I'm anticipating having to find smaller goggles than standard size.
Do you own more than one pair of goggles? Where do you buy yours from?
Do you get most of your soap making supplies from Amazon, soap supply companies, anywhere you can?
Maybe you have found a trusted supplier and go with that most of the time?
What kind of fabric do you use for the apron?
About me:
The colored swirly look soaps don't appeal to me.
I want to learn how to make soaps that are white and not large, as well as soaps that look rustic or more natural, with no dyes or coloring added.
Crabtree & Evelyn seashell soap was my favorite EVER and I have been trying to find out what the scent of that was. The prices of those soaps on ebay is ridiculous.
Also interested in learning how to make milk soaps.
A friend had a large bar of soap from France (it was a gift) and the scent of that was so wonderful, the appearance was "natural" -- grayish with flecks of stuff in it.
One of my kids (adult) has sensitive skin and most soaps irritate him.
(Hi! I signed on here years ago and have drifted in and out. I have bought a few supplies and books but would still like to observe someone in person making soap).
The safety glasses/googles SoapQueen wears in her videos look small to me, but I cannot be sure if they would fit your needs. (
Link to the googles SoapQueen wears.) I found that finding safety goggles or safety glasses that fit well is hard if ordering online. I ended up buying prescription ones from my eye doctor in order to get a good fit and to be able to read my formula book while making soap. Not the most ideal - oh for 20/20 vision for everything!
I don't know Crabtree & Evelyn soap, so cannot help you there at all.
Making soap the size you want is easy when you make your own, so that goal is simple enough. And making uncolored soap will certainly keep costs down. To save money on materials, Goodwill shopping (or other second hand stores) is a great way to find the utensils & vessels you may need, even molds for the soap.
Grocery stores tend to carry most of the oils you may need. If you are fine with animal fats, lard is usually available in most grocery stores around the country. (Not in my local small town grocery, but it seems to be an anomaly, that store. - I travel the country & see it in most places.) Tallow is harder to find in grocers, but when I have seen it in jars, it seems rather expensive to me, but you can render your own. But animal fats are not essential in soap, so if you don't like them, no worries. Some grocery stores have a variety of soft oils (liquid), while others seem to carry only Olive Oil (don't ask me why, but that's just what I have observed in my travels). As you read here, you can look for what people say about which oils they like in soap, and then check your local stores to see what's available and if the costs seem reasonable to you. Coconut oil is used in many soaping recipes, as is Castor Oil (at about 5% of the oils, so not much, really.) Castor Oil is usually found in the pharmaceutical area of most stores that carry it, even in grocery stores (but not all grocers stock Castor Oil). Coconut Oil can be expensive, but is often on sale in many stores, so look for the bargains. That should help you keep costs down.
Practice making simple soap with only 3 or 4 oils in the formula and no added colors. In fact, I would suggest making your first batch (if you haven't yet) fragrance free, just to get the hang of it.
You mentioned wanting to watch someone make soap in person, but did not mention where you live. Have you watched many youtube soapmaking videos? Does that meed your needs? Or would you prefer to have an interactive soapmaking session with a live soapmaker? If so, then that's probably going to impact your finances. You will have to travel to where-ever or take a class from a soapmaker who charges a fee, or find a
soapmaking friend somewhere. After I'd been making soap for about 6 months, I took a class & loved it. I made a friend for life in that class, and really had a lot of fun, so I always encourage anyone who wants to take a class to just do it. But there is usually a fee & travel involved. The
HSCG lists
soapmaking classes and
certified instructors if that interests you (click on the preceding purple links).
My apron, is just any apron I have on hand. I have several aprons because I just have always worn an apron when I cook, when I clean and when I paint, even when I garden, or any other activity that I want to protect my clothes from stains or spills or grime or whatever. The fabric of my aprons is either cotton or a mix of whatever washable fabric they make aprons from these days. I do not use a plastic apron, although I did consider it at one point. But plastic aprons are very hot; I had to wear them sometimes as a nurse and also when washing dishes in the restaurant. Too hot for hours of soapmaking, IMO. So I just wear regular fabric aprons. I have maybe 4 different ones I wear when making soap, depending on which one is clean & which one I grab at the time.
My favorite supplier of soaping oils is Soapers Choice (aka Columbus Foods):
Home | Soaper's Choice
Although I do use several others on occasion. For me the decision of where I order is based on getting the best bottom-line price (shipping costs included in my bottom-line) for what I want to purchase. Sometimes that is driving to a store 30 miles away and sometimes that is ordering online and having it shipped. Sometimes there is not local store that carries what I want, so I have to order online.
Amazon is good for ordering some things, and shipping is reliable, but costs are not always the best, though sometimes they are; it varies. Some things I buy from Amazon as a cheaper source (so far): Soy Wax GW415 (for making soap as an animal oil replacement); in the past I have purchased lye from an Amazon vendor, but that source dried up, so I have not purchased lye via Amazon in quite a long time. I have ordered some things from Etsy, but not on a regular basis.
