What should I use for the first M&P?

[EZ_Girl]

Hi everyone!
I'm new to the soap making and I've been searching for the info for about couple weeks. I'd like to make my first soap, M&P, as that what they recomend to do first. And I'm totaly lost here.
My thought was to get a starter kit, like this one and couple of molds.
Does anyone has better suggestions on whether there are better kits somewhere else?
Thanks!

 

[Candybee]

If you want to learn to make soap you have to first decide what process you want to use. M&P soap is used by melting an already made glycerin soap base and pouring into a soap mold. CP or cold process soap is made from scratch and is completely handmade natural soap.

The two processes are different and not cheap. Its better you decide if you want to use premade bases or make soap from scratch before you start buying your equipment and ingredients.

But if you do decide you still want to make M&P then find a couple of suppliers to compare prices and shipping costs. There are some soap suppliers that may carry all the bases, butters, oils, molds, dyes, fragrances, etc that you will need to start making soap. You will find it starts getting expensive so check out several suppliers for that.

Also-- some soap suppliers have 'kits' while others don't. If you go for a kit make sure it has everything in it you need to make a finished soap.

Have fun!

 

[dagmar88]

Those kits are just fine to start with :wink: Let's see if you enjoy soap making before you start doing larger investments.
Later on you can look into finding a base you like most; I'm sure our M&P soapers are happy to help.
I think www.brambleberry.com is a nice place to start
Watch out, cause those fragrance oils are way too addictive

CP or cold process soap is made from scratch and is completely handmade natural soap.

Soap made from scratch is not completely natural (NaoH) and Melt & Pour is jus as much handmade as any other process.

 

[EZ_Girl]

Thank you so much for your posts!

I was actually deciding about the sample kit from Bramble Berry. I've wached her episodes on Youtube and she makes it look so easy and fun, that I can't wait till I get my stuff.

I'd like to start with M&P first. See, if it is mine or not.

 

[Tabitha]

I started at the local craft store. I bought a 2 pound block of soap, 2 fragrances & 1 mold. I think the mold had 2 diff flowers & leaf shape so it made 3 or 4 bars at a time. I used food coloring to color the soap. Food coloring is not FDA approved for soap you plan to sell but is fine for playing around.

At the craft sore you will pay probably $5.00 per pound on the soap, if you decide to buy larger qtys online you can pay as little as $1.50 per pound.

$5.00 per pound plus 2 fragrances at 3-4 dollars each & maybe 2-3 for a mold... that is just about $20.00 and it will yeald about 8 bars.

 

[Tabitha]

You can pick up "Life of the Party" kits on ebay.

http://cgi.ebay.com/Life-of-the-Party-S ... 2ea8a387ac
http://cgi.ebay.com/Life-of-the-Party-C ... 19afbdccf1

 

[Candybee]

Its true you can get supplies at your local craft store. However their soap bases are generally not a good quality base like the ones from a soap supplier like Bramble Berry. You also take your chances ordering off Ebay.

If you have already been thinking about ordering a kit from Bramble Berry just do it. I'm betting you won't be sorry.

 

[EZ_Girl]

Thank you everyone!
I ordered just plain white and clear soaps, sample kits of fragrances, pigments and micas. Yay, can't sit still!

Now, I got question about mold. Does it really matter if the silicone mold is for cupcakes for instance, i.e. food approved? Can I still use it for soap making?

 

[Candybee]

Its fine to use the mold. Just wash it carefully if you plan to make cupcakes later!

I sometimes use my bread loaf pans to make loaf soap. I also have lots of molds that I have collected over the years. I know lots of people that get creative with molds by using things around the house, from the dollar stores, or kitchen supply stores.

 

[EZ_Girl]

Candybee,
you're going to laugh, but that what I did yesterday - went to the dollar store and bought those containers just for $4.20
I'm thinking to do the swirl soap in the baking loaf mold first and see how that will go.
Do I need to put some wax paper before pour the soap?

 

[Candybee]

EZ girl I love those molds and containers you bought! You are really prepared!

Don't need to line them. M&P pops right out of molds once it is completely cooled. The plastic looking ones you should have no problem with. The bread pan may be a little tougher. I usually wait longer for the soap to cool then turn it upside down on my counter and hit it with my fist to pop it out. But the bread pan makes a great loaf soap if you don't have a soap loaf mold.

For the plastic ones I would wait for the soap to cool to 135 - 150 degrees before pouring into the mold. Plastic can warp or become brittle over time at high temps.

Have fun and tell us how they came out!!

 

[carebear]

Its fine to use the mold. Just wash it carefully if you plan to make cupcakes later!

do NOT plan on making cupcakes later. fragrance oils can permeate the silicone mold and leave a nasty taste in your cupcakes. plus the fragrance oils are not typically approved for use in foods which is where they can end up.

use it for soap if you wish, but don't go back the other way

(and while I'm sure that someone will have done it and lived to tell the tale - that make it a good or safe idea).

 

[Deda]

Its fine to use the mold. Just wash it carefully if you plan to make cupcakes later!

do NOT plan on making cupcakes later. fragrance oils can permeate the silicone mold and leave a nasty taste in your cupcakes. plus the fragrance oils are not typically approved for use in foods which is where they can end up.

use it for soap if you wish, but don't go back the other way

(and while I'm sure that someone will have done it and lived to tell the tale - that make it a good or safe idea).

Seriously. I have 144 (12 dozen) silicone cupcake molds I use for making soap cupcakes.

Last weekend I wanted to bake gingerbread cupcakes and I had to use paper! I'm going to have to buy another dozen to use for baking.

No way I'd take a chance using something I soap with for baking/cooking.

 

[EZ_Girl]

Thank you Carebear!
I knew that molds are either for soap or baking, but not for both. That's why I went and bought those cheap containers as I didn't want to use my food molds.

 

[Candybee]

Sorry about the bad advice. I don't use silicone molds much and wasn't aware that you could not reuse it to bake with.

I tend to buy stuff seperately for making soap and keep it that way.

 

[EZ_Girl]

I got it! I got it! I got my box today!!! (Where is the dancing smile? )

Ok, maybe swirling soap is not the project for the first time user But I did it! I used black cherry and coconat FO. You were right, them FO so yammyyyy, I just wanted to eat them!

I really hope that it will come out tomorrow without any surprises!

 

[EZ_Girl]

Aaaaaa, I'm so excited!!!!! I get the soap out first thing in the morning. Didn't even have my breakfast

 

[dagmar88]

That is sooo cool!

 

[EZ_Girl]

Thanks!

And now I'm broke.
I just placed another order

 

[lauramw71]

VERY cool!!! Great job! I'm thinking of expanding and trying some MP soap. I think I might get the $20 swirl kit from Brambleberry. Was that really hard? How long did it take you to make the loaf? Yours turned our SOOO cool!!! Lovin it!!!