycerin, not a fault

Next day you may find droplets on the surface. Nothing has gone wrong: these bases contain glycerin, which is hygroscopic, so the bar takes up moisture from the air.

Avoid it by wrapping in film as soon as the bar is cold and out of the mould. Left in the open, in a kitchen or a bathroom, they always sweat.

04 · BEFORE YOU BUY

This is a melt-and-pour base, not finished soap and not for making soap from scratch with lye.