Teach Soap

Hi Soapers!

I am brand new here and I have severe information overload from all the reading. I have never made soap before but want to make hot process soap in the crock pot & shampoo bars. I would love to find someone local to teach me to make soap but I've been unsuccessful. I wanted some hands on instruction on handling the lye. That being said, I will have to learn thru books/videos & online. I've read all over these boards and my head is just spinning. I thought I'd start my own thread so I will have all the info I need in one place. My questions are--

1) What books/videos are most recommended for me to learn hot process soap/crock pot hot process?

2) What supplies do I need to get started? I know there are lots of supplies out there but I need just the basics right now to begin.

Any info you can provide will be greatly appreciated. I can't wait to get started!

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Lisa

www.octoberepiphany.com

I am going thru a mid-life crisis. I am going "green" and getting rid of the chemicals in our house. Homemade soap....here I come!

Welcome! Here is what you would need to get started.

- Goggles
- Gloves
- Digital Scale (Up to 11lbs weighs in both grams & ounces)
- Stick Blender
- Measuring cups (don't use plastic for fragrances or essential oils)
- One Plastic Pitcher for Lye/Water mixing
- Long Plastic Spoon for mixing Lye Water
- Non Metallic Bucket for mixing everything together
- Stainless Steel Pot or a crock pot for cooking
- Parchment or Wax Paper
- Silicone Scrapper
- Thermometer

Don't forget to cover your working area with newspapers in case of drops of raw soap.

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

Hiya

For tips on handling the lye you should definately check out Soapqueentv if you haven't already.

She has a 4 part 'series' on cold-process & the first one is all about handling lye safely
They are on youtube & are under 10 mins each.
Great resource!!!

Have fun & be careful of the addiction It hit me half way through my first batch & was
completed by the time I cut the soap up!

Just wondering if you are willing to share what part of the country, or even what country you are in? I found a class at our local tech
collage. I thank Heaven for that class, even though it did not teach me everything I needed to know it got me started on this journey.

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Susie
Sometimes A Mistake is so much fun, You just have to do it again!

Bubbles2.....I am in Virginia Beach, Virginia (USA). I already looked at the catalog for the local community college but nothing. I joined a local online urban homesteaders group & posted there. One person said she had done hot process soap but had no plans to do any teaching right now. I also looked at the adult learning center and again nothing.

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Lisa

www.octoberepiphany.com

I am going thru a mid-life crisis. I am going "green" and getting rid of the chemicals in our house. Homemade soap....here I come!

Well then, the best we can offer is to watch the videos Ann Marie made and stick around on the forum and ask as many questions as you need to. As has been said here before, start simple - no fragrance, no color. Just get the feel for the soap. My sister likes the smell of the soap that I do for toddlers (no scent or color).

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Susie
Sometimes A Mistake is so much fun, You just have to do it again!

Here are links to my favorite HP soaping tutorial on youtube. I absolutely love this lady!

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~~Heather~~
Mad [soaping] Scientist

I watched and she does a very nice job. I was happy to see that she took the safety precautions. But two items of concern with her lye mixture... she uses a glass container... soap buddy had posted videos on how the glass can explode...so heavy duty plastic is better. #2 she uses a wooden spoon to mix it... the lye can eat into the wood, eventually leaving bits of wood in the soap. Sainless Steel is better.
She says she cures for 1 week, is that sufficent for HP soap? This I do not know. But then she did not tell us how much of a water discount she does.

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Susie
Sometimes A Mistake is so much fun, You just have to do it again!

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Linda
I know the voices in my head aren't real, but they sure have some great ideas!

Well, that is what I thought but have never made HP before. Was trying to wrap my head around the process and see the benifits. The only thing I can see is that I would never get a partial gel...which I seem to be famous for! On the down side, I am thinking that swirls would be much more difficult.

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Susie
Sometimes A Mistake is so much fun, You just have to do it again!

No glass for your lye water please. Over time, a wooden spoon will splinter. Those splinters could end up in your soap.

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

I'm bad, I use glass for my lye... but only until I can get a stainless steal pitcher from BB!

You don't need a water discount for HP at all, the water cooks off during the process. In my experience if you discount water it cooks slightly faster, but not by much! I usually cure my HP for 1 week, I've tried some at 4 and 8 weeks. I don't see much difference between the 1 week and even the 8 week. That is also 1 week in a VERY dry room, not sure if there would be more change if it was in a higher humidity.

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~~Heather~~
Mad [soaping] Scientist

Heather, have you ever done weight comparisons? I have a bar right now that I made last Sept and I weigh it monthly, record the weights. I will do this for 1 year so I can see how much 'loss' there is to one of my bars of soap. As of last month it has continued to loose weight (wish I could say the same for me ).

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Susie
Sometimes A Mistake is so much fun, You just have to do it again!

Mine had barely any change in weight over the 8 weeks. I'll see if I can find it and weigh it again. Who loses 2 bars of soap? I do I've no idea where I put it!

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~~Heather~~
Mad [soaping] Scientist

I never discount my liquid ,you will need all of it to help out with the pour of HP, the only book I have seen specifically for HP is sold by Brambleberry,it is an excellent book and covers everything HP,can't think of the name maybe someone knows here on the forum if not i will post it later today but this book is a MUST for a HP soaper IMO,complete with SEVERAL great recipes that I have made and tweaked and they are fabulous. I LOVE HP SOAPING!