Handmade soap beats commercial soap and the word is out. After making about 35,000 bars of soap in our kitchen sink, here are ideas I've picked up to help you make better soap. Making basic soap is very easy, but who wants to just make basic soap?
1. Coconut oil and bubbles
Many soap recipes contain coconut oil and there's a clear reason why. See, coconut oil soap bubbles better than anything else. That's the way to get a really cool lather. Include plenty of coconut oil and you get big, fluffy lather. Leave it off and the lather is likely going to be flat and slimy. Don't use too much coconut oil though. High coconut oil soaps are drying for a very good reason...
2. Lye hard to get?
Lye is now a restricted substance in some places. Don't let that stop you. At this point it's still easy to get it from online sources. There are many obstacles to making soap. Don't be easily stopped. Lye is used in several industrial processes, so it's handled by industrial chemical supply houses. Getting it just takes a little effort.
3. Your own recipes
To make really special, unique soap means designing your own recipes. At the very least it means modifying recipes you find. This step can be a real barrier since designing soap recipes is a bit of a mystery. It really shouldn't be though. There are just a few decisions to be made when putting together recipes. It's easy to do once you know how.
4. Use enough scent
Often recipes specify the amount of scent to use. Often those same recipes result in soap with very little or no smell. Know what you call soap that contains a lot of expensive scent oil, but still doesn't smell much? Unscented soap...
There are recommended guidelines for scenting soap that always work. Ignore these guidelines and you may very well produce expensive unscented soap.
5. Careful with cuts
Cutting soap with the wrong tools is a fast way to injury. Using individual molds is one way to produce beautiful soap. But poring soap to make larger loaves and then cutting out bars works well too. Just a few simple, inexpensive tools helps you produce professional looking soap that will please anybody.
Handmade soap making just requires knowledge of a few processes and possession of a few basic tools. Soap making makes a great hobby that can even turn into a small money making hobby if that's something you wish to pursue.
Al Bullington and his family made and sold soap for years and developed a system for making money with natural soap and related products like salves and shampoo.
1. Coconut oil and bubbles
Many soap recipes contain coconut oil and there's a clear reason why. See, coconut oil soap bubbles better than anything else. That's the way to get a really cool lather. Include plenty of coconut oil and you get big, fluffy lather. Leave it off and the lather is likely going to be flat and slimy. Don't use too much coconut oil though. High coconut oil soaps are drying for a very good reason...
2. Lye hard to get?
Lye is now a restricted substance in some places. Don't let that stop you. At this point it's still easy to get it from online sources. There are many obstacles to making soap. Don't be easily stopped. Lye is used in several industrial processes, so it's handled by industrial chemical supply houses. Getting it just takes a little effort.
3. Your own recipes
To make really special, unique soap means designing your own recipes. At the very least it means modifying recipes you find. This step can be a real barrier since designing soap recipes is a bit of a mystery. It really shouldn't be though. There are just a few decisions to be made when putting together recipes. It's easy to do once you know how.
4. Use enough scent
Often recipes specify the amount of scent to use. Often those same recipes result in soap with very little or no smell. Know what you call soap that contains a lot of expensive scent oil, but still doesn't smell much? Unscented soap...
There are recommended guidelines for scenting soap that always work. Ignore these guidelines and you may very well produce expensive unscented soap.
5. Careful with cuts
Cutting soap with the wrong tools is a fast way to injury. Using individual molds is one way to produce beautiful soap. But poring soap to make larger loaves and then cutting out bars works well too. Just a few simple, inexpensive tools helps you produce professional looking soap that will please anybody.
Handmade soap making just requires knowledge of a few processes and possession of a few basic tools. Soap making makes a great hobby that can even turn into a small money making hobby if that's something you wish to pursue.
Al Bullington and his family made and sold soap for years and developed a system for making money with natural soap and related products like salves and shampoo.