Any soap makers out there up for a chat?

[UnaOfStormhold]

I made my first batch of soap yesterday (cold process honey and beeswax) and am finding waiting for it to cure is the hardest bit! I'm trying to resist the urge to start another batch until I see how this one turns out, so please distract me from googling more recipes!

That's the hardest thing! At the moment I don't have the space to do cold process soap but playing with different soap bases and adding butters and oils to see what I get, nearly at the stage that I am happy to get them tested

Hello fivegomad, do you mean testing for selling? Sounds exciting! I can see how the urge to produce soap is going to quickly outstrip our usage of soap (and probably friends and family too!) and I'm going to have to work out what to do with the surplus. It is quite magical watching it come together and (hopefully) become soap!

Yes, testing for selling, I did do some a few years ago but have moved house and my candle business has taken over the space!

I have just started making soap using the M&P method, would love to do the cold press but it scares me! I would love to sell but at the moment just making it for me whilst I am learning, maybe later in the year go for the testing!

Oh my daughter is asking me about how to do this and I wouldn't know where to start. Plus I'm a vegan. Any tips?

I can see how the urge to produce soap is going to quickly outstrip our usage of soap

This is why I gave it up!

tweedler I'm just a beginner but from what I've read if you want to do soap making with a child then melt and pour is probably best for safety reasons. If she's older or you want to try yourself, I found www.lovelygreens.com useful for advice on how to do cold process and ingredients. I think it's fairly easy to make vegan soap, just avoid ingredients like tallow.

Ilovemyshoppingtrolley I actually found the lye bit a bit of an anticlimax after all I'd read and having done it once wonder why I was so nervous about it.

FivegomadinDorset what sort of candles do you make? We have bees so are experimenting with different uses for our beeswax.

OP, don't bother with waiting, it will be fine when it's finished and making more now will mean that you have a continuous supply.

If you want to make soap which is still properly made by you and has "pure" ingredients, but is ready to use quickly, try hot process. You can use a slow cooker or an old soup kettle (just keep whatever you use only for soaping). The soap is ready to use when it's finished, but you can cure it as normal to make the bar harder.

I'm very tempted! But I doubt we'll use all the soap in a month so there should be plenty of time. Does look nice though...

Oh that is pretty! The beeswax should make it quite hard too, so it will last a decent amount of time. I have to keep a huge stock of soap in, because I have four sons and they are all muck-magnets!
Have you tried making shampoo bars yet?

I make cold process soap (well, I assist ds who is 13 in making it to be precise). We've made 4 batches now, after one of his friends mums taught him. The last batch was olive oil, coconut oil and shea butter with rosemary and lavender essential oils in a two colour swirl

That looks v pretty @UnaOfStormhold

Yes, I have been looking at shampoo bar recipes, though I'm mostly doing curly girl method and I'm not quite sure whether they are suitable. I'd love to make something like this; www.lushusa.com/hair/styling/queen-bee/05939.html

Colour swirls sound quite challenging CMOT - presumably that requires having two batches at trace simultaneously?

No, you just split it into different jugs and colour them. Really easy

Ah, that makes sense CMOT. Though maybe not with beeswax soap as that was setting very quickly!

Happy to report lots of lovely bubbles! I fancy orange soap for my next batch and have some zest steeping in oil. I also made some liquid soap from some trimmings of my soap plus the tag ends of bought soap bars, which I think is easier for DS. So I think we'll be well supplied with soap for a good while yet...

No advice other than in my late teens (pre-internet!) I had a sudden whim to make soap. Caustic soda, fat, essences etc etc. I can only assume I missed the section on wearing gloves and how dangerous caustic soda is! I recall wondering why the skin on my hands was peeling off, then endured weeks of painful, cracked skin. I don't think I ever even used the soap! Yours looks lovely though.

Ouch Elouera, I can see why that would have put you off!