Experienced Soapers... Your thoughts please.

[Arimara]

I'm sorry for your loss. I hope you shed the idea that you are a cheat; you're not. M&P soaps may be premade but they can be really good for those who truly can't use CP soaps. Many of the M&P soaps I have seen are down right beautiful and deserve the respect that many soap-snobs won't give (strong words, I know but it's my opinion). The time and effort that M&P makers can put into making their bars can easily be doubled if they make their own bases and it's not like bad bases are all that's out there either.

Keep your head held high (figuratively) when soaping. If this is a way to help you heal from your loss, don't let anyone tell you differently. This is a path that you're walking and no one can steer you off unless you let them.

Happy soaping.

 

[jules92207]

Hi Heather, let me first say I'm so very sorry for your loss. My heart breaks for you and your family.

M&P is a beautiful art and I respect anyone who does it. It sounds like the right fit for you and your daughter right now and I think you can tell by now there's no judgement in our respectful soapy world how you create. I wish you all the luck in the world with this endeavor and I hope you share your soapy creations with us on your journey.

 

[cmzaha]

Good Evening Heather and welcome to the forum. I am so sorry for your tremendous loss, most of us will never experience this kind of heartache and what it takes to move on with life. You are certainly on a right path to be helping your daughter find an interest to help her continue on.

M&P is definetly not cheating and there is no reason to be embarrassed to use m&p for beautiful soaps. My daughter is epileptic among other health issues and it was simply not safe for her to make cp or hp soap. She could make the most gorgeous and fun soaps that I would be jealous of my only being able to make cp soap. She has since quit her end of the business due to the extreme competition and I miss her soaps. I cannot pour a decent m&p soap no matter how I try. If you check out actzstore.com you can see some of her work. She just gave me 2 of her books that she used when learning.
SoapyLove by Debbie Chialtas and 300 Handcrafted soaps by Marie Browning. You and your daughter will have a lot of fun, this could be a great way to get through the bad days. Not everyone can use lye soap no matter how it is made plus m&p usually has a lower ph that is better for children's soap, so do not feel like you are cheating. Melt and Pour is not soap and not all m&p is made from a lye soap base, some are all synthetic. I always felt the industry did damage when they named it M&P.

 

[SunRiseArts]

Oh my gosh, so sorry for your loss. I cannot imagine the pain from losing a child... when I lost my dad, I also spend much time home, still do. I can understand what you are saying.

Before you try HP or CP you need many batches under your belt. I personally make MP more than CP, and while I do not often sell any soap, sometimes I make themed ones, and sell them in offices and such.

In my experience tons of people, specially guys, prefer the feel of MP rather than CP. And you can get so creative with it! I have done lots of MP, if you have any specific questions, maybe I van help.

:bunny:

 

[SunRiseArts]

BTW my favorite bases are the ones from natures garden, and I swear by the 5 pound triple butter from Michaels, is the best one I have ever tried. (this week they have a 50% of coupon).

Also you can always get a crock pot and try rebatch bases. I LOVE the basic rebatch base from brambleberry. In my gallery I have a couple of pics when I worked with it. Is like working with HP soap, and will give you a more rustic handmade look. It will also retain the FO or EO better than making CP or HP, but is a little challenging when it comes to color.

 

[Zany_in_CO]

Deleted.

 

[cerelife]

When you get everything up and running, please post your website and FB page on here!
I'll for sure buy some "Boog & Bec" soap!!

 

[WeaversPort]

My deepest sympathy for the loss of your son. I lost my father to brain cancer several years ago, and I can't even imagine what it would be like to lose a child. As my friend John once told me after the death of his daughter; no parent should ever have to go through the experience of out living their child. I'm glad you found us and found soap.

I'm a new soaper, less than a month into the adventure. There are those who can get snotty about every niche hobby or passion, but on a whole I've found the people here so welcoming and helpful. It has become a refuge for me here, in some ways.

Perhaps think of soapmaking like painting. Some people like watercolor. Some people like oils. Some people like acrylic. Just because one person uses watercolors and another person uses acrylic, doesn't make the resulting painting any less beautiful to the eye. In fact, you might specifically use acrylic because of the effects you're looking for! Plus with soap, you can have art and wash with it!

I'm glad to hear you are finding ways to connect with your daughter, I think that will help heal you both - even though the loss never fully goes away.

In regards to lye, think of it similar to working with hot wax or boiling water. You don't want it to get away from you. It will burn when splashed. But it's not like you're working with nitroglycerin - it won't blow up if you look at it funny. Good ventilation, gloves, goggles, careful practices.. The way you would with any force you respect. Generally when people talk about no children in the soaping area, it's about minimizing chaos and trying to keep accidents from happening.

 

[cmzaha]

Before you try HP or CP you need many batches under your belt. I personally make MP more than CP, and while I do not often sell any soap, sometimes I make themed ones, and sell them in offices and such.

:bunny:

LOL, you cannot get batches under you belt without making them, but I have a feeling that is not what you meant. You do need to get a year or so soaping experience making cp or hp before even considering selling. At this point you do not even know a good from bad batch.

Any of the m&p from Essentials from Catalina is good soap base.

 

[Zany_in_CO]

M&P is a beautiful art and I respect anyone who does it. It sounds like the right fit for you and your daughter right now and I think you can tell by now there's no judgement in our respectful soapy world how you create. I wish you all the luck in the world with this endeavor and I hope you share your soapy creations with us on your journey.

Ditto. Well said.

 

[PunkieBrewer]

I am so sorry for your loss.

Melt and pour is definitely not cheating. In fact Lush, one of the biggest "all natural" handcrafted soap companies is largely, if not completely, melt and pour. You can do some really amazing things with melt and pour soap. Someday, you might decide to tackle cold or hot process. You might not. Do what you are comfortable with and have fun.

 

[BlackWillowSoaps]

Hi,

Sorry for your loss. I run a melt and pour soap business. So, no, I definitely do not think it is cheating. I am up front about the process I use. There are people out there that do not like melt and pour soaps and will tell you so. But they are not the people that you are catering to. The only issue I have with m&p is that you are stuck with whatever ingredients are in the m&p base which sometimes includes things that potential customers do not want in their soap I.e. Polyethylene glycol, etc. I say go for it (even though you will be my competition )

 

[The Efficacious Gentleman]

So sorry for your loss.

It's not cheating, but you should be honest. "Homemade"....... what? If you say homemade soap then you would be misleading people - melt and pour is soap when it arrives at your door. Unscented, uncoloured, blocks of soap. You aren't making soap. That is an area to keep in mind.

Some m&p can be found which is really well made and you might still be able to say it's organic if the original block is certified organic.