soapmakingfun
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Hey any tips for a newbie soap maker?
Any thoughts will be appreciated
Any thoughts will be appreciated
Can anybody teach me?
- Thread starter soapmakingfun
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cinta
Well-Known Member
Welcome! 
Get yourself a really good soapmaking book (I love Soap Naturally by Patrizia Garzena and Marina Tadiello), and read, read, read! Make sure you have a solid understanding of the soapmaking process, the properties and qualities of various oils, butters and additives, and, most importantly, safety precautions; ensure you understand how lye may behave (or misbehave!) in different situations.
There are some great tutorials in here, and YouTube also has some good video tutorials. This forum contains a wealth of information, so make use of its search facility, and don't be afraid to ask questions...if no-one here knows the answer we'll all help to find it!
Have fun!
Get yourself a really good soapmaking book (I love Soap Naturally by Patrizia Garzena and Marina Tadiello), and read, read, read! Make sure you have a solid understanding of the soapmaking process, the properties and qualities of various oils, butters and additives, and, most importantly, safety precautions; ensure you understand how lye may behave (or misbehave!) in different situations.
There are some great tutorials in here, and YouTube also has some good video tutorials. This forum contains a wealth of information, so make use of its search facility, and don't be afraid to ask questions...if no-one here knows the answer we'll all help to find it!
Have fun!
Bubbles Galore
Well-Known Member
Yes, do lots of reading for a while. Soon everything will click. :wink:
I read several books but was nervous about using lye. The book that helped me get started was Anne Wilson's "Smart Soapmaking" plus encouragement from members here.
There is a lot of info here but you might also want to look at the SMF tutorials site. It also helped me along with reading old posts.
http://www.smftutorials.com/
There is a lot of info here but you might also want to look at the SMF tutorials site. It also helped me along with reading old posts.
http://www.smftutorials.com/
Dragonkaz
Well-Known Member
I started by choosing a few simple oils ... coconut oil, olive oil and rice bran oil ... and then researched how to make them into soap. I wanted to understand what was the best amount of of these oils and why. I learned from researching that it's recommended not to use more than 30% of coconut oil in soap ... but of course there are always exceptions.
I started simple and developed a recipe with the above oils plus castor oil and cocoa butter, which is now my favourite.
Then I learned about essential oils, fragrant oils and colour.
Be prepared to find yourself using every spare moment on the internet searching and researching ... but it's fun!
Plus use this forum to read and read and read! Also the blogs of the many people who post regularly on this forum and you tube is another great research!
Take care of your self ... by that I mean making sure you have the right kind of equipment that your lye won't react with. This includes taking care of your eyes, nose, hands, arms etc! Be aware of the safety needed when making soap ... including keeping other family members ... children and pets safe.
Use the search function on this forum ... it's fantastic! Read, read and read some more!
Most important have fun ... heaps of it!
I started simple and developed a recipe with the above oils plus castor oil and cocoa butter, which is now my favourite.
Then I learned about essential oils, fragrant oils and colour.
Be prepared to find yourself using every spare moment on the internet searching and researching ... but it's fun!
Plus use this forum to read and read and read! Also the blogs of the many people who post regularly on this forum and you tube is another great research!
Take care of your self ... by that I mean making sure you have the right kind of equipment that your lye won't react with. This includes taking care of your eyes, nose, hands, arms etc! Be aware of the safety needed when making soap ... including keeping other family members ... children and pets safe.
Use the search function on this forum ... it's fantastic! Read, read and read some more!
Most important have fun ... heaps of it!
NancyRogers
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When I decided to make my own soap, I did tons and tons of research before I made my first batch. I think this helped on so many levels. I fully understood the process, the equipment I could and could not use, oil properties, etc. It's my strong personal opinion that this is a hobby you really shouldn't just jump right into.
With that said, get a good book or two and read it cover to cover. I really enjoyed The Everything Soapmaking Book by Alicia Grosso:
http://www.amazon.com/Everything-Soapma ... 1580629601
Also, Youtube can be your friend or your foe. Read the book first and then enjoy the videos for help with swirling techniques, etc. Keep in mind that even though you see soapers not wearing gloves, eye protection, etc on those videos does not make that a good idea. Always protect yourself. Never use a soap recipe from a book or on-line without running it through a lye calculator yourself. I recommend SoapCalc, but there are other fine calculators out there:
http://www.soapcalc.net/calc/SoapCalcWP.asp
Use the search function in forums (this one and others) before asking basic questions. You will probably get most of your answers more quickly that way. Still, don't feel bad asking any question here if you can't find the answer with the search. There are really no dumb questions.
Once you've done your research, you should find the whole process less frightening and much more fun.
With that said, get a good book or two and read it cover to cover. I really enjoyed The Everything Soapmaking Book by Alicia Grosso:
http://www.amazon.com/Everything-Soapma ... 1580629601
Also, Youtube can be your friend or your foe. Read the book first and then enjoy the videos for help with swirling techniques, etc. Keep in mind that even though you see soapers not wearing gloves, eye protection, etc on those videos does not make that a good idea. Always protect yourself. Never use a soap recipe from a book or on-line without running it through a lye calculator yourself. I recommend SoapCalc, but there are other fine calculators out there:
http://www.soapcalc.net/calc/SoapCalcWP.asp
Use the search function in forums (this one and others) before asking basic questions. You will probably get most of your answers more quickly that way. Still, don't feel bad asking any question here if you can't find the answer with the search. There are really no dumb questions.
Once you've done your research, you should find the whole process less frightening and much more fun.
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margarita
Well-Known Member
My advice would be to start simple - a few basic oils, small batches, no fancy additives or fragrance oils until you understand the process and how your soap behaves. And then you can start experimenting!
make sure that even if you get a recipe from a book that you run it through a lye calculator. there are some recipes that give out too much/little lye out there. soapcalc is a good place to start
cp chick
Well-Known Member
You will see many pictures of beautiful soaps posted on this site. If your soaps don't turn out quite so picture perfect, don't let it get you down. I may have had 3 or 4 soaps that turned out as gorgeous as some of them. What matters is that you like them and that they are good useable soaps. Each batch is a learning experience. In time you will see what works for you.
FreeRabbit
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I read as much about it through the web as I could, including wikipedia, I also browsed here like a 100 pages back...
also youtube was a good helper, seeing people do it live was HUGE
also youtube was a good helper, seeing people do it live was HUGE
margarita said:
Very good advice. I went crazy when I first started soaping. I wanted to play with all the oils and FOs, etc. I spent a lot of money which was wasteful. Now I have a lot of FOs that I don't like and don't want to use in my batches.
I've found over time that I prefer the basic oils (olive, coconut, palm and castor). Although avocado is nice and I've been hearing positive comments about high oleic sunflower oil which I'd like to try someday. I also found I don't care too much for butters in my soaps except for a small amount of cocoa butter in a salt bar. Of course, this is just personal preference.
Great advice.margarita said:
This said, if you have a yen to try something more challenging, then go for it. But if it doesn't work don't let that stop you from soaping, just take it as a reason to slow down and back up a step.
BTW, I had no books, just a forum and soapcalc.net. I didn't do a TON of research. But I did start simple and move slowly. Dept my 3rd batch was 3 layers, the middle one with half & half for the liquid and the ore two with skim milk. Not simple. And it was great.
. Go figure.
G
Guest
I bought a book on Milk soaps because the husband had a goat with nasty tasting milk (dau & grdau also had nasty milk) for drinking and cheeses. So I wondered about soaps. I tried 2 different recipes and both failed...so went searching on the internet.
Came to http://millersoap.com/ It's not updated anymore, but she will keep it online if people come and use it. From the comments section, people still are. That is where I learned about soap calculators and my first one I could understand was at MMS... http://www.thesage.com/calcs/lyecalc2.php I am trying to use the one on soapcalc but am concerned with the lye differences from what I'm used to. It'll just take me time to gain confidence in it. I never read another book, but learned online at Millers and different yahoo groups. I learn more by doing than by reading something I know nothing about.
That being said....if a soap doesn't turn out nice enough to give away or sell, it WILL be good enough for your family generally. If not, just grate it into your washer and you'll be surprised how nice your clothes turn out. I haven't bought laundry soap in a long time. I use my shavings or less than desirable soaps this way.
Biggest thing is, like all the others have said, to start small. If you've bought a lot of different fragrances, molds, oils and then find it's not something you want to do or do as often, it's a big waste of money. As you get better and do more, then you can start getting other, nicer things. In the meantime, start saving your money, this is not a cheap hobby!
Came to http://millersoap.com/ It's not updated anymore, but she will keep it online if people come and use it. From the comments section, people still are. That is where I learned about soap calculators and my first one I could understand was at MMS... http://www.thesage.com/calcs/lyecalc2.php I am trying to use the one on soapcalc but am concerned with the lye differences from what I'm used to. It'll just take me time to gain confidence in it. I never read another book, but learned online at Millers and different yahoo groups. I learn more by doing than by reading something I know nothing about.
That being said....if a soap doesn't turn out nice enough to give away or sell, it WILL be good enough for your family generally. If not, just grate it into your washer and you'll be surprised how nice your clothes turn out. I haven't bought laundry soap in a long time. I use my shavings or less than desirable soaps this way.
Biggest thing is, like all the others have said, to start small. If you've bought a lot of different fragrances, molds, oils and then find it's not something you want to do or do as often, it's a big waste of money. As you get better and do more, then you can start getting other, nicer things. In the meantime, start saving your money, this is not a cheap hobby!
My first batch was a kit so everything was weighed out and just had to follow the instructions...........Oh the fun I had and gelling was incomplete as I just had to peek at it about forty times LOL
So maybe a kit? not sure who does these in the USA. Love Cintas recommendation of Soap Naturally this was my first book and I so savoured it full of lots of good helpful information :0)
Look forward to hearing of your first batch..............no looking back after it I tell you
So maybe a kit? not sure who does these in the USA. Love Cintas recommendation of Soap Naturally this was my first book and I so savoured it full of lots of good helpful information :0)
Look forward to hearing of your first batch..............no looking back after it I tell you
