I am new would like to get advice

[adrienn]

Hello everyone
I joined this forum today to get advice really. I decided to make my own soap supplies as i am fed up buying really expensive soaps from health shops.
I researched that i can buy some organic soap base.
I already purchased it and now my question is - what is the next step?
If i would like to put some seeds scent or oils how would it affect the base? Would it be some chemical reaction what i should be aware of it?
When shall i put the scent the essential oils in there?

Many many thanks i know my question are basic but i am a real beginner.

 

[squigglz]

Doing melt and pour is quite easy. .3-.5oz of FO/EO per pound of melt and pour soap. Seeds and glitter and stuff like that is fine, just don't use TOO much. A quick google search about what you want to add to your melt and pour (make sure to specify that you're doing melt and pour in the search) should give you some good starting points.

As long as your scents are for soaps, you should be fine. You're not working with lye, so no worries about a 'chemical reaction'. Just don't reheat your MP too much after you add the fragrance and stuff, else you may ruin it.

1. Receive base
2. Cut in small chunks
3. Heat in 30 second bursts in the microwave OR in a double boiler
4. Add whatever soap safe stuff you want to it, just don't overdo it (see earlier comment re: googling specific ingredients)
5. Pour in mold
6. Wait for it to harden
7. Pop out
8. Ready to use!

The base itself is ready to use right when you buy it-it's literally just a block of glycerin soap.

 

[squigglz]

Oh, and add your fragrances/essential oils/colorant/pretty much everything after it's melted and before you pour it in the mold.

 

[adrienn]

thanks

Thank you for the quick respond. I am trying to figure out that the base what i bought has vegetable glycerine. If a want to make it without it do i need to use lye?
I can not really understand and different articles says different things. Thanks

 

[Hazel]

What articles have you've been reading? You don't need lye for a glycerine base. It's already saponified. All you have to do is melt it, add colorant if you want and scent it. You do want to make sure the base doesn't get so hot that it starts to bubble.

You might find these videos and articles helpful.

http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL05E2F1EF0838281A

http://www.soapqueen.com/bath-and-b...-beginners-guide-to-soapmaking-melt-and-pour/

http://candleandsoap.about.com/od/soapmakingbasics/ss/basicmeltpour.htm

 

[melstan775]

If you make your own soap you will also get glycerin. Glycerin is a natural byproduct of soap creation. And it's good for your skin by drawing moisture in!

 

[squigglz]

Thank you for the quick respond. I am trying to figure out that the base what i bought has vegetable glycerine. If a want to make it without it do i need to use lye?
I can not really understand and different articles says different things. Thanks

Wait, do you mean 'if I don't want to use the base, do I need to use lye'?

Lye is used in CP and HP soapmaking. It has nothing to do with melt and pour. I'd suggest doing a few melt and pour projects with the base, and then doing a TON of research on CP (Cold Process) or HP (Hot Process) if you want to begin doing that.

I second the 'what articles are you reading' question. If your search term is broad ("soap making instructions") then yes, you're going to get results about lye. If you want melt and pour instructions, search for 'melt and pour soap instructions' instead.

 

[Clayjar]

You have to figure out what you want to do.

Do you want to make soap from scratch? Then you learn the "cold process" or "hot process" method which requires lye and a fat or oil.

Do you just want to craft soap and add stuff to it? Then you learn "melt and pour" where you purchase a soap base and just melt it, add stuff like shea butter, colorants etc and pour it into molds.

Melt and pour is easier and a good place to start. I have been learning melt and pour this past month. It's alot of fun and trial and error.

I plan to do cold process in the future.

 

[adrienn]

Thank you for all answers. Yes i was very confused but all the videos and my research cleared out my confusion. Now i will start with melt and pour soap making. In the future would like to do the cold process but we live in a small flat so it is better to do it outside.
I am wondering if with the melt and pour style soup can i add cocoa butter or shea butter? I assume if yes i need to melt it and mix them together. Am i right or there is a special method to do it?

 

[squigglz]

Thank you for all answers. Yes i was very confused but all the videos and my research cleared out my confusion. Now i will start with melt and pour soap making. In the future would like to do the cold process but we live in a small flat so it is better to do it outside.
I am wondering if with the melt and pour style soup can i add cocoa butter or shea butter? I assume if yes i need to melt it and mix them together. Am i right or there is a special method to do it?

As the person directly above you said, you can add shea butter and cocoa butter. Careful with amounts-do some research on how much to add. You can also buy shea butter bases, which cuts out some time.

 

[adrienn]

Good day everyone,

Today i just made my first melt and pour soap. It is not that simple how i thought. I think the design is ok but unfortunately i was not able to avoid those little air bubbles. I made it on a very slow gas. After i put my cooking pan on the steamer so it was even softer the heat than on the gas. The bubbles were smaller but still there.
How can i avoid it?

 

[AlchemyandAshes]

Spraying alcohol on top right after your pour it into the mold will get rid of the air bubbles. Also, the less stirring you do, the better.

 

[Momonga]

Also, if you scorch the soap (I learned a couple of weeks ago - I'm a beginner too), you get bubbles throughout. Of course that also happens if you stir too much, so don't jump to that conclusion just because you have bubbles. Try not to let the base get any hotter than 140 degrees or so. You can use a glass thermometer, or I found a cheap infrared thremometer from Amazon.com is the easiest and quickest way to check your temp. Sometimes you temp starts to rise before all your base melts. Chop it up into tiny cubes, and then if you have to take it off the heat before it all melted, just stir gently and let the soap keep melting in its own heat. Hoepfully you were using a double boiler, but even easier is quick 30 second bursts of 50% power on the microwave, stirring and checking the temp in between each nuke.

This forum has all the answers. Every time something doesn't come out like you wanted, you can be sure that someone else here has done it before. Just search this forum. I just had a failed experiment with adding oatmeal last week. Then I searched for "additives" in the M&P forum, found my answer, remelted it and tried again, and had great success.

BTW, glycerine is your FRIEND, it is natural, and it makes M&P possible by making the soap base more meltable and maleable. An M&P base is basically MP or CP soap with added glycerine. Sometimes you will even add more of it, to make your soap more maleable or to use additives, or just to make something nice to sooth dry skin.

 

[Momonga]

Try not to let the base get any hotter than 140 degrees or so.

PS: That's 140 degrees farenheit! We don't have "flats" here in the US, so I must assume you are on metric. That's 60 degrees celsius.

 

[adrienn]

Hi Momonga thank you for the answer i will follow your advice. I realised how easy to get all the answers from here but i think the fear it is what was holding me back. The lot of if's and the no encouragement. Thank you for all the answers

 

[paillo]

totally normal for your first couple (few) batches not to come out the way you'd envisioned them. you'll learn something every time, and before you know it they'll be just what you wanted. then the sky's the limit! hang in there, have patience, watch carefully, take notes, and you'll be more and more happy with what you're doing. it's sooo gratifying, sooo much fun, and it's a creative outlet like no other for all of us