Soap Making books

[Cattleyabubbles]

What were your favorite soap making books (authors) to read regarding the various methods of soap making, when you first started? A compiled list of soap making books would help those that are new (like myself, who never made soap) have a reference list to go for further research, and to add to their personal library for future reference. Thanks

 

[Bigmoose]

When I started I went to amazon.com and searched soap books. When the list comes up you can read reviews that everyone else has written on each book. I found that helpful. But not as helpful as all the soapers in this forum.

Bruce

 

[Greenman]

I really like

http://www.amazon.com/Everything-Soapma ... 1580629601

Good info on CP/HP/M&P and some fun projects

~Roy

 

[Lindy]

I only have the one book - The Complete Soapmaker by Norma Coney - it has some good basic recipes in it as well as interesting ideas for rebatching (milling). I have found forums like this one to be where I learned the most. I spent months reading and reading before I made my first batch - I was so afraid of the lye. There are a couple of books I would like to get but I can wait - after all I've got all of you.... :roll:

 

[Lil Outlaws]

Right now I do MP (trying to jump into CP but can't find lye that I can afford, argh!) so I'm loving all the books by Marie Browning, among others..

(300 hand crafted soaps or something along those lines, is really good)

 

[heartsong]

soap

almost all soap suppliers have free recipes and tutorials. we have many on this site. you will find it near the bottom of the soap making forum index page.

a really amazing site: www.soap-making-essentials.com

also: www.teachsoap.com

room temp-c/p: http://nizzymoulds.com/whipped/index.html

nizzy's soap is incredible!

 

[ChrissyB]

I don't have any soapmaking books, I have picked them up in the shop and looked at them and realised that as far as value for money goes, I would rather come home, log onto this forum, spend the money that I saved on not buying the book on oils and supplies instead.
I also lurked around this forum for months without joining in any conversations, just reading and absorbing as much information as I could, and visiting all the webites,
and soapcalc is great, they can't put that in a book!

 

[xyxoxy]

A friend loaned me his copy of Susan Miller Cavitch's "The Natural Soap Book"
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0882668889/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20
I spent a couple of weeks reading about the history and basics of soap making and also the personal stories she shared. I dug in a little deeper and did some more research online and went back to the book to re-read some things that now made more sense. I also found some instructional videos on YouTube so I could actually witness the process.

Then I jumped in with both feet and started making soap!!

I've since heard both good and bad opinions of this book and her other book "Soap Maker's Companion". Honestly the book was a great way to break the ice in the absence of a person to show me the ropes. My friend who loaned me the book had never actually made any. But now I find pretty much everything I need online... especially in this message board and the teachsoap forum.

I still have a lot to learn but the one big lesson I learned is that the book shows her favorite 8 pound basic recipe and that is too large for a first attempt. Fortunately mine turned out great but if I had made mistakes (as I've done since) I would have wasted a lot of supplies. I now do 1 pound test batches until I am satisfied and ready for a larger quantity. I learned that by browsing these forums. I've also learned about a lot of other resources like better places to get supplies and tools and how to use online soap calculators.

There is a lot of good free information here and lots of wonderful, generous people willing to share it. Thanks a lot... you know who you are.

 

[mandolyn]

The Soapmaker's Companion - I loved the step-by-step instructions for my first batch of soap.

The Everything Soapmaking Book - includes several processes + cream soapmaking!