# Beginner - how long to become proficient?



## CiaoBella059 (May 19, 2010)

Hi all,

I'm a college student and have recently become very interested in soapmaking as a hobby - very small scale. I've don a ton of research and was really excited until I came on here and saw a lot of people talking about the HUGE investments they've made (several thousands per year), and how it takes years upon years to perfect a soapmaking technique.

In short, I'm wondering how long it took you to become confident in your soapmaking skills. I'm thinking of starting with melt-and-pour, since it seems to be the simplest and safest method I've researched.

Also, are the thousands-of-dollars investments mostly required by those adopting it as a business, or would I also have to worry about this?

Thanks!


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## supersoaper3000 (May 19, 2010)

Hi CiaoBella059,

Getting started in M&P is very inexpensive, it is easy to do and rewarding!  Any big investment comes over time and with a willingness to experiment.

As long as you research your suppliers well I am sure you will do fine.


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## Tabitha (May 19, 2010)

CP is more of an investment than M&P. With CP you must formulate the perfect recipe & work out your method. With M&P the soap is already made. You just embelish it so to speak.


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## pops1 (May 21, 2010)

I think with everything ,practice makes perfect but with M & P you can make perfectly acceptable soaps with very little experience and the best thing about M & P is that you can remelt it again if you don't like what you produce.
I started with just plain base then started adding different things like honey ,shea butter,goatsmilk etc until l had got a recipe l liked then started playing with the designs.
As Tabitha said the base is already made for you so only buy good ones not ones from the craft shops then go ahead and have fun.


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## AZ Soaper (Jul 4, 2010)

I made my first batch of CP without a scale or any special equiptment. I did run my recipe through the MMS soap calculator so I knew my lye was good but I used what ever oils I had in my kitchen. I converted ounces to cups(I wouldn't recommend that- Target has cheap scales!) and it turned out great! I think it was dumb luck! Since then I found a forumla I like and I use that for my basic soap. I also read alot of books and forums     (after my first batch) Good Luck!


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