Teach Soap

I have been doing melt and pour for around a year or so. I have been reading about CP, HP, and CPOP and I'm itching to try a batch. I'm just a little nervous because I would be doing it in my kitchen and I'm afraid an accidental spill might mess up my floors or counter. But, I am thinking if I put down tarps or something like I'm getting ready to paint, I'll probably do alright.

So, I am thinking in the next month or so, I'll try a batch of CP. I've been looking at wooden molds, and they are so expensive. My husband does a bit of woodworking, I showed him some pictures of some basic soap molds, and he is going to try to make me a loaf mold. Any advice about making it? I've asked him to make it with screws so it can be disassembled if needed.

When I first started I recycled a ton of stuff to be used as molds. When I finally got to a point where I wanted an actual loaf mold I gave my husband the dimensions from a mold I saw on BB and my husband went and bought wood that matched the dimensions for the most part, cut them down to size, and put them together with little hinges and eye hooks. Once I started selling I started upgrading to nicer ones, (hdpe) cause they stand up more to my brutality. LOL

You will be fine. If your worried about your counter tops, line with garbage bags.

For make your own soap molds look at this. http://www.lowescreativeideas.com/idea- ... _0811.aspx

You can always go to Anna's Linens and get a $3 vinyl tablecloth to use as a tarp. Mix your lye water in your pitcher in the sink.

Go to Home Depot or any place that has plastic storage boxes. They're fabulous as molds. I have 18 of the 10" x 12" (interior dimension) storage boxes with green handles and lids. I line them with Ruffies plastic garbage bags (make sure any print is facing away from where the soap is poured). One of my "molds" makes 33 bars of 1" soap. It's a rather good-sized batch (122 ounces of fats/oils). The beauty of this "mold" is it cost less than $5.

I do line the ends with some cereal box cardboard to alleviate the "edge" issue. Also, you can get these storage boxes in many different sizes if you want to make smaller batches -- which is a good idea when you're first starting out.

Important to remember safety -- make sure you wear gloves and goggles because splashes DO happen.

Lucky you that your hubby does woodworking. What I would do is order Brambleberry's (it's $15), then have your husband build a wood mold to hold it. The dimensions for the liner are in the listing, and you could measure thickness to determine outer mold dimensions.

Thanks everyone! I love the ideas for inexpensive molds. Hubby was so gung ho to help out he looked at a picture, got some measurements and whipped one up the same day I posted this. I just lined it with some contact paper (with backing still on) today and tried some m&p in it, we'll see how it comes out. When I have more time I'll upload a picture. The only "problem" with it is that it's so big, it holds 6 lbs easily, and I do think it will be better for me to start with smaller batches when I am ready.

He also made me a couple pvc pipe molds for long bars I can use for embeds, and he made a stand for when I do my soap on a rope so the ropes stay centered. Love my hubby, and he doesn't even complain that I cook soap more than food now, lol.

I've been busy trying to get ready for the craft fair in April, some of the decorative soaps I'm doing are time consuming. I'm thinking I'll give CP a try after the craft fair when I hopefully have time to spend. And it will give me more time to get some racks for the back bedroom for curing, and to read the "Everything Soapmaking" book I have on my kindle. I was going to also get the Soapmakers Companion but a few reviews say the info is dated (was written in 1997) and not complete.

Any other suggestions of books that I can download?

Anne L. Watson has some good soapmaking books. I really like her book on soaping with milk.

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

Just do what I did research the size of a large mold and make a cardboard version of it. Then make a wood mold to fit around it. My uncle made me one from poplar wood which is untreated and unfinished. The awesomeness of it is it can fit up to a six pound soap or as small as one pound by just moving the small wood pieces. I had checked around for prices on one that could do that and it was over $60. My awesome uncle made me one for about $15. Using the same wood you can also easly make a thing to then cut your soap once it's done.

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@!BuG!@

Thanks ljm, I'll check out her books!

Kemarie, that's a great idea! I'm going to pass it along to my hubby, and also might try to order the silicone liner and have him build a mold based on the dimensions of it, because lining seems like more trouble than it's worth!