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SOAP MAKING: THE BASICS

© Christine Barron

If you're anything like me, you have your nose into everything. Curious about this and that, surrounded by bits and pieces of this, scraps of that and half-done projects. I tried soap-making awhile ago, and must say that I am hooked. I've only done the very basics, but I can definitely see the attraction to this craft. If nothing else, I must stress to you the importance of using common sense and safety while making soap. You must use extreme caution while handling the lye, which can cause severe burns to your skin and eyes. I urge you to read everything you can before you start out with this craft, and exercise great caution while making the soap. It is very interesting and involved craft, and one well-worth undertaking. For a little history in this medium, check out http://www.alcasoft.com/soapfact/history...

Since I am fairly new to soap-making, I will pass along a number of sites to you, which should get you started well on your way to a successful experience with this art. For a "crash course," I suggest you take a look at this site: http://www.greencottage.com/soap/MandP10... This site contains lots of troubleshooting ideas and TNT ("tried and true") ideas for making soap. It's a "must-see" site for this craft.

Here is another good site about soap-making: http://www.fragrant.demon.co.uk/makesoap... This is also a "can't miss" for learning about making soap. This site provides recipes for soap and shampoo, and it discusses blender soap and shares tips as well. This site is very informative and helpful for the novice soap-maker. And this is another good general soap site, http://www.lis.ab.ca/walton/old/soaphome... This site is absolutely loaded with information.

I found the following site interesting, although not the most informative. Worth a look however (http://home.earthlink.net/~misterjones/). Here you can find videos, supplies and books to purchase, once you get more involved in soap-making. There is a bit of "soap history" on this site as well, and I found that a bit interesting. It would do you well to take a minute and check it out.

And, in my opinion, this is the mother of all soap sites: http://users.silverlink.net/~timer/soapi... This site is chock full of information, and is appropriate for both the novice and experienced soap-maker. At this site, you can find out where to find those hard-to-find supplies, some recipes, and you can even make up your own recipe using their charts. There are tips and links. This site is definitely one of the most thorough soap-making sites on the net, and is definitely worth bookmarking. It's my favorite site for this craft, by far.