What got you started soaping?

[GreenScene]

These stories are all so cool to read! I hope more trickle in over the next few days.

 

[cerelife]

I guess I'm the outlier here...I'm not a crafts-type person at all. My background has always been some type of science...I've majored in aeronautical science, computer science, and physics to name but a few on my way to figuring out what I wanted to do if I ever grew up.
I started making soap because the DH was considering adding soap to our budget due to the amount of money we spent on artisan soap. Hmm..lightbulb went off over my head...this isn't rocket science (yep, I took a few classes in astrophysics, LOL)...maybe I can make this stuff? After a few months of research and the patience of the kind people on forums like this I've learned to make some pretty sweet soap for a fraction of what we were paying, so YAY! And it is addicting to see how different oils, additives, etc, affect the final product. An added plus is that I can tailor the soaps to what WE want...instead of what a vendor, or heaven forbid, some marketing exec THINKS we want!

 

[cerelife]

mom2tyler...like you said our skin is our biggest organ and what we use on it can affect our health. I'm constantly aware of that when I make soap. When I use EO's, I always check with the docs I work with to make sure they are safe. I want to be sure that they won't have adverse effects on the liver or kidneys especially! You have a good oncologist!!!

 

[chibilightangel]

I'm extremely new to the actual soapmaking, but I've been wanting to make soap for over 2 years. I'd tried finding the lye locally over 2 years ago with no luck, and like all the other crafty types here, some other craft took my attention. I'd been thinking of buying handmade soaps for some friends for christmas (ended up not doing it as it was getting too close to the 25th and shipping would have been iffy), and then again for valentine's day, and then found some more lovely soap projects online, so I decided that I should just bite the bullet, find a Canadian supplier that would ship lye and give it a go.

I've got 3 batches made, and should be soaping again sometime this week to try out another one of the FO's I'd bought. I have a friend who's been complaining about dry skin from our local water and his soap so one of my goals with making soap is making a soap for him that won't leave him with perpetually dry skin.

 

[samicamp]

My path to soaping is a little odd. I am a writer and used to belong to a writer's forum where I "met" the Soap Crone. I bought her ebooks and a few soaps (as a show of support) and LOVED them all. I have been making soaps once or twice a year for the last few years - just what I needed and one or two gifts here and there. This past Holidays we were really broke and had a LOT of people to buy for. Fortunately, Seattle has a soaping supply store so I bought supplies and made a TON of soaps as holiday and cast gifts. And everyone RAVED. I had been using my own so long, I forgot what store bought soaps are like.
Then The Bruce (the boyfriend) suggested that I start a business. Why not, I thought. We had been trying to figure out a way for me to afford to stay home with my kiddos (2 & 4). So I have been making soaps 4-5 times a WEEK since then and just opened my first online store this past week. My friends and family have been buying my soaps like mad and now I am selling to people I don't know. It's pretty crazy. I am learning a LOT and just love it.

Oh, and I am an actor and writer by trade. This is a far cry from the stage and I have NEVER been the crafty type.

 

[Dragonkaz]

I'm another 'move from craft to craft' type personalities. When my husband died two years ago (cancer) I lost my writing mojo. At that stage I was a scrapbooking addict and I realised I needed something else in my life.

I had Essential Oils from when I had a Pagan gift shop and it just seemed to make sense that I use them. I'd wanted to make soap for a thousand years, but the lye stuff scared me ... so I spent a few months doing heaps of research and then decided I had to do it!

I was also 'vegan raw' ... so some decisions were easy ... cold process was the only style I researched and my ingredients had to be animal free. Plus I refused to use palm oil (and still do) as I found the stuff about 'what was not impacting on the Orangutans' just too hard to understand and at times believe.

After months of trialling dozens of recipes and enjoying it, I found this web site ... and the many wonderful pics of what others are making ... and now I can't wait for a cool weekend (not a lot of them in South Australia), so I can make more interesting soap to share with friends.

I love sharing fresh organically grown vegies and homemade soap with my friends!

 

[Henny Earnshaw]

Hi, lovely to be here.
My soap journey started when my daughter showed me her hands red, sore with dermatitis. It was like going thru an apprenticeship learning every thing from scratch. Watching tutorials, David Fisher was helpful with his advice

I started off infusing oil with paprika, tumeric, saffron - lovely shades, but faded too quickly for me. Used beetroot juice - no good, the minute it hit the soap batch it went beige. Had a lot of silverbeet growing so I Juiced that and the soap came out olive green (Smelt awful, but settled down over time) over time it faded, but not as bad as the others.

Now I use ultra/marines and oxides, clays for my colours. Except when my grandchilren ask for jellybean soap or chocolate or fruit flavoured soap, then I go for the Brites.

I hope I haven't rambled on too much. Oh yes, one more thing, I'm due to have another granddaughter any day now. (Pink layered, heart embedded Bay Rose FO soap coming up I think.

Bye Henny

 

[Pepper]

I went to a one-day soapmaking workshop around 11 years ago. Since then I have made all my own soaps, just the basics. Then 18 months ago I started dabbling in M&P. Spending time on forums such as this one got me into experimenting with my CP soaps, and now I'm hooked! I'll make soap with anything - beer, yoghurt, buttermilk, ghee, icecream (home-made, with cream and eggs). I'll add bits of other soap to my batch, or mix M&P with CP rebatch. Anything to be different. My husband grows garlic, and bottles it in olive oil every season, so this year I made some garlic oil soap! I don't recommend it, but I just HAD to do it. :wink:
I'm also a serial crafter, having tried calligraphy, cross-stitch, knitting, crochet, cardmaking, and painting.

 

[lemongirl]

Abount 10 years ago I was watching a fabulous Canadian show called Pioneer Quest, and the "pioneers" were making soap one day. I thought "how the heck do you make soap???" so I went out and bought a book. I made a couple batches, and loved it, but stopped making it as I got totally caught up in the whirlwind of life. 10 years and 2 continents later, I found myself thinking about it again, have made 2 batches so far in the past month, and am totally obsessed again! I'm already harbouring dreams of quitting my investment banking job and selling soap for a living!

 

[cp chick]

One of our local hotel reps came in to meet with me and gave me a bar of soap as a courtesy gift. It was hand-crafted from a small, well-known local soapery, however it was a scent that I didn't particularly like - chocolate. (Yes, I know - I'm possibly the only woman that doesn't like the smell of chocolate! lol) I went to the soapery to see if it could be exchanged, and it was no problem. The prices were a bit daunting, but I liked the idea of using an all-natural product. So, $60 later I walked out with some fabulous products. Curious about the process, I started reading everything online that I could find about it. Intrigued even further and determined that I could do it, I bought some basic equipment and ingredients and tentatively made my first batch. I think I checked on the bars like 15 times a day and tested the pH at least a half dozen times in the first 48 hrs, but it turned out just fine, and Voila! A new obsession is born. Now I'm constantly looking at items and thinking "Hmm.. that may make a good soap mold" (plastic pop bottles, packing tape rolls, boxes of all sizes, milk cartons, etc). My hubby just shakes his head and laughs.

My bars are generally pretty basic looking compared to some of the offerings I see posted on here, and I'm in total awe of what people can come up with! Maybe some day I'll learn a few tricks to making really pretty soaps, but for now as long as my friends and family enjoy them, that's what matters. However, I'm experimenting all the time, so who knows the possibilities?

Happy soaping all!

 

[Jezzy]

I am a crafty person too. I use to buy my soaps online and the last batch that I ordered looked and smelled like playdoh. From that day on I started reading up on soap. A year later i made my first batch.