Where to start!

[momma81]

Evening all from the UK.
I want to start making my own products (soaps, detergents, washes etc) and just do not know where to start.
I don't want to really use palm oil or animal oil.
It's a small project I want to trial - so what are the basics I need please!
I've looked at the kits but it doesn't seem the same as sourcing everything myself.
Thank you in advance.

 

[akseattle]

@momma81 , do you want to start making your own products for yourself, family and friends or to sell.
In terms of selling, from watching I Dream In Soap videos, I know the UK has some pretty strict rules. You will need to do some research about that.

If you are making for yourself, a good place to start is the Lovely Greens website. The link is below, that site has information on all making all sorts of natural products, including all plant based soaps, etc.

https://lovelygreens.com/

I watched ALOT of youtube videos online before making my first soap.
Good luck! Keep us posted !

 

[AliOop]

Hello and welcome to soaping! I recommend reading a lot of threads here on SMF (search for “vegan recipe”). Also, Lisa of I Dream in Soap on YouTube has wonderful videos that explain and demonstrate the process.

 

[dmcgee5034]

Hi and welcome. In addition to the recommendations above, I did a lot of reading and watching on Soap Queen/Brambleberry. That site was easy for me to understand when I was starting out.
When you start making - Start Simple - make several small test batches to see what your skin likes before you scale it up or go fancy. Can’t wait to see what you create.

 

[lsg]

Welcome to the forum.

 

[bookworm42]

Welcome! Lots of resources here. A recommended recipe that lots of people love on here is ZNSC. Should fit the bill of what you want.

 

[akseattle]

Soap Queen/Brambleberry.

@momma81 , ditto on videos by Soap Queen on Brambleberry.
She was my first guru because she broke things down step by step (I thought.)

I've learned so much more on this site. Now, I'm a little bugged that she 1) uses glass measuring cups/bowls for her lye water and 2) never mentions the word "soapcalc." She gives recipes that are usually for 2-3 pounds of soap, and never suggests using soapcalc to verify the recipe when resizing.

 

[artemis]

@momma81 ,
She 2) never mentions the word "soapcalc."

I don't know why she would-- Bramble Berry has a soap calc of its own and sells books with recipes in them, as well as kits.

 

[akseattle]

@artemis , well, the concern is that her videos don't give information on how to resize a recipe.

When I made my first loaf (not a recipe of SoapQueen's) I cut if down by 1/2 or more. I manually did my own calculations and in that process, transposed numbers, made math errors - I couldn't even figure out what the heck I had done after the fact. If I had understood that I should run the recipe through soapcalc, it would have done the math, etc. for me. Her videos don't say "if you want to cut the recipe in half, go to my soap calculator and do x, y, z.

I think of SoapQueen's books as recipe books. If you follow rotely, you'll be fine. Overtime, you'll learn some things trial and error.
But, I don't think of her books as a resource to expand my knowledge of the soapmaking process. Her videos were still an enormous help to me. At one point, at about batch #4, I stopped grabbing random recipes off the internet and used her Lots of Lather recipe which she said was "tried and true" and which she said she teaches in all her beginner courses.

Soap Queen was a big help to me before making my first batch and before I found this forum.
So, I don't want to be overly critical of her videos. But as an important resource to many people, it seems careless to use glassware to mix lye water. And it seems like a big omission not to mention the importance of soapcalc (or her version of it.)

I hope I haven't said anything that is against soapforum policy

 

[artemis]

@artemis ,
But, I don't think of her books as a resource to expand my knowledge of the soapmaking process.

I don't, either, as I don't care for books as a source of knowledge for soaping. My point was merely that Bramble Berry makes more money off of books and kits than it does directing people to a free tool.

 

[akseattle]

My point was merely that Bramble Berry makes more money off of books and kits than it does directing people to a free tool

@artemis , 100% agree. Tongue in cheek can be hard to spot in print.

 

[melinda48]

Hi and welcome. In addition to the recommendations above, I did a lot of reading and watching on Soap Queen/Brambleberry. That site was easy for me to understand when I was starting out.
When you start making - Start Simple - make several small test batches to see what your skin likes before you scale it up or go fancy. Can’t wait to see what you create.

The only admonition I would add is that in videos I have watched Soap Queen mixes her lye water in a glass container-do not do this! Even Pyrex will explode (ask me how I know). Get a juice pitcher from the Dollar Store (#4 or 5 plastic will work) and use that.