Help! Top topics for new soap makers

[Alan M.]

I think having a few articles for beginners here at Soapmaking Forum would be a good addition, what are some must read topics in your opinions for new soapmakers to read?

 

[Saltwater Scented]

Some of these are going to be repetitive for the pinned threads. A Ten Commandments for New Soapers would be a nice article combining these perhaps?

How to test for acceleration in fragrance oils you've never used before.

More isn't better, using limited numbers of ingredients to achieve a great product.

Fatty acid profiles, what each means and how it affects your finished product.

Testing your bars, what you feel in the end result, and how you can change that.

How to stock your fragrance oil rack, and colorants. Easing into the hobby with the most bang for your buck.

and because it seems to be so prevalent:

Thinking of selling in your first year of soap making? 1. Don't. 2. See #1. Let's show you why...

 

[Dawni]

Why not a sticky in the introduction forum? I know not all newbies post there but a lot do. And for all, those that post there and those that don't, we can link one thing instead of multiple stickies/posts/sites.

Stick blending right

Lye concentration basics
Hand in hand with appropriate water amounts (coconut oil needs more, olive oil needs less, etc.)

Temperatures.. Soap and ambient (at least some guiding tips, not exact)
Hand in hand with stearic spots, glycerin rivers, alien brains, etc.

Gelling and not gelling
Hand in hand with loaf molds, slab molds, individual cavity molds

EOs vs FOs.. Acceleration, what doesn't stick, etc.

Colorants.. How to mix, what doesn't work, etc.

Alternative liquids basics

 

[JoeyJ]

How to read other soaper makers recipes, and how to put them thru a few of the different soap calcs.
I found the lye concentration section confusing about how to fit a recipe in

 

[KiwiMoose]

emulsification

 

[amd]

Honestly... as a new soapmaker I would have found a lot of these topics overwhelming. The majority of new soapmakers are going to want 1) an inexpensive good recipe and 2) someone to hold their hand for every.single.question. Not to sound like a grumpy old lady, I get why sometimes it's easier to just ask a question rather than search for an answer. I think this idea has been discussed several times, but at the end of the day we can't make people read.

Quite a few of the topics above already exist as stickies:
From the Beginner's Forum:

Lye Based Soap Forum

Aromatherapy, Herbs and Essential Oils Forum:

General Business Forum

Note: I would really like to see the "Are you ready to sell your soap?" on the beginner's forum as well.

The stickies are wonderful nuggets of information, if you read them. As a beginner I did, but I'm also a rule follower and like to know what I'm getting myself into before I sign up.

 

[bookreader451]

Not a lot is discussed about HP I think more new people would try if if they knew more about it.

 

[Lin19687]

I know it was discussed before and said it wasn't do-able.
But maybe only allow new people to post in Only the beginners section and read only the other sections. Then open it all up for them after say 4 months

 

[IrishLass]

All of the following topics are scattered throughout the forum here and there, but I admit it sure wouldn't hurt to have them consolidated into a one-stop, easy "Getting Started" place for beginners:

Basic Supplies To Buy
Safety Precautions
How To Formulate A Soap Recipe
Basic Step-By-Step Soaping Procedure from Beginning to End
Saponification vs Cure
All About Emulsification and The Different Stages of Trace
Additives: The Good, the Bad & the Ugly
How To Master-batch
CP vs HP
To Gel or Not to Gel?
FO's vs EO's
How best to use a Stickblender/When not to use a stickblender, but to hand-stir instead
Common Problems You May Run Into and Their Solutions
Soaping Temps: When taking temps matter, and when it doesn't


IrishLass

 

[shunt2011]

I too think it would be a great idea to have everything in one spot. I think the above posts have covered most of what beginners are looking for at first.

 

[Mobjack Bay]

As amd noted, a lot of beginners are going to start out looking for a tried and true recipe before they learn how to use a lye calculator. As comfortable as I am with numbers, the calculator seemed intimidating when I was first learning. Many of the recipes I found online and the few I tried back then had coconut oil at 30% or more. For that reason, some emphasis on the drying effects of CO would be helpful in post on how to formulate a recipe.

SMF is a treasure trove of useful information, but searches often turn up the oldest information first, and that information might be out of date, e.g. with how high to SF, or how long to cure a salt bar, or the ideal temperature for CPOP. Senior/experienced members can encourage/help newbies learn how to search the forum by linking threads rather than repeating information that is well explained in an older thread. I always find that helpful.

And, finally, working at emulsion and “room temperature” with very small batches (< 1 lb oil) and individual cavity molds caused me a lot of headaches at the beginning. Taking the same small batch recipes to light trace, or gently OPing (or heating pad) solves the problem, but I personally think it would be easier for newbies to start at light to medium trace to ensure saponification proceeds as intended before the batter separates or gets terribly ashy.

 

[Marilyn Norgart]

SMF is a treasure trove of useful information, but searches often turn up the oldest information first,

my searches seem to turn up information that is mixed up as far as dates go (is there some button I need to push to re-set?)
I am one that needs my hand held--to me the searches are difficult and intimidating as there are so many articles. I wonder if maybe cleaning some of it out might help. and sometimes I need to hear the right words to have it click for me. the help I have gotten first hand from members has been so valuable and it makes this site what it is.

 

[amd]

my searches seem to turn up information that is mixed up as far as dates go (is there some button I need to push to re-set?)

It's in advanced options, or MORE:

And then I select MOST RECENT

 

[IrishLass]

Ditto what amd posted ^^^. That's the best way of searching and the only way I personally do searches on SMF. And you can narrow things down even further by clicking on 'Search Titles Only' and/or 'Posted by Member'. You can get pinpoint results really quick that way.


IrishLass

 

[Marilyn Norgart]

It's in advanced options, or MORE:[/QUOTE

thanks for that

Ditto what amd posted ^^^. That's the best way of searching and the only way I personally do searches on SMF. And you can narrow things down even further by clicking on 'Search Titles Only' and/or 'Posted by Member'. You can get pinpoint results really quick that way.


IrishLass

thanks to both of you guys!!!!

 

[Dawni]

I use Google and add "site:soapmakingforum.com" after the search word/phrase... It's easy to see the dates for me and less fiddly hehe

 

[Arimara]

Not a lot is discussed about HP I think more new people would try if if they knew more about it.

CP is generally easier but it is a good idea for a newbie to learn to HP a soap. Sometimes, you need to HP your soap to avoid it going to waste. case in point, if you happen to an additive that unexpectedly accelerates your soap to a form a soap lollipop (usually this happens with certain FOs).

 

[Mobjack Bay]

Using the SMF search engine, my Page 1 search results for “Salt bar” using the “most recent” feature:



A Google search does better, but fails to turn up recent threads on salt bars:


Following the “more results” link yields this, with a 2019 thread near the bottom of the page:


The Google search engine “learns” what you search for. Not everyone will necessarily get the same results.

 

[Mobjack Bay]

I’m not saying that searches don’t work. On the other, it can be challenging to find the most informative threads on a topic. The more experienced you get, the easier it is to know what words to add to narrow a search, or which member names to add. I use the search engine all the time, but also very much appreciate it when someone shares a link to a good thread.

 

[amd]

Using the SMF search engine, my Page 1 search results for “Salt bar” using the “most recent” feature:

Like any search engine, it's how you use it. Using just the words salt bar as you did turns up any post with the word salt, bar or even part of the word is in the "bartender" threads. Putting salt bar into quotations "salt bar" will yield better results.
https://www.soapmakingforum.com/search/8156963/?q="salt+bar"&o=date

Using quotations and a finer wording yields fewer results: "how to make salt bar"
https://www.soapmakingforum.com/search/8157517/?q="how+to+make+salt+bar"&o=date
but not necessarily with better results. Sometimes finding the right phrasing is key.