I have a thousand dollars to spend tell a newbie how to spend it!

[stargazer44]

I am the type of person who when I decide to do something, I jump in with both feet. When I first stated soaping, a kit may have really excited me. But I encourage you to spend wisely. Because it can add up quickly! I would rather use what I have until I have to replace it, and spend my money on FO, EO, colors, oils, cutter, molds that I chose and like, etc. Oh and books. I bought every soap book I could get my hands on, and read them all. I played with some of those recipes first, then expanded from there. Internet is also your friend. I still spend tons of time watching Youtube.

I am by no ways an expert. I have been soaping less than a year, so still a beginner. I found a lot on Amazon, (prime!), like my scale. I used a stick blender that i already had, and have been searching garage sales for more. Ikea is a great resource for pots and glass measuring cups etc. I got a $2 pitcher for mixing and it is awesome! My drying racks were cheap - stackable cooling racks.

If I had a few thousand to spend - I would get a nice cutter, a good scale, (mine is awesome and was $40 on Amazon), nice molds, books, and spend the rest on colors, scents and oils. The other stuff you can get around the house, thrift stores, Ikea, garage sales, etc. It doesn't need to be fancy. Even your goggles you can find for just a few dollars.

But the best advice I can give you? Research the heck out of stuff, (molds, cutters, scale, etc) before you buy. That was my biggest mistake. I bought things I later regretted. Taking time to research would have saved me time and money in the end.

 

[OHello]

I'd buy an accurate digital scale, some nice big stainless steel pots and a stick mixer plus good goggles, a lab coat (I am a chicken about getting splashed and wear hubbies old discarded shirts over my clothes. I would love a lab coat for soaping) and gloves.

Then I would watch a heap of tutorials on youtube - free!
Then I'd read a tonne of forum threads and recipes on CP soap making - free!
Then I would learn how to use soapcalc - free!
Then I'd stock up on some basic oils - coconut, olive, palm, castor and some shea butter.

And then I'd buy some colours, some coloured clays and some fragrances and a few molds.

And then I would make up recipes, run them through soap calc and play

BTW - don't use your KitchenAid stand mixer as there is a fair chance that you might get splashed.

Lucky you. I wish I had $1000 to spend on soap stuff. Oh the fragrances I would buy....

 

[melstan775]

Like the others I think you need to take it easy. Enough oils from soaper's choice to make 12 batches is $300 (for the ingredients I would use). That's almost 1/3 your budget. I would think you could invest $100 into a good scale, a stick blender, soap oils, a few colorant samples and fragrances. Also hit the thrift stores for spoons, cups, and bowls. You don't want to use your kitchen equipment for this task because of the lye, but you don't need brand new stuff either. You just need clean stuff. Thrift store seconds can be sterilized in your dishwasher and you're golden. For goggles, I got some from Lowe's, I didn't trust the Bramble Berry ones to be enough protection. They look great and are padded but they were just too close to the face for me. I wanted something bigger, but this is a matter of preference. This is more then enough to get you started and help you decide if soapmaking is something you want to pursue. It is relaxing if you love it and can get into it, but it's also labor and time intensive.

If you do decide you want to try on soapmaking, you then have enough to buy bulk oils, good quality colorants and fragrances,and a couple of good molds or the materials to make them. This is a very expensive hobby and you really do not want to throw out $1000 and find out you hate doing it.

 

[Mommysoaper]

I'm like staregazer44. I did invest in books. I did learn a lot on line from SoapQueenTV on youtube and from Soaping101 videos and of course from some forums, but I LOVE books. I love to have something tangible to read and be able to look back on and if I have questions mark up my book, make a tab, make a note. I'm a book nerd! As for books I have the Soapmaker's Companion by Susan Miller Cavitch, Basic Soapmaking(Kindle Version) by Elizabeth Letcavage and Patsy Buck, The Everything Soapmaking Book byAlicia Grosso, Smart Soapmaking and Smart Milk Soapmaking by Anne L. Watson. After I had thoroughly dog-eared those books, I bought Making Natural Liquid soaps by Catharine Failor, and Scientific Soapmaking by Kevin Dunn. All good books, some better than others in my opinion. So, if you're the bookish type, go ahead and by a few! Good luck on your new hobby but definitly take your time and decide what to buy, wait for sales, use coupons, because a thousand bucks to go so quickly.

 

[AngelMomma]

I would invest in setting up my "Soaping Room" Making soap in an organized specialized space would take away any little troublesome, time consuming hiccups while you are soaping. Like shelving, storage space, curing racks, tables, etc. Then I would figure out which recipes I would be using and make order accordingly. I would think of it like a restaurant. If you want to make Lasagna and ravioli then you have to have the ingredients. I would order bulk oils from Soapers Choice. If you love soapmaking, go for it. Have tons of fun practicing and enjoy it!

I would skip the kit personally.

 

[lemontongue]

If this is going to be something that you take the time to perfect and make lots of, or at least multiple times I would say invest in a wooden mold with a silicone liner. I would recommend a slab mold to begin with but log molds are nice too. If you're planning on trying certain designs with your soap then research that first before deciding slab vs log mold. Try a place like Woodfields or Silvermoon Molds. For slab molds I recommend one with cut lines.