I really want to make bars of soap. Does anyone have any tips for a complete novice?

[TheMamaG]

I’ve no idea why. I work full time, have 3 dc, a dog, a cat and a very busy life. Yet I’ve decided I want to spend some of my very limited free time making soap. I don’t actually use soap as I find it dries my skin, but let’s gloss over that.

Any tips would be much appreciated!

See if there is a one day course you can go to to get you started and see if you really want to invest time and money into it.

There are kits you can get which use a basic soap that you just melt, scent and reset but if you want to all out then youre i looking at making a lye solution which is caustic and it can be both expensive and dangerousin the 'getting it right' stage.

Melt scent and reset sounds about right ...!

You can make proper, mild soap from scratch without special equipment. You just need proper sodium hydroxide - online - and olive oil. Find a saponification calculator online, add in a bit of (melted) beeswax to harden the end product, use a del monte juice carton as a mould and jobsagoodun. Google 'room temperature process soap' and fall down a sweet rabbit hole