So technically I don't make soap yet :wink:, (all the equipment is on my Christmas list) but the reason I want to make it is there is just something about making your own. I remember when I first made laundry detergent, I was absolutely thrilled that I could do it myself. It intrigues me! I am one of those people that think the old ways are better (I hang out my clothes to dry, love and mainly use cast iron to cook in, I can food from our garden and this year have also started experimenting with fermenting foods, so I guess wanting to make soap isn't really that much of a stretch for me huh?). I love the fact that I will KNOW what's in it and can tweak it until it is right for our family. If you can't tell, I am super excited to get started and this last little bit before Christmas and receiving my equipment is torture :thumbdown:, but it gives me time to research more!
Why do you make soap?
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Saponomancer
Professional Geek
I said recently, elsewhere, that I collect experiences. I like to be able to say 'I know exactly what X feels like' or 'I know how they made that'. I love learning, if I can do nothing but continue to learn how to make and do new things constantly for the rest of my life I will, my next mountain to tackle is glass blowing, which I'm horrendously bad at, but I'm certain I'll get better.
I was taught canning and weaving at a very young age, and encouraged to play with chemistry kits, rock growing kits, and in cooking and baking as well as candy making, I threw myself into learning to draw and paint, to dry herbs, to grow plants and tend to fruit tree ailments, and sewing, if I could reasonably do it myself, I've always figured I should, or I should at least know how.
I feel in love with and began working at the Renaissance festival when I became a teen, and had a million questions for the potters and sculptors and soap makers, and bought myself eucalyptus soap (my favorite) every time I could find it, I had books on soaping, and worked for a soaper helping her make the bath salts she sold at the fair. I briefly tried using bases for melt and pour and lotions and found that too simple for my tastes, and put it away for a few years.
When I've the money for dues I'll likely be joining the SCA
Finally getting into soaping and fully learning the art was my project after I started wheel throwing again and teaching myself to spin yarn, for some reason I've found it a lot easier to just keep rolling with than some of the other things I've become entranced by, even after I had all the basics down solidly, probably because the equipment and supplies for it are, ironically, not as much of a money pit up front as some of the other things (I seriously need a wheel and a kiln), and it exercises a lot of different techniques at the same time- recipe building, artistry, chemistry, where I can control all the elements, with just enough chaos thrown in that the process doesn't go the same way every single time, and learning to deal with the disasters and turn them around is just part of it all.
I was taught canning and weaving at a very young age, and encouraged to play with chemistry kits, rock growing kits, and in cooking and baking as well as candy making, I threw myself into learning to draw and paint, to dry herbs, to grow plants and tend to fruit tree ailments, and sewing, if I could reasonably do it myself, I've always figured I should, or I should at least know how.
I feel in love with and began working at the Renaissance festival when I became a teen, and had a million questions for the potters and sculptors and soap makers, and bought myself eucalyptus soap (my favorite) every time I could find it, I had books on soaping, and worked for a soaper helping her make the bath salts she sold at the fair. I briefly tried using bases for melt and pour and lotions and found that too simple for my tastes, and put it away for a few years.
When I've the money for dues I'll likely be joining the SCA
Finally getting into soaping and fully learning the art was my project after I started wheel throwing again and teaching myself to spin yarn, for some reason I've found it a lot easier to just keep rolling with than some of the other things I've become entranced by, even after I had all the basics down solidly, probably because the equipment and supplies for it are, ironically, not as much of a money pit up front as some of the other things (I seriously need a wheel and a kiln), and it exercises a lot of different techniques at the same time- recipe building, artistry, chemistry, where I can control all the elements, with just enough chaos thrown in that the process doesn't go the same way every single time, and learning to deal with the disasters and turn them around is just part of it all.
BlackDog
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That's hilarious! It's so interesting what sticks with us. I was just watching an episode from S3 of Orphan Black and one of the clones (Allison, my favorite!) takes up making soap as a front for her, um, less...."legal" side hustle.
I really like Mandy's term, 'serial hobbyist'. lol That describes me to a 'T'.
I've engaged in all kinds of hobbies from porcelain doll-making, to ceramics, to oil painting on canvas, to card-making, to scrapbooking, etc..., but out of all of them, I really love soap-making best of all because not only does it satisfy the joy I get from making things by hand, I can also put it to practical use on a daily basis. No matter how much I make of it, it all gets used up instead of creating an ever-increasing sea of dust-collecting clutter about my house. Win/win!
I kinda stumbled into lye-based soap-making after first getting into perfume making, which then led to me joining a few bath & body forums (not this one since it didn't exist yet), which further led me into making other B&B stuff like body butters and sachets and M&P, etc... All of these forums had a CP section, which, after reading the first page or 2, I dismissed as being way too complicated for the likes of me.....not to mention that working with lye scared the beejeebees out of me.
Unlike the many here who got into soap-making due to skin-issues with commercial soaps, it was different for me. Basically, the more and more time I spent on the forums, the more and more those CP sections kept staring at me, seemingly daring me and challenging me (c'mon....do it! You know you want to!.) lol
To make a long story short, curiosity and my love of making things from scratch got the best of me, and it wasn't long before I got trapped in the soapy vortex by way of voraciously reading everything I could get my hands on in regard to lye-based soap-making.
All other forum sections from then on were ignored as I constantly read the CP sections and archives of several forums day after day after day.
After a whole year of this voracious, continuous reading about it, I finally got up enough courage to actually try my hand at it.....which I did...in my well-ventilated back yard.... in my homemade head-to-toe hazmat suit/gear which made me look like a ninja or an old-timey bank robber..... and with my hubby, son and mother-in-law (a nurse) watching afar from the peanut gallery about 10 feet away (just in case anything bad happened). lol
The thing that really got me hook, line and sinker was when I held my first ever finished bar of soap in my hand and actually saw it lather. Oh my! I'll never forget that sensation of excitement I had when I saw those bubbles appear. It was love at first sight, and the rest they say, is history.
IrishLass
I've engaged in all kinds of hobbies from porcelain doll-making, to ceramics, to oil painting on canvas, to card-making, to scrapbooking, etc..., but out of all of them, I really love soap-making best of all because not only does it satisfy the joy I get from making things by hand, I can also put it to practical use on a daily basis. No matter how much I make of it, it all gets used up instead of creating an ever-increasing sea of dust-collecting clutter about my house. Win/win!
I kinda stumbled into lye-based soap-making after first getting into perfume making, which then led to me joining a few bath & body forums (not this one since it didn't exist yet), which further led me into making other B&B stuff like body butters and sachets and M&P, etc... All of these forums had a CP section, which, after reading the first page or 2, I dismissed as being way too complicated for the likes of me.....not to mention that working with lye scared the beejeebees out of me.
Unlike the many here who got into soap-making due to skin-issues with commercial soaps, it was different for me. Basically, the more and more time I spent on the forums, the more and more those CP sections kept staring at me, seemingly daring me and challenging me (c'mon....do it! You know you want to!.) lol
To make a long story short, curiosity and my love of making things from scratch got the best of me, and it wasn't long before I got trapped in the soapy vortex by way of voraciously reading everything I could get my hands on in regard to lye-based soap-making.
All other forum sections from then on were ignored as I constantly read the CP sections and archives of several forums day after day after day.
After a whole year of this voracious, continuous reading about it, I finally got up enough courage to actually try my hand at it.....which I did...in my well-ventilated back yard.... in my homemade head-to-toe hazmat suit/gear which made me look like a ninja or an old-timey bank robber..... and with my hubby, son and mother-in-law (a nurse) watching afar from the peanut gallery about 10 feet away (just in case anything bad happened). lol
The thing that really got me hook, line and sinker was when I held my first ever finished bar of soap in my hand and actually saw it lather. Oh my! I'll never forget that sensation of excitement I had when I saw those bubbles appear. It was love at first sight, and the rest they say, is history.
IrishLass
Dahila
Well-Known Member
Allergies, my son and grandchild eczema, I made my first salves 40 years ago having a mother who was a pretty good with herbs. Consequently lotions, creams and everything else including making my own bread, sowing, knitting, painting, gardening,,,,,there came time for soap)) and I love it
)) and I love it
I started making soap out of necessity.
I had terrible skin, tones of issues, rashes etc. I don't particularly blame store soaps and detergents although they did make my skin worse. There must be some autoimmune thing happening with me. I've been tested for few some during past 5-6 years but nothing comes up as definite answer. I'm in mid 30s and feel like a have body of an 80 year old.
Anyway, it's more like a "I have to do it" then making heaps, trying every colour and recipe under the sun. I make enough to get us through periods when I'm busy. And also enough to give out to family and friends since some of them got hooked on my soaps too.
I'm not a particularly crafty peson, I'm pretty much bad with everything except soaping.
Gardening is only other hobby I enjoy. It's quite rewarding and relaxing at the same time.
I had terrible skin, tones of issues, rashes etc. I don't particularly blame store soaps and detergents although they did make my skin worse. There must be some autoimmune thing happening with me. I've been tested for few some during past 5-6 years but nothing comes up as definite answer. I'm in mid 30s and feel like a have body of an 80 year old.
Anyway, it's more like a "I have to do it" then making heaps, trying every colour and recipe under the sun. I make enough to get us through periods when I'm busy. And also enough to give out to family and friends since some of them got hooked on my soaps too.
I'm not a particularly crafty peson, I'm pretty much bad with everything except soaping.
Gardening is only other hobby I enjoy. It's quite rewarding and relaxing at the same time.
TwystedPryncess
Well-Known Member
A few of the above named reasons for me as well. I am a serial hobbyist, and we all know I have fibro. I am always looking for ways to do things myself. I started to make my own laundry soap when I had 6 people living here to cut costs on laundry soap (wow did it help!). Those Pinterest pics brought up handmade soap pins, so that piqued my interest. The serial hobbyist in me read and researched for some months and then jumped into M&P and finally CP, 'justifying' the initial cost by saying 'but MY soap has so much less mess in it, it's got to be better for me'.. etc. THEN our acne started totally disappearing, so that excuse started having some validity, right? Of course the artist in me was way hooked by then.
I have an enabler of a fiance who feeds my demons (someone usually pushes the STOP button in Habor Frieght, right? Nope--neither one of us has a stop button in that place. It's bad.) If he spends $400 on tools or music equipment, then he makes sure I have $400 to spend on my stuff. (This I don't do if he needs tools for employment, but you get my drift. His cost of toys equals my cost of toys. His taste is expensive. Soaping can get expensive, too. I think maybe that's one reason why he is okay with it.) So having an enabler, someone who enjoys and supports the hobby, kind of helps you do it more, really. I have held on to soaping as a constant more than any of my others, not that he doesn't support my hobbies, but he seems to enjoy this one the most, too--he enjoys using the soaps, he enjoys bragging to his friends, he shows off my soaps. He loves Newbie's thread of all the pretty soap pictures. He enthusiastically builds molds for me. So, the support is one sweet reason why its so easy to keep going. He will literally say "You haven't made any soap in two weeks. Get up off your butt tomorrow and go make some soap!" He doesn't LET me get out of practice, and I love him for it.
Soap making has led to other bath products. Bath bombs do help the fibro, because hot water is a great medicine for me. So the soaks are good. Hot showers, looking forward to standing there and choosing from the soap rack, that's good for me, because I really do not begin to function until the hot shower has been taken.
After several months into the cold process/hot process adventures, I knew there had to be forums out there where soapers traded their inside knowledge, tips, tricks, real world experience to help other soapers along the way. Some boards were pretty dead, some had other flaws, and then I found this one. I'm so happy to have stumbled on to you guys and am always in awe at the knowledge you guys have. I didn't come in as a 100% newbie to soap making but I still feel like I always have something to learn. I read much much much more than I post,( usually my posts are books though) and I just generally feel blessed to have stumbled upon the knowledge and the ability to take part in this craft. Pretty sure it's not one I will be putting down or getting tired of any time soon!
I have an enabler of a fiance who feeds my demons (someone usually pushes the STOP button in Habor Frieght, right? Nope--neither one of us has a stop button in that place. It's bad.) If he spends $400 on tools or music equipment, then he makes sure I have $400 to spend on my stuff. (This I don't do if he needs tools for employment, but you get my drift. His cost of toys equals my cost of toys. His taste is expensive. Soaping can get expensive, too. I think maybe that's one reason why he is okay with it.) So having an enabler, someone who enjoys and supports the hobby, kind of helps you do it more, really. I have held on to soaping as a constant more than any of my others, not that he doesn't support my hobbies, but he seems to enjoy this one the most, too--he enjoys using the soaps, he enjoys bragging to his friends, he shows off my soaps. He loves Newbie's thread of all the pretty soap pictures. He enthusiastically builds molds for me. So, the support is one sweet reason why its so easy to keep going. He will literally say "You haven't made any soap in two weeks. Get up off your butt tomorrow and go make some soap!" He doesn't LET me get out of practice, and I love him for it.
Soap making has led to other bath products. Bath bombs do help the fibro, because hot water is a great medicine for me. So the soaks are good. Hot showers, looking forward to standing there and choosing from the soap rack, that's good for me, because I really do not begin to function until the hot shower has been taken.
After several months into the cold process/hot process adventures, I knew there had to be forums out there where soapers traded their inside knowledge, tips, tricks, real world experience to help other soapers along the way. Some boards were pretty dead, some had other flaws, and then I found this one. I'm so happy to have stumbled on to you guys and am always in awe at the knowledge you guys have. I didn't come in as a 100% newbie to soap making but I still feel like I always have something to learn. I read much much much more than I post,( usually my posts are books though) and I just generally feel blessed to have stumbled upon the knowledge and the ability to take part in this craft. Pretty sure it's not one I will be putting down or getting tired of any time soon!
I started making my own lip balm. While researching, I found lots of links to soapmaking. I had eczema, and thought this may be a way to help that. It did, and I have been hooked ever since.
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Why do I make soap ? - because I can.
I have done Craft and Art all my life and that was just another thing that popped up that I wanted to try. I didn't even think of it so much as being a useful item, but more of a creative one and I didn't know anyone that was making soap.
I have done Craft and Art all my life and that was just another thing that popped up that I wanted to try. I didn't even think of it so much as being a useful item, but more of a creative one and I didn't know anyone that was making soap.
ngian
Well-Known Member
For me my little kids were the main reason for starting making soap on my own (among other things such as getting to know yourself better and see things from a wider point of view as it concerns health, nutrition, human behavior and psychology in general).
Firstly I wanted to make a liquid soap for my daughter's hair by grating a commercial pure castile soap and melting it it for 1 day in distilled water, but it didn't melt really smooth after two days, so I figured out that maybe the commercial soap wasn't so pure. This was the moment when I wanted to take control of what it would be inside a bar of soap...
After finding this forum, the journey from novice to intermediate knowledge upon handcrafted soap is one of the things that keeps me happy to cope up with the everyday difficulties (soaping therapy).
Thank you all.
Nikoshttp://www.soapmakingforum.com//www.pinterest.com/pin/create/extension/
Firstly I wanted to make a liquid soap for my daughter's hair by grating a commercial pure castile soap and melting it it for 1 day in distilled water, but it didn't melt really smooth after two days, so I figured out that maybe the commercial soap wasn't so pure. This was the moment when I wanted to take control of what it would be inside a bar of soap...
After finding this forum, the journey from novice to intermediate knowledge upon handcrafted soap is one of the things that keeps me happy to cope up with the everyday difficulties (soaping therapy).
Thank you all.
Nikoshttp://www.soapmakingforum.com//www.pinterest.com/pin/create/extension/
gigisiguenza
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I started researching soaping because I was looking for a way to create something that was better for my skin than the currently available otc products. During my research I discovered the art and science behind soaping and fell in love with the idea that something so very practical could be so artistically beautiful, and from there came an infatuation the likes of I have not experienced since I discovered art in my youth. There is something very natural and tactile about creating beautiful nourishing soap that speaks to my pragmatic nature. The science of it appeals to my nerdy inner self but the artistry appeals to my very bohemian soul.
nframe
Well-Known Member
A couple of years ago, I was in a second-hand bookshop and saw a book entitled "The Handmade Soap Book" by Melinda Coss. It only cost a couple of pounds so I bought it and read it and thought "That looks simple enough". I made one soap and was immediately hooked! It is a very powerful addiction. As others said, you get the satisfaction of making something which is also useful. From CP soap, I now make laundry soap, washing up liquid and all sorts of lotions and butters. It is a great feeling to use things that you have made yourself.
penelopejane
Well-Known Member
My DH and I have (different) allergies. A friend gave us some home made soap which we've been saving for best until she told us it doesn't last forever.
Her Castile soap is now 12-18 months old and simply beautiful. She showed me how to make soap recently and I haven't looked back. So simple, total control of the ingredients and great presents!
Her Castile soap is now 12-18 months old and simply beautiful. She showed me how to make soap recently and I haven't looked back. So simple, total control of the ingredients and great presents!
dixiedragon
Well-Known Member
Couldn't this be applied to ANY hobby? The same generalized answer applies to all of them - the hobby adds something to our life that we don't get from other sources, such as our job, family, etc.
For example, take jigsaw puzzles. I do NOT understand why people do them. I think they are super boring and the picture always is messed up and distorted because it's been cut into dozens or hundreds or thousands of pieces. But some people love them. I would never belligerently or quizzically ask somebody "But, WHY?" That person was incredibly rude.
For me, I love taking oil, water and lye and mixing them and having something totally new - soap! I love slicing the loaf and seeing how the color turned out. I love giving it to people and have them come up to me and say later, "Your soap is awesome."
I find a lot of satisfaction in making something that people use. I've taken some photography classes and while I enjoy taking photos that people like, making something that people USE vs something people merely LOOK at is different.
I recently took a broom making class at the John Campbell Folk School and I am really looking forward to making a my own broom to sweep with. Which sounds weird to most people, but somehow I think the folks here at SMF will totally get it. At the class we made "beginner" level brooms, and the type of broom used to sweep your house would be an "advanced" broom, because it uses a 100+ stalks of broomcorn and thus requires considerable patience and hand strength to make, even though the technique is the same. (BTW, the flat broom was invented in the US by Shakers.)
annalee2003
Well-Known Member
I don't even remember why soap making popped into my mind in the first place. I think
I was thinking about when I used to make candles, and somehow soap followed after that.
I'd like to make soap because of the creative process behind it. I love all the different techniques you can use, the different colors, the different scents ... everything! I also love the fact that you can control what goes into your soap, making it as simple or as complicated as you like.
I was thinking about when I used to make candles, and somehow soap followed after that.
I'd like to make soap because of the creative process behind it. I love all the different techniques you can use, the different colors, the different scents ... everything! I also love the fact that you can control what goes into your soap, making it as simple or as complicated as you like.
Like a lot of you, I too, am a long time crafter. I used to manage a craft store; that should give you a pretty good idea of how into crafting I am. I was taught to knit, crochet, bake and cook at a young age and have never stopped creating. I'm an avid knitter (I'm on Ravelry); in the past, I've done crochet, x-stitch, petit point, quilling (not quilting), sewing, made all my own creams, lotions, and bath products (apart from soap); I cook, I bake, I paint with water colours..... yeah, you get the picture. I've also been a blogger for over 10 years.
My mother got into soap making at one time and, when she stopped (why, I do not know), she gave me her books but not her molds (Dad made them and I wish I did have them!). I tried making some soap a few years ago but it received a rather lukewarm reception and I had to toss them eventually.
Recently, while my son and his gf were visiting, she commented that she'd like to learn how to make soap; she'd been looking at soaping pins on Pinterest and it piqued my interest. After they left, I did a lot of reading, found this forum, along with a soap making group on Ravelry (not a very active one, I might add), and decided to dip my toe into the soap making pool. And now, I'm hooked!
I find it as relaxing as baking or cooking, which used to be my main weekend activity. Soaping is a lot better for the waistline, though. Between cutting back the wine and switching to making soaps rather than pastas or cookies, I've already lost about 10 lbs! And my skin is looking a whole lot better than it did. Yup, I'm definitely hooked!
Now, if only I could get my husband interested in a hobby.....
My mother got into soap making at one time and, when she stopped (why, I do not know), she gave me her books but not her molds (Dad made them and I wish I did have them!). I tried making some soap a few years ago but it received a rather lukewarm reception and I had to toss them eventually.
Recently, while my son and his gf were visiting, she commented that she'd like to learn how to make soap; she'd been looking at soaping pins on Pinterest and it piqued my interest. After they left, I did a lot of reading, found this forum, along with a soap making group on Ravelry (not a very active one, I might add), and decided to dip my toe into the soap making pool. And now, I'm hooked!
I find it as relaxing as baking or cooking, which used to be my main weekend activity. Soaping is a lot better for the waistline, though. Between cutting back the wine and switching to making soaps rather than pastas or cookies, I've already lost about 10 lbs! And my skin is looking a whole lot better than it did. Yup, I'm definitely hooked!
Now, if only I could get my husband interested in a hobby.....
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Whaaaaaat? Super interesting
I make soap because I love using handmade soap, I love formulating and creating, and chemistry was my area of study so I find it all really interesting in a nerdy way. It is definitely addictive and can be great stress relief for me too.
dixiedragon
Well-Known Member
Whaaaaaat? Super interesting
I make soap because I love using handmade soap, I love formulating and creating, and chemistry was my area of study so I find it all really interesting in a nerdy way. It is definitely addictive and can be great stress relief for me too.
I went b/c my mom really wanted to learn broom making. TBH, I thought it was going to be boring. It was very interesting!
BTW, if you are interested in learning a new craft, check out the John Campbell Folk School. It's in North Carolina. They offer classes on pretty much every craft you can think of. Including soap making. It's like camp for grown-ups! My mom has taken several classes there and at every class, she has come home with the knowledge to make the craft herself at home.
It's not a craft school, per se, though crafts make a bulk of what they offer. Cooking, blacksmithing, painting, photography, bird watching, gardening, etc. They don't really offer high tech classes, like computer classes. Lots of wood working classes - wood turning, wood carving, etc.
It's not all "old fashioned" stuff. For example, while we were there, there was a class on gluten free baking. (Also a class on milk soap making.)
BlowinBubbles
Member
My first soap I made 'because I could'. The book that inspired me, also filled me with trepidation & by the time I filled my mold, I was shaking!
My husband took a liking to that first soap, which, being unscented made it far superior to supermarket soap (he dislikes 'smellies). 8 years on, I've only made soap on an 'as needed' basis - still plain, unscented soap. I'd made so much, that until August, I hadn't soaped in 2 years!
Right now, I'm soaping because I 'want' to make soap. The only difference now, is that I'm wanting to progress beyond 'basic'.
My husband took a liking to that first soap, which, being unscented made it far superior to supermarket soap (he dislikes 'smellies). 8 years on, I've only made soap on an 'as needed' basis - still plain, unscented soap. I'd made so much, that until August, I hadn't soaped in 2 years!
Right now, I'm soaping because I 'want' to make soap. The only difference now, is that I'm wanting to progress beyond 'basic'.
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