Teach Soap

I've been making & selling M&P soaps (and a variety of other product lines) for a good number of years now (5??). I've never done CP because I'm scared to death of the lye. Not just for myself, though I am a complete clutz so for myself as well, but mostly for my 3 young, curious, vivacious boys.

Well, those boys are getting a little older, especially the oldest ... and I just had to order some lye (and hydrocloric acid!) for his chemistry lessons (I home school). So with it I ordered a good $100 or so in safety equipment ... here's to hoping for the best.

And ... well, if I'm going to have it in my house any way ... I guess it might be time to try my hand at CP!!

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Sweet bathing!
Erin
www.bathcake.com

Hi erin! Well, sounds like you have a great attitude! I would suggest that you start with a small batch--- around a pound or so--- should give you 5-6 bars depending. Just do something simple to get the "hang" of making the soap, then it's much easier to expand. Remember to consider your final product---- after a good cure-- before investing too much in your first recipe. Good luck and have fun!

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You may be only one person to the world, but you may also be the world to one person

I agree with knine. I would convert a 1 lb. recipe into grams to get a more accurate measure. Make a simple batch with no scents or color, so you know what the soap looks like, how it traces, how it cures etc...

Good luck!

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Irena
Closed minds are like faulty parachutes; they refuse to open.

Hi Erin:

(I'm an "Erin", too!)

Although we don't have small children at home, I was like you. I made M&P for about 5 years before taking the plunge and trying C/P soap. Now we've been doing C/P for going on 3 years now. I started by reading a lot of books, then purchased the C/P kit from Brambleberry,. We watched Anne Marie's soap making video (quite a few times) and followed the directions precisely. Things went well our very first time and we continue to have successful batches.

It sounds like you'll do just fine. Good luck and please let us all know how things go!!

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HEAVENLY SCENT SOAPS

Hey Soapbuddy I'm glad someone else uses grams, it's so much more straight forward, never could get the hang of fractions as a kid and it's too much like hard work now!!

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Jackie


Beautifully Handcrafted Soap

Just take the necessary precautions with the lye - gloves, safety glasses, etc. Making soap would be a great chemistry lesson if you want to incorporate that as part of your homeschool lab experiments. I've only been making CP soap for a few months and have only made 1 lb batches. You can find lots of 1 lb recipes at colebrothers.com. Just be sure to run everything through a lye calculator. Although I also homeschool, I've not included my children in my soapmaking endeavors yet. But they have been supportive, despite laughing at me in the gloves/safety glasses getup!

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Irena
Closed minds are like faulty parachutes; they refuse to open.