Tips, Tricks, and Tutorial Thursday - Getting Started Soap Making (Melt and Pour)

Today we are offering a small tutorial on how to make melt and pour soap. In our opinion, we believe this is a starting place for anyone interested in trying to make their own soap.

Melt and Pour is a much safer way to try out soap making. This is because the base is already made for you. You DO NOT have to handle any chemicals and the safety risks are much lower with this. This is because you are buying the soap base already; meaning that the lye has already gone through the saponification process.

You'll need:

A Soap Base (You can find these online or at a craft store like Michael's)

An essential oil or fragrance oil (make sure it is cosmetic safe - or soap safe)

A colorant (again making sure it is cosmetic safe or made for soap)

A glass bowl and/or glass Measuring Cup

A sharp knife or Soap Cutter

A Mold

A spatula (Rubber)

90% (or greater) Rubbing Alcohol

Cutting Board

Getting Started:

As a pre-caution we recommend sterilizing everything with Alcohol before starting (The bottom list).

Some soap bases already have the rows and sections marked off where to cut, some do not. Basically, you want to treat this like chocolate. The smaller it is the easier it will melt. Throw the amount of soap you need into either a glass bowl or a glass measuring cup. (The amount of soap you need will depend on the mold you pick.)

The packaging will give more instructions; generally in the microwave you will want to melt at 10 - 15 second intervals, making sure to stir it. Alternatively you can use a double boiler to melt the soap (or a pot of boiling water with a glass bowl on top).

Next you will want to add your colour and scent to the melted soap. A good rule of thumb is 1 teaspoon of fragrance oil or essential oil to 1 pound of soap. You can play around with this of course, depending on your scent and how strong you like your soap to smell. With the colouring you want to be very careful. If you add too much you run the risk of staining not only surfaces that your soap is resting on but your skin also. One drop at a time until you have the colour you want is a good start.

Once everything is mixed in well, pour into the mold you want. The soap base will tell you how long to let it set for (usually up to 1 hour).