My opinion about Homemade Soap

Just wanted to share my little story.

My passion for soapmaking.

Do you have a hobby that turned into an obsession?

I used to make home made soaps and loved it so much I started to sell it.

When I first started making it, I actually went to the butcher and requested the pure white fat which I had to render it down to liquid. It made a beautiful very hard, long lasting bar of soap.

I kept this recipe for my family only. I later started experimenting with liquid oils like Olive oil, Almond Oil and hard oils like Coconut oil or even lard.

Making homemade soap is chemistry. We need fat, water and lye.

If you decide to make your own soap, please, read up on the safety of doing so. I have a facial mask (like painters have), I have gloves and googles. It is an awesome experience but it can be disastrous if lye get onto your skin or worse in your eyes. No pets or kids around while making soap.

Back to the fun part. The sky is the limit what types of soaps you can make with hundreds of fragrances out there and colors, various oils, various additives like cocoa butter. It is endless. How much of each truly depends on so many factors. Would you prefer asoft bar or a hard bar? Do you have dry skin, oily skin? How about lots of bubbles, or less and more creamy? It is a lot of fun creating exactly what you want.

This is free!

There is a website that every soaper uses called Soapcalc

http://www.soapcalc.net/calc/soapcalcwp.asp

You can use it two ways, you can put in the recipe that you want by entering in the oils you have or you can play around with it and see what oils/fats/butters are needed to achieve the outcome you want.

It must come to 100% and at the bottom it will tell you the benefits of your special recipe.

If you are confused how to use the soapcalc, just let me know.

Here are a few books I highly recommend.  Just click on them and the link will bring you to the exact book.

• Pure Soapmaking by Anne-Marie Faiola
• Soap Crafting by Anne-Marie Faiola
• Everything Soapmaking Book by Alicia Grosso
• The Natural Soap book by Susan Miller Cavitch

People I later started to follow

Anne-Marie Faiola – soapqueen.com

Katie – Royaltysoaps.com

I still make homemade soaps, laundry soap, but for friends and family. It sure is an art/craft that I truly loved and was inspired daily to want to create various type, colors and styles.

I hope this has encouraged you to take a leap of faith and try it yourself. Your family would love them for gifts.  I am just starting to sell my personal recipes.  Here is one for Charcoal Soap.

Ann Marie has several excellent videos about the safety of soap making. Please watch them before starting your first batch of soap

Happy Soap Making

Brenda