What is soap dough?
Soap dough is cold process soap formulated to stay soft and pliable for 1-2 days after making. In our soap recipe for the pictured animals, we used five different oils/fats: Refined A Olive Oil (50%), 76º Melt Coconut Oil (20%), Palm Oil (15%), Sunflower Oil (10%) and Mango Seed Butter (5%). We used the standard 38% water as a percent of oil weight and a 3% super fat. We colored and fragranced our soap, and poured our soap batter into small loaf molds. The next day, our soap was perfectly soft and pliable.

How do you form them into animals?
Roll, pull and sculpt the soap dough into your desired soap animals. There are numerous tutorials for "Clay Animals" and "Fondant Animals" online, and the designs can also be made with soup dough! We found designs with the least amount of colors and ones that can be molded from the least amount of shapes worked the best. Cake decorating tools can also help to achieve more detailed designs. Since the finished product will eventually be rubbed onto the body or hands, avoid embedding support props such as toothpicks in your soap animal. Ouch!

When can the soap be used?
The soap can be used 48 hours after the soap has been made, but should be used after 4-6 weeks. The soap saponifies 24-48 hours after being made mainly meaning there is no longer lye in the soap, but will still be soft at this point. Cold process soap takes 4-6 weeks to cure, during this time water evaporates from the soap and the pH slightly changes. With all the time and money into making your soap animals, you'll want them to last for a long time when being used. Waiting for the soap to cure ensures you will get the most washes out of your cute soapy animals.