I'm looking into buying a book so I can learn how to make soap. The one i'm interested in right now is The soap book: Simple herbal recipes by Sandy Maine. I'm just wondering if making soap is a really big deal, I mean am I going to have to buy expensive tools or machines and what about the ingredients-are they hard to get? This book seems like the recipes are going to be all natural but what is your opinion on the effectiveness of natural soap, is lye and stuff really important?
Soapmaking is not hard. You do not need to buy expensive tools, but there are things you need. Lye ( which is getting harder to buy because of the meth problem), water and oils. You can't make soap without lye. All of those liquid soaps andmost shampoos are actually detergents. It is fun. I make about 20 bars in a batch which is a workable amount. I got some molds off ebay and others from soapgoat.com which has a lot of unique molds. but you can use tupperware or make your own. You can get alot of oils at kitchen supply places. Even BJ's has bulk soybean oil. You will need a pot for oils, 2 candy thermometer's, spoons for mixing, a container or jar for mixing lye, molds. I also mix my batches in a blender which saves a lot of time.(if you get a blender it should be for soap only)Some books say to line the mold with wax paper but I use an olive oil spray to coat my molds. it works fine. Stay away from the thin molds at some craft stores they may not hold up to the repeated soap over time. There are many online sources for oils and molds. I get she butter from conisa.com. I would not go an invest a ton of maoney into it unless you really get into it. You will need gloves and goggles to wear when mixing the lye. There are good books. Two of mine are natural soapmaking and the complete soapmaker. Both are by Storey publishing.
make sure your equipment will stand up to the heat of the lye. i mix mine in a huge pyrex cup. and i mix it all together in a huge stainless steel pot.
you could always get a melt and pour base. lye is hard to find anymore due to the meth connection. red devil is the brand i used to get at stores.
you can get it from chemical companies but some require licenses. I have had luck with getting it at a fair price on ebay. If you are looking just to make some for your own use, then you could easily get a melt and pour base at a craft store. I have seen some that seem okay ingredient wise. A plus to melt and pour is it is not as tough on molds and utensils.
I've been thinking about getting into soap making, but I am not sure of all the ins and outs of it yet. Did you have trouble getting lye?
try summerbeemeadow.com they have lits for beginners and lye. You can get smaller quantities of oils from them at a fair price. But if you decide to really get into it, you'd be better off getting a supplier of oils and what not closer to where you live. restaurant supply places will have a lot of what you are loooking for. I have gotten stainless steel pots and silicon spatulas for cheap at Ross.
we have no problem getting it here,, any ace hardware or true value hardware still carry it.. but i guess some states are diffrent..
I haven't seen the red devil in my area for months now. The red devil co. is going to stop manufacturing it altogether because of it's use in meth labs ans are formulating a lye free drain opener. So if you see it buy it up!
I normaly just use the red devil from the hardware store too, though I have been wanting to make try my hand at making my own. Here's some directions:
Back in the day they made soap with wood ash. But results were unpredictable. The benefit of lye being commercially made is the product uniformity.You can make soap this way 9 with wood ash) but the Ph can be off so you should test the bars for the right PH after it cures, or it may be too harsh for people's skin.
