Soaps: which do you work with, melt and pour or start from scratch?

[Coffeegirl75]

I find melt and pour easier and the results are great! Friends and family loved their soaps. Now I am looking to make soaps to sell on a market stall. But I’m thinking is it best to do from scratch?

any thoughts?

Is anyone making their own soaps?

I start from scratch and do hot process with a olive oil, coconut oil and castor oil mix. but mine is purely functional, for the family. Certainly nothing amazing to look at, like some of the beautiful stuff you see at fairs. Friend does melt and pour with her daughter on play dates and makes some really rather pretty soaps, in comparison, especially considering there are 10 year olds in the mix! But as far as actual soaping, I prefer mine. They lather and moisturise really nicely, if i do say so myself.

My friend makes from scratch with the oils and caustic sodas etc.
If you're planning on selling, bear in mind you need to have the soaps tested for safety and allergens etc.

She had to send her recipes off to be certified and had to make changes to certain essential oil quantities to meet uk regulations.

It's quite a process and whilst you could sell without doing it, you're leaving yourself wide open to claims if purchasers suffer adverse reactions. Melt and pour has done all this for you already, I presume.

You cannot sell soaps without getting a certified cosmetic assessment. It's illegal in the uk