In my journey of soap making, unfortunately I didn't have anyone to teach me. I have had to research, and continue to research, soap making. I search the Internet, purchase soap making books, and experiment.
If you are thinking of making home made soap for your family or friends, you will need to learn what ingredients are involved. All soap is made from lye, oils and water. You can order lye from a soap making supplier (like Wholesale Supply Plus), or many other soap making suppliers; which you can find on line. I search for the ones that do free shipping. When you order a minimum balance, as it saves the extra costs.
Once you have your lye you will need to invest in rubber gloves, goggles, face mask, and an apron. These items will protect you from chemical burns, splashes or fumes. Make sure you ask your retailer what type of mask is best when working with lye.
The next ingredient is cooking oil. Any oil from your kitchen will work; olive, coconut, castor --and many many more. The key to choosing oils is to learn what each oil will do for the skin, and what is the shelf life of each oil. For example olive oil has a long shelf life. It is almost always one of the oils used when making soap. It is best to research- you can find that information in Brammelberry.com or Soap Making 101. In addition read about soft oils and hard oils as well, as these will help in the hardening of your bar.
The final item is distilled water. The reason for distilled; to keep impurities from your soap.
There are many many other ingredients that you can add to your soaps, besides these basics to make a more luxurious bar of soap. We will explore those another time, along with how to create a formula ( soapcalc.com)
*Disclaimer- please know I am not a soap making instructor, but mearly sharing my soap making journey with you here.
Please comment and let me know what you would like to hear about soap making!
More on tools and supplies tomorrow!
Enjoy the journey!
Colleen~"