Why do you make soap?

[hlee]

I also really like hearing the reasons you make soap.
I started making it because of really dry winter skin. I thought I would just make a simple soap for my itchy skin. I had no idea until researching how to make that soap how huge and fun the soap making world can be. I didn't know about fancy swirls and colors. I didn't know you could be artistic in your soap. I didn't know there were a million fragrances and combos you could make your soap with and I didn't know there was a soap calc.
I had bought handmade bars over the years and really liked them.
I also love flower gardening and soaping with the fragrance, color, planning , has become a winter substitute for a lot of the things I love about gardening. I can't garden in the winter here, but I can make soap in the summer.

 

[Misschief]

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 find that sentence kind of funny, really.... For me, chemistry was my most hated class, the only class I ever skipped out of. I failed it..... twice. And yet, here I am, loving the whole process of creating soaps, which is nothing BUT chemistry!

 

[Obsidian]

I remember making soap with my grandmother when I was child. It was something I always wanted to try as a adult but put off for many years. I finally got a book and found this place. Once I realized you could make soap with different properties, colors, designs, etc... the addiction began.

 

[mandy318]

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.)

I think broom making sounds very interesting!

I think some people are hobbyists and some just aren't. And some people are *******s.

Lol. It was a rude comment, but I feel a little sorry for people who go through life not intrigued or interested by anything outside of their immediate experience. It must be dull.

 

[CritterPoor]

my husband and I are slowly trying to wean ourselves off of using products made by companies we don't support. Standing at the store, looking at shelf, after shelf of "soaps" all made by companies with business practices we do not approve of, my husband turned to me and said, "I bet you could make soap." why he tasked it to me instead of taking it up himself, I'll never know, but I started reading websites, watching videos, and collecting my 'stuff.' I made my first bar in April.

I'm not really sure why soaping appeals so much to me. I am not a baker, I hate following directions, but there is something about soap...tweaking it to make it your own, that I like. I also like how little 'active' time it takes. Unlike some of my other hobbies (crocheting, sewing) soap making is a lot of just waiting around for the soap to cure, which I think helps build the anticipation on what that bar will be like and feeds the addiction.

 

[MrsSpaceship]

I've been enamored with the idea of making soap since I was a child, melting soap slivers together to make new soap. Since I'm a hobby ho, it fits in well with the rest of my make it myself endeavors.

 

[penelopejane]

I've been enamored with the idea of making soap since I was a child, melting soap slivers together to make new soap.

I used to do that and I've just found out my son's been saving left over soap but didn't know how to make it "whole" again.

Funny thing is he didn't even know I was making soap because I've only just started. Unfortunately it will be commercial bits of soap which I am become less and less enamoured with the more I learn!

 

[Wyredgirl]

I started because I wanted to know what I was using and I'm a suburban homesteader (grow veggies, raise meat rabbits, crochet, knit, craft.)

Now I have enough soap to last my family until 2035 but I still make some all the time. I gift them to family and am looking into selling them online to support costs as much as possible now that my recipes have been tested and proven for over a year so far.

 

[sayyidhassan]

I don't like scented soaps, and my family are allergic to them too. So I started soaping for our own use. I use basic recipes and I don't use any fragrances, pigments. All the raw materials are almost natural. I made special soap for my last born and she's never used any other washing soap or shampoo. I have also being giving my relatives free samples, but recently I have been thinking of soap business.

 

[djk17]

I started making soap when my sister said she had read an article in a newspaper that you could make it at home. She sent me the article and I made soap. Then I went to the library and got out every soapmaking book I could find and started reading and making notes. Later, the internet happened, and I discovered the joy that was soapcalc. Then I discovered this forum.

The original reason my sister suggested I try making my own was my thin, sensitive facial skin. My skin seems to react to a lot of things, so it was a no-brainer to make my own products, more for what is left out (i.e. in commercially available soaps) rather than what is included.
I have slowly begun playing with e.o.s and colourants, but the "pretty" aspect is still not as much my talent as just creating gentle, simple bars which I won't react to.

The pure act of creating something is enormously therapeutic, and I also like not contributing to the world of liquid soaps packaged in plastic, damaging to the environment in excess transport, necessary preservatives in liquids, and so on. I also grew up on a hobby farm where we butchered our own meat, grew our own fruit, nuts and vegetables, canned, made bread daily, and basically were fairly self-reliant. I don't sew or knit, but everyone else in my family does. But I am the only soap-maker

 

[notapantsday]

I got interested in making soap because I needed some soap that was 100% biodegradable. I like hiking, sometimes too far off the grid to have access to a sewage drain, so I dig a hole and dump my soapy water there.

There are commercial products available, but most of them are in liquid form (unnecessary weight) and they're not always perfect for different tasks.

 

[Kamahido]

I make soap more because it is enjoyable rather than utilitarian.

 

[amd]

About four years ago my acne took a turn for the worse and I started to ditch commercial products to see if it was a toxic issue causing the acne (it was to some extent). I started learning about oils and making different things like lotions and skin masks. A friend started making soap 2 years ago and I was her test subject. About 18 months ago she came to visit and taught me how to make soap. I used my oils knowledge to make a few good base recipes for my family, slowly branching out to family, friends, and friends of friends.

 

[skayc1]

Ihad been curious about making soap when i was younger, did not know about CP soap making, so i never tried it. I thought that making M&P was not 'making' the soap, but modifying it, & I did not understand HP, I was afraid soap cooking would stink up my house, knew nothing about FO's either. so when I saw a video of CP soap making I was like I want to try this. all the fear from the past was gone. curiously a scratchy skin on my elbow did not go away till I started using my soaps I made, even though I did purchase a 2 lb batch from someone else... After making my first batch I was hooked...seems I'm good at it.

 

[JuneP]

For me it was a matter of having a creative outlet, that unlike the 40 years I spent doing pottery, I could have results in a couple of days. Like pottery, you're dealing with design and color choices as well as the chemistry of it all.With my current circumstances, age, husbands failing health and his needing almost constant care, there's no way I could spend the time every day,over a span of a week or more to get to the point of loading, firing and emptying a kiln and all the cleanup and post making chores. Soaping is so easy by comparison and so much easier on the body, and just as creative. And with soaping I have the addition of wonderful fragrances to work with. And of course, the house smells amazing from the soaping and you have lovely soaps to use and share with family and friends.