How quickly did you start

[TheGecko]

My question is: did you jump in feet first? Or did you take your time starting? Why?

Last time I jumped...I was 8, out of a second-story window...on a dare. That was the easy part. The hard part was explaining to my Mom how I snuck past her.

I’m a bit on the thrifty side so I tend to research or try things out, or go an inexpensive route before I invest. Like renting golf clubs for a year before buying a set. I knew I wanted to make goat milk soap, but I didn’t know a lot about the process and so I spent a few months research. I then decided to purchase a kit as it was the most efficient and practical way to start. And it’s a process that I recommend to anyone wanting to start a new hobby.

I jumped right in - bought a kit - amazingly enough there were kits available 17 years ago when I started, but not much info online on how to actually make soap, and no forums for sure - the kit came with lye, oils, scent, and a mold.

How did we ever survive without forums and YouTube?!? LOL

 

[artemis]

Last time I jumped...I was 8, out of a second-story window...on a dare.

We used to jump from the top of the basement stairs to land on the bags of old clothes on the concrete floor below. When Mom discovered that, she had the side of the stair well boarded up. We could never understand why...

I’m a bit on the thrifty side...

Ya, I'm pretty cheap, too. Whenever I want to try something, my eye goes first to everything around me. What can be repurposed for this...?

 

[Susie]

Found a lard soap recipe (yeah, I know, still love the lard), bought the NaOH at Lowe's. Lined the cardboard box with a trashbag (found it online) and proceeded.

Fortunately, I found this forum when I was anxiously awaiting the colossal failure, learned to rebatch, and I was hooked. I still hate to rebatch, though.

 

[ThinLizzie59]

I'm a bull-in-a-china-shop kind of gal. I grew up with my dad saying, "if at first you don't succeed, get a bigger hammer."

So, when I decided to make soap, I bought the NaOH at the Lowe's, found a recipe online, and just tried it. I know there are a few here who also jumped right in, but more and more I'm seeing people who are researching for months before even making their first loaf of soap.

My question is: did you jump in feet first? Or did you take your time starting? Why?

I quite accidentally found soap making information and examples of the saponification process (using real lye from wood ash!) while researching pioneering skills on the internet. I found it so utterly amazing that my research took me deeper and deeper into the science of soapmaking. It was a gradual study which took me about six months before I tried my first batch. It was very small and took me about an hour using a wire whisk because I didn’t have a blender yet. Since my first soap was so wonderful and moisturizing (compared to commercial brands) I just had to delve deeper and deeper to learn everything I could about this amazing art!

 

[Pamela Carver]

I'm a bull-in-a-china-shop kind of gal. I grew up with my dad saying, "if at first you don't succeed, get a bigger hammer."

So, when I decided to make soap, I bought the NaOH at the Lowe's, found a recipe online, and just tried it. I know there are a few here who also jumped right in, but more and more I'm seeing people who are researching for months before even making their first loaf of soap.

My question is: did you jump in feet first? Or did you take your time starting? Why?

I started with a couple of books from the library in 2009 seeking craft to ease the horrors of a toxic work environment. I was only a few years from retirement and had to stick it out. Made my first batch within a week the basic way, hand stirred. It was not long before I picked up a $14 stick blender at the grocery store and it was game on. My second batch was my first swirl and here I am 11 years later still thinking of the next batch. Hopefully this afternoon I will try the clam shell pour for the first time lol. Still working, the job thing had a dramatic change and I'm still there because now it is good. Will retire in the near future just have not had the nerve to actually set a date. Selling just enough to support my habit.

 

[jcandleattic]

Last time I jumped...I was 8, out of a second-story window...on a dare.

HAHA reminds me of my sister who jumped out of the top of a barn out on my grandparents farm. She was about the same age. Knocked the wind out of her really bad (we thought she was going to have a collapsed lung) but got up a few minutes later, and after about an hour it was as if it never happened.

How did we ever survive without forums and YouTube?!? LOL

At that time, I had books that sort of explained the process etc., but looking at those books now that I know better, I wonder how I ever got a usable bar of soap.. LOL

 

[forestedge]

Initial idea to making the first batch - years. The delay was 'life' getting in the way and my being a research every-little-detail geek.

 

[Scylus]

I'm more of the "Plan the optimal strategy for destroying everything in the china shop before you open the door" kinda dude. I watched a million youtube videos, wound up buying a kit off brambleberry (hey, it had everything I needed to get started and was relatively inexpensive) just to see if I liked it. Less than a week later, I was ordering bulk oils, bigger mixing containers, a larger soap mold, etc.

 

[Quilter99755]

I got started when my skin turned old and dry. It coincided with our move from Alaska to Idaho in 2006, so I started buying different types of soap. Nothing worked. Then found an article about SLS and SLA's in soap and shampoo, so bought my first bar of natural soap at a Farmer's market. My skin felt almost young again! I was happy with buying soap until a friend said, "Why don't you make your own soap? It's easy!"
Due to space and the fact that my daughter and grandson were living with us at the time, I didn't start right away but spent a fair amount of time on the internet. Then I found a site that promoted the hot process which for some reason rang my chimes better than cold process, probably because the saponification process is complete and I wouldn't have to worry about my grandson getting into it when it could still zap him!
It took almost a year of playing with different oils...mostly olive since that was the original mild soap...to find out that "done" was not ready for use and I started curing my soaps. That improved my soaps but still had the itchy feeling. It really wasn't until I started on this forum last year that I started getting away from olive oil...first to lard and now RBO...to find a better, non-itchy soap. I have spent more time on the internet just on this forum alone than I ever did when I first got into making soaps. Wish I would have found it first.

 

[aquamorgan]

I read and watched lots of articles and videos before committing to make my first batch. I gathered all the supplies that I need and come up with a learning plan for myself. My first batch was 100% coconut oil (just to keep everything simple) using hot process. I later found out 100% coconut oil is too harsh for skin usage, I then use them in the laundry. Throughout the soaping journey, I got tips, tricks and gradually learn more about oil, essential oil and advance to create my own shampoo and conditioner bars. Now, the entire household is filled with my dish soap, shampoo, conditioner and of course, soaps for skin with various properties. Love making the soap, there is so much more await to be tried!

 

[TheGecko]

Ya, I'm pretty cheap, too. Whenever I want to try something, my eye goes first to everything around me. What can be repurposed for this...?

I'm not cheap, I just don't like to waste money when I don't have to. A 'cheap' person is someone who refuses to spend money when they should, a 'thrifty' person uses money and other resources carefully and not wastefully. And it doesn't sound like you are 'cheap' either.

 

[Arimara]

I bugged my sister into telling me a few things, read the beginning of a book, only enough info to get me a recipe and the how-tos, bought some NaOH + a cavity mold from Amazon, some measuring cups and bins from Walmart and I dove right it. You could barely say I did a month of prep work. the bulk of my learning came AFTER the first batch of soap, which was about 17oz. As to why I didn't take my time, I got bored and impatient.

 

[TheGecko]

HAHA reminds me of my sister who jumped out of the top of a barn out on my grandparents farm. She was about the same age. Knocked the wind out of her really bad (we thought she was going to have a collapsed lung) but got up a few minutes later, and after about an hour it was as if it never happened.

We lived in an farmhouse...the stairs were accessed via the kitchen. Mom was sitting at the kitchen table sewing with her back to the stairs. She would have skinned us all alive had she known what I did, so I told her that I had been dared to sneak out, run around the house and sneak back in. Obviously I lost the dare. YEARS later Mom found out and it didn't matter that we were all adults in our 30s...she pinned my older sister's ears back.

At that time, I had books that sort of explained the process etc., but looking at those books now that I know better, I wonder how I ever got a usable bar of soap.. LOL

So much of what I have learned over the years (I'm in my late 50s), I learned from books because that is all I had unless I knew someone who did 'abc' and 'xyz'. I used to have a loom knitting group on FB, but I finally grew too frustrated with folks who simply refused to learn how to read a pattern or look at an illustration, or even try on their own. They wanted someone to hold their hand and pretty much knit for them.

 

[Arimara]

So much of what I have learned over the years (I'm in my late 50s), I learned from books because that is all I had unless I knew someone who did 'abc' and 'xyz'. I used to have a loom knitting group on FB, but I finally grew too frustrated with folks who simply refused to learn how to read a pattern or look at an illustration, or even try on their own. They wanted someone to hold their hand and pretty much knit for them.

Oh, so you loom knit, eh? Are there any good books on that? I have tried the YT thing and I get more bored with that than with books. I need to decipher pictures with the mini arrows.

 

[TheGecko]

Oh, so you loom knit, eh? Are there any good books on that? I have tried the YT thing and I get more bored with that than with books. I need to decipher pictures with the mini arrows.

Sent you a PM.

 

[Zen Pretzel]

It started with taking a soapmaking class. That gave me a base soap recipe to use. I wasn't planning on making all this soap, but I bought a bunch of materials over the couple of months that followed until I had a decent stockpile of materials. I'm now about 25 batches in. I'm making different product lines that I eventually plan on selling. It's a fun hobby and I look forward to making even more.

 

[raymondlgraham]

I did some reading online and watched some YouTube Videos ….One of the videos was by a homesteader who moved from the city to the country and built her own log cabin. She also raised chicken and other critters on her small farm. She did a video that took the viewer through a step by step of her making a 3 ingredient plain soap. Lard, Lye and Water where her three ingredients. She showed the process from start to finish, explaining the procedure step by step and suggesting the tools one would need to make this kind of soap. Once I found the Soap Calc online and understood how to use it I was off to the races as it were. There was still some things I needed to understand about organizing the process in an orderly way. One of them was understanding it was a good idea to prepare your lye solution several hours in advance in order for it to have time for the temperature to drop back down into the useable range. It gets pretty hot 180 degrees F or hotter when its first made but it can't be used at that high a temperature. So, getting the oils mixed at the proper temperature and getting the Lye Solution at the correct temperature at the same time that the oils were ready takes a little planning. Knowing how to properly use an immersion blender is also important since your dealing with caustic substances. And above all to have the proper Safety Equipment and to know how to use it. This includes eye and face protection, Rubber Glove or equivalent and long sleeves and good ventilation. It can be hard on the lungs if you breath the fumes that come off it when your making the Lye Solution. After you understand those things and a few more things you can enter the world of Soap Making... And it is really a world of its own. What a great time to be a Soap Maker.

 

[AliOop]

Almost eight years ago now, I was a subscriber to the Mommypotamus.com blog, and was curious about trying her LTHP 100% CO 0% SF laundry soap, and her 12% SF 100% CO hair-body soap. Without any other research or instruction, I immediately made the hair-body soap and loved how it was so much kinder to my skin and scalp. I happily used that for years. Also made the laundry soap and loved that, too, since I have horrible reactions to detergents and most fragrances. That recipe was pretty foolproof, which is probably why I stuck with just that for so long. I didn't really start learning about soap science, or even CP, until about two years ago. For awhile after that, I was into trying all different ingredients and techniques. At first it was fun, but I eventually noticed that some of the joy was gone, especially when friends and family suggested I start selling my soap. That adds a whole extra level of business stuff that is no fun for me. Soaping for me is best kept as a fun hobby: making small batches, being as creative - or basic - as I desire in the moment, and giving the soaps as gifts to those who enjoy them.