Making the Volcanic Clay Bar: A Batch Story

It started with a drive

Two Saturdays ago, I drove to the south of the island to pick up volcanic clay from a supplier I had been exchanging messages with for months. His family has been mining clay from the same hillside for four generations.

He showed me the different grades. I chose the darkest, most mineral-rich one.

The cold-process method

Cold-process soapmaking is slow. It takes 4–6 weeks of curing before a bar is ready. During that time, saponification continues, pH drops to skin-safe levels, and the texture develops.

For this batch, I:

1. Measured the oils (coconut, shea, castor) by weight
2. Mixed the lye solution and let it cool
3. Blended in the volcanic clay at trace
4. Added activated charcoal for extra detox
5. Poured into the mould and left overnight

48 hours later

The bars unmoulded cleanly. The clay gives them a distinctive dark grey colour with a slight shimmer. They are dense and heavy in the hand.

Now they cure on a wooden rack in my studio for 5 weeks.

This batch: 40 bars

That is the largest batch I have ever made. It took me a full Saturday morning.

They will drop in about two weeks. The waitlist is already at 23 people.