Homemade Soap

There is two kinds of soap making. One is made with lye and the other with glycerine. Lye can be dangerous if you do not use it properly. It comes in crystal form and liquid form.  One of these days I will try to make soap with lye. I will leave it to the more experienced soap maker. I am just a novice at this right now. But would really like to do more. I use glycerine the melt and pour method of soap making. Here is some helpful hints for us beginners.  Get yourself a good stainless steel pot. Once you use it for soap making do not use it to cook in. I have gone to my neighborhood craft store and bought all my supplies. You need a cooking pot, glycerine bars, fragrance oils and coloring. Do not use food coloring as it will stain your hands and any clothing you may use. Choose the type of molds you want to use. Some say just the clear type plastic works best. That is what I have. And I have read that you should use silicone molds. I have not seen any but will keep my eyes open. Get creative in using household items. You can use a wax paper lined box and use a heavy duty fish line to cut the soap. Look around your house and see what creative things you come up with.

Melt your glycerine bar in your double boiler over low heat. Add your fragrance oil. Then add coloring to desired color  Stir slowly twice so not to form bubbles.  If bubbles do form after you have poured your soap into the molds, you may spritz with rubbing alcohol.  Pour slowly into mold let stand between 1 to 2 hours. If you want to add any embellishments, pour just a little bit of melted glycerine in bottom of the mold. Let stand for a few minutes to start to harden. Add the embellishment and finish pouring the glycerine into the mold. If your soap does not come out of the mold, place it into the refrigerator for about 15 minutes. It should pop right out. Cover immediately in some kind of plastic bag or wrap to keep from sweating and keep from losing your scent.  You can find all kinds of information on the web, as well as books and classes. Hope all works out. Remember to only do a small batch to get used to making soap before attempting to make a very large batch.

Until next time
Happy Crafting!