When not occupied with his work with the Kings County District Attorney's office, Justin Marrus likes to make things. One of Justin Marrus's preferred crafts is soap making, which involves the combination of fats or oils with lye.
Making soap from scratch can be accomplished through a cold process or a hot process. While both require heating the ingredients above room temperature, the cold process only requires the oils to reach 100 degrees Fahrenheit and adds no further heat once they are combined with the lye, while the hot process heat-cures the soap.
During the cold process, the soap maker heats the oils in a pot until they reach about 100 degrees, then adds a lye-water mixture and blends the soap until it is thick enough to where stirring leaves visible lines or deformations that remain for some time. Fragrances, colors, and additives are added at this time, after which the soap is poured into a mold. Cold process soap takes four weeks to cure before it can be used.
During the hot process, the soap mix is put into a crock pot or similar slow cooker before additives enter the mix. It cooks for about an hour total, being stirred every 15 minutes, until it has a consistency similar to pancake batter or mashed potatoes. Additives can then be placed in the soap, and the soap can subsequently be placed into the mold. This process takes only two days to reach a usable state.
