Hello from Iowa!

[ozziesgirl]

I'm Jeannie; mom to 6, grandma to 4, part-time librarian, and full-time home schooler. I'm new to making soap. I made one batch each of HP and CP from a recipe I worked out on a soap calculator. They both worked awesome and I thought I was a soap making genius, THEN I had a batch that failed, and I realized I needed to back up and do a lot more thorough research. I'm a little nervous because I see a lot of people getting chewed out for how they phrase a question, or for just asking the wrong question in general. I'll do my best not to upset anyone, and I look forward to learning all I can, because I'm already hooked on this soaping thing.

 

[Cindy2428]

Hello Jeannie - No need to be nervous. No honest query will ever be questioned. Sometimes people demand recipes and they have never introduced themselves; ask a question and are rude when they get an answer, or don't even try to research their questions.

I would gamble that there are no entry level soaping questions that have not been answered here. Part of the soaping journey and success is the learning process. If you are a visual learner - plenty of You tube channels. I would recommend Soaping 101 and Brambleberry.

Welcome aboard

 

[snappyllama]

Howdy and welcome!

 

[lsg]

Hi ozziesgirl. I was a school librarian for over 20 years. Welcome to the forum.

 

[Saponomancer]

Welcome to the forum! I'm sorry you've gotten such a poor impression of us, we're generally very friendly and happy to help out.

 

[Steve85569]

Welcome to the forum!
Pull up a stump and have a seat.
There are lots of good teachers here and I have asked my share of beginner questions here without any problems. Be prepared to learn quickly though! A lot of the teachers here really know soap making in a technical sort of way.
A good source to start with is the beginners section and the shorthand abbreviations that get used in soaping. Lots of good videos on the monthly challenge threads too!

Steve

 

[jules92207]

Hi Jeannie! We were all new once and we all asked new questions. I learned a lot from the "elders" here so please don't be afraid to ask, I can assure you we all want to help first and foremost. Please ask away and we look forward to your soapy creations and learning more about you!

 

[Viore]

Hello and welcome! I am also a school librarian, nice to meet you!

 

[DeeAnna]

Not a librarian, but I'm an Iowa girl, born and bred. Hi!

 

[shunt2011]

Hello and Welcome!!!

 

[Susie]

Hey and welcome!

We really don't eat newbies. I promise! We only get aggravated if someone is rude, demanding, argues with us when they asked our opinions or how to fix something, or if they absolutely refuse to learn. We might get a bit testy if they come off like some sort of expert and are giving bad advice. But, for people who honestly want to learn, we will answer unlimited questions and celebrate their victories!

 

[dixiedragon]

Welcome! Generally the only questions that get a lot of push-back here are along the lines of "I want to sell soap, what is a good recipe?" Or "I've been making soap for 2 months from a recipe I got in a book and now I want to sell."

 

[TDS]

Hi Jeannie! Welcome

 

[KristaY]

Hi Jeannie and welcome! :wave:

 

[Saipan]

Hey, I'm form Iowa as well. Hope to see you around.

 

[IrishLass]

Welcome, Jeannie!

Like Susie said, we really don't eat newbies! We welcome questions, and our forum is filled with wonderful folks that genuinely desire to help answer them. If you ever see any testiness, you can be sure that the example-questions that Susie and Dixie provided in their posts are the usual suspects that are found at the bottom of it. Here is one of our 'Stickies' which will help you to become familiar with the particular forum 'culture' we have here at SMF. After reading it, I'm sure that you will feel much more at ease with posting questions:

http://www.soapmakingforum.com/showthread.php?t=56833


IrishLass

 

[BlackDog]

Hi Jeannie! Eastern Iowan here. Welcome to the forum

 

[Stacyspy]

Hi and welcome from NW Missouri

 

[soaring1]

Hi Jeannie! Welcome. This is a wonderful group of people. Lots of knowledge here. I just wish I had more time to hang out here, but veggies and fruit trees are calling my name and of course getting a batch of soap in. I am from Central Iowa, Grinnell.

 

[TeresaT]

Hi, Jeannie, let me apologize now for upsetting you and hurting your feelings. Now that that's out of the way, Welcome to the forum!! Ditto what everyone said about being a friendly group of people. I've only been soaping for a bit over a year and the amazing wonderful people on this forum have taught me the majority of what I know. I did a lot of research before I started to make soap and happened upon this forum. This was (and is) the mother lode of information about all things soap. The scientists on the forum break things down so I can understand them (and it makes me look smart in front of all my friends). Don't take anything personally and if someone says something that hurts your feelings or upsets you, PM them and let them know. We're all grown ups and no one means to be hurtful. We just forget sometimes that writing doesn't translate as well as speaking. I've never found a more social and helpful group of people willing to share their knowledge than I did here.