There are actually a few different ways to make handmade soap. They range from very easy to more advanced.
The easy method:
The easy method of making handmade soap is the heat and pour method. What this is is exactly like how it sounds. You take regular bar soap and heat it up and pour it into molds.
Why would anyone do this?
There are a few reasons.
1.This method is very good to use if you are on a time limit. For example, if a holiday is coming up or it is someones birthday and you want to give them some handmade soap this is the way you want to do it.
2. You can still add the extras that you want to the soap without the hassle or danger of making real soap.
3. Your making soap with children. Lye can be very dangerous because it can severely burn you so if you are planning on making soap with kids then this is definitely the way you would want to go.
Is there a special method for making homemade heat and pour soap?
What you do is take a bar of soap, preferably a plain white non-fragrance soap, and cut it up into slivers. On a double boiler (or a pot with a bowl place over it) melt the slivers of soap.
After it is melted you can add fragrance of your choice, coloring if you want it, and basically anything else you would like to put in the soap. Stir it all together, making sure you only stir in one direction.
Once it is stirred up how you would like it, pour the melted soap into molds and let set. The soap will be a softer set when it is done then it was before you started.
What else would you put in the soap besides fragrance and coloring?
Lots of things like Jojoba beads, ground oatmeal, ground almonds, specks of vanilla, flower petals, poppy seeds, fruit seeds (like strawberries and blueberry), apricot meal, loofah slices, and basically anything that you can think of!
A harder method of making handmade soap:
A harder method of making handmade soap is to do cold process soap making. What that is is basically making your soap from scratch using lye. You can make some wonderful soap once you learn how to do cold process soap making.
I’m not going to get into great detail about how to do it here because I have step-by-step instructions elsewhere on SellCraftsOnline.org.
If you are interested in learning how to make cold process soap here is the link to the step-by-step instructions – http://sellcraftsonline.org/soap-making/making-cold-process-soap
The hardest method of making handmade soap:
The hardest process for making handmade soap is using the hot process soap making method. It is not recommended that you try this process unless you have a good understanding of the cold process soap making.
What this process is is that you make a cold process soap but you add heat to it. This makes the soap process much quicker and the soap also sets within a week instead of 3-4 weeks like when doing the cold process method.
If you are looking for a comprehensive guide on making handmade soap I would recommend you check out Soap Making Fun: Your Visual Guide to the Cold Process. It’s a video that walks you through the cold process soap making method. Perfect for the visual learner.
Click here to visit the Soap Making Fun: Your Visual Guide to the Cold Process website.
