Hello-New to Soaping in Cali and book recommendations wanted

[WildIris]

Hi~
My 13 year old daughter and I made out first M&P last week for a mother's day gift. We went small-only one pound just to get the hang of how it works. We didn't add any extra oily oils only clay and a fragrance oil. The fragrance oil is a bit overpowering but it mellowing with the soap out in a dish and in use.

We want to make more bar soap, try rebatching, and cold processed soap, but I need some more reliable information on how to do this.

We are looking for good book recommendations on how to make different types of soap and how to do this safely. Safety is a priority as I am doing this with my daughter in our small kitchen cleared of its normal clutter. Lye scares me a bit only because I don't really understand how to use it safely. So much of what I've read on the internet concerning liquid soaps recipes, gives me pause for thought. So many rely on vitamin E as a "natural" preservative. I know enough to realize that just vitamin E as a preservative might be a recipe for disaster. For now we are holding off on liquid soap until we find more reliable information.

 

[snappyllama]

Howdy!

As far as reading goes, I find this forum has the best information out there. Read through the stickies in the beginner section here and the last few pages of posts to get a good feel for things. A lot of books have outdated information or are just collection of recipes.

To get started with cold process soap, I highly recommend watching the Soap Queen tutorials on handling lye safely: [ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yR6ttCSrLJI&list=PLAADF6209996265D2&index=1&feature=plpp_video[/ame]

She also has a bunch of tutorials great for beginners on melt and pour and cold process soaps. Her recipes aren't my favorite and she does use glass containers for cold process(that's a no go), but overall she gives good/clear information.

Another excellent resource is a youtube channel: Soaping101. Her videos build on one another so it's best to start with the oldest ones first. Again, her recipes aren't my favorite, but her videos are really good.

One note of lye safety... if you get lye on yourself, rinse with lots of cool running water. Do not use vinegar as this will cause further injury.

 

[Susie]

Hey, and welcome to both of you!

I will second this as being the best source of information. Also the same videos mentioned above. If you want good starter recipes, just ask. You will get multiple suggestions. We're a friendly bunch (normally) and happy to help. You also need to read the stickies in the "announcement" forum.

 

[Seawolfe]

Unfortunately, I have yet to see a book on soap making that isn't full of outdated information, or just plain lousy recipes. With the exception of "scientific soap making" and that is no book for beginners.

Along with the suggestions above, find the soapmaking 101 you tube videos, read and post here, and learn how to use a lye calculator like soapcalc.net or soapers.com. Once you understand the basics, you'll be able to formulate your own recipes.

Of course nothing teaches like doing, there are decent soapmaking kits at Brambleberry or http://www.soap-making-resource.com/soap-making-kits.html to help you get started.

 

[WildIris]

Thanks for the information. We will skip the books in favor of videos and notetaking on "How to...."

 

[KristaY]

Hi WildIris and welcome! :wave: I agree 100% with all the advice given by the previous wonderful soapers. When you're ready to jump in, let us know. We'll be happy to help out.