Crafters- What are you making???

[TexasJ]

was it a "kit" for making cold process.. or a melt and pour base?


You can get a good recipe, use oils and butters that aren't too expensive plus lye, herbs (optional) and fragrance (essential or fragrance oils which are soap friendly and skin safe) and still come out cheaper for a lot more bars. You can also just forgo any herbs or fragrance if all you want is a bar of soap with nothing special added to it.

I've seen people use "Pringles" cans (yeah the potato chip), card board boxes and similar things for molds. I have wooden molds that were made for soap making.. but then again I tend to make  a lot of soap when I get going!
Some of the oils can be bought at the grocery store (especially for first time, small batches).. to help you get past the learning process. Once you have mastered that then you can invest in some of the nicer or "more exotic" oils and butters and buy in bulk if you decide you want to continue making soap. You can make bars of soap from just olive oil, or a blend of olive, coconut oil .. even lard.. (I knew a girl who was a member of an online forum I was in who made soap from bacon grease)!

The hardest thing for most people to find is lye. It used to be that you could go to the grocery store or some place like Ace Hardware and get it.. then they started limiting sales. I usually get mine online (though i have a stockpile of it right now). But even lye isn't expensive. 

One of the reasons I suggest getting supplies locally (for small batch first timers) is so that you can avoid shipping costs. But there is nothing wrong with ordering online if you don't mind paying the higher prices for small amounts and shipping. Personally I prefer online buying for myself simply because that does enable me to buy in bulk which saves money in the long run.. but for someone who only wants to make a little soap they can get by ok with oils from the grocery store. In all honesty though.. I have never met anyone who made their first batch and then decided they never wanted to make it again.. like hatching birds, soap making can be pretty addictive!

was it a "kit" for making cold process.. or a melt and pour base?


You can get a good recipe, use oils and butters that aren't too expensive plus lye, herbs (optional) and fragrance (essential or fragrance oils which are soap friendly and skin safe) and still come out cheaper for a lot more bars. You can also just forgo any herbs or fragrance if all you want is a bar of soap with nothing special added to it.

I've seen people use "Pringles" cans (yeah the potato chip), card board boxes and similar things for molds. I have wooden molds that were made for soap making.. but then again I tend to make  a lot of soap when I get going!
Some of the oils can be bought at the grocery store (especially for first time, small batches).. to help you get past the learning process. Once you have mastered that then you can invest in some of the nicer or "more exotic" oils and butters and buy in bulk if you decide you want to continue making soap. You can make bars of soap from just olive oil, or a blend of olive, coconut oil .. even lard.. (I knew a girl who was a member of an online forum I was in who made soap from bacon grease)!

The hardest thing for most people to find is lye. It used to be that you could go to the grocery store or some place like Ace Hardware and get it.. then they started limiting sales. I usually get mine online (though i have a stockpile of it right now). But even lye isn't expensive. 

One of the reasons I suggest getting supplies locally (for small batch first timers) is so that you can avoid shipping costs. But there is nothing wrong with ordering online if you don't mind paying the higher prices for small amounts and shipping. Personally I prefer online buying for myself simply because that does enable me to buy in bulk which saves money in the long run.. but for someone who only wants to make a little soap they can get by ok with oils from the grocery store. In all honesty though.. I have never met anyone who made their first batch and then decided they never wanted to make it again.. like hatching birds, soap making can be pretty addictive!

The bar was for melting it was 1lbs and the scent was separate no kit just a bar and scent together was just short of $30.00 I may wait till I can go to a city instead of town lol or on line thank you all for your pricing and ideas you saved me some $$

 

[yinepu]

The bar was for melting it was 1lbs and the scent was separate no kit just a bar and scent together was just short of $30.00 I may wait till I can go to a city instead of town lol or on line thank you all for your pricing and ideas you saved me some $$

Ah... that sounds like melt and pour then.. not cold process.


in a nutshell (very simplified info here):
With "melt and pour" bases you do just that.. melt them and pour into your mold. (you can add color, fragrance, herbs ect before molding) .. once cooled it's ready to use and completely skin safe

With cold or hot process you start with all the separate ingredients which would make up the "base" (different kinds of oils and butters).. heat them and after everything is melted you add a lye water mix (amount depends on how much and what kinds of oils you are using in the recipe).. then you have to blend that until it thickens and comes to "trace".. add any colorants, fragrance, herbs and any other special ingredients you want for that recipe and pour into the molds. With cold process it takes a while for the bars to cure (several months) and for the PH to stabilize enough that it's safe for your skin. Hot process can be used a lot sooner (within a couple of days) However I like to let the bars of hot process cure as well just so the bar becomes drier and will last longer

the biggest difference between hot and cold process is that with hot process you continue to cook the soap until it's ready to form into balls or mold.. so the lye water is added to the melted oils and you continue to cook it (many people use a crock pot for cooking it).. this speeds up the saponification process turning the oils and lye mixture into soap faster which makes it safe to use sooner than cold process.

With cold process you remove the oils from the heat source BEFORE adding the lye/water.. then add the fragrance and so on. Once it has traced and you have all your extra goodies added in you pour it into the molds .. wrap the molds with blankets and let it finish processing on the counter.

Hot process is more predictable.. but if you cook the soap for too long it can become too dry and crumbly

I still prefer cold process the most (even if it can be unpredictable at times)

 

[TexasJ]

Out of breath information over load lol thanks for that though I though I was going to melt color and put some smell good and be done I guess ill stick to the kid chairs for now

The bottom and top pull apart and slide into each other for easy carry

 

[yinepu]

Our of breath information over load lol thanks for that though I though I was going to melt color and put some smell good and be done

lol.. you can with melt & pour bases!

 

[TexasJ]

Here's a few more

 

[eggorthechicken]

I like to do melt and pour with my kids....get some base, fun molds, color and scent. I.used to make bath cupcakes. They looked good enough to eat. Those are fun too. I love those chairs....i would make them chicken chairs and set them by my coop.

 

[TexasJ]

Thank you I haven't given up on the soap just got to wait till I can get out to a real craft store

 

[eggorthechicken]

Try wholesalesuppliesplus.com. they have everything....even kits to get you started. For cold processed i can find most of my basic oils at walmart. For melt and pour i always order online.

 

[itsmechrissy]

Ok..you all got me REALLY wanting to try soap making! So I did it, I ordered the Lorann Oils soap making kit off of amazon.com...at 23.95 it seemed cheaper than the kits at wholesale supplies plus and got a lot of good customer reviews. Product description: Everything you need to make great-smelling soaps in a variety of attractive colors and shapes are included in this Soap Making Kit. The natural essential oils and cocoa butter allow you to create super moisturizing and luxurious soaps at home. Kit includes 2-pound clear glycerin soap base, Spring Collection liquid colors (lilac peach seafoam), Massage Bars soap mold, Geometric Shapes soap mold, 1-ounce cocoa butter, 1-ounce Cucumber Melon Fragrance; and 1-ounce Lavender Fragrance. Made in USA.

If, after I try it, I find I really like soap making I may look at wholesalesupplies to restock supplies, but didn't want to invest too much this first go around.

Anyway, It's supposed to be here Monday so maybe I'll be making soap for the New Year...lol

 

[yinepu]

Ok..you all got me REALLY wanting to try soap making! So I did it, I ordered the Lorann Oils soap making kit off of amazon.com...at 23.95 it seemed cheaper than the kits at wholesale supplies plus and got a lot of good customer reviews. Product description: Everything you need to make great-smelling soaps in a variety of attractive colors and shapes are included in this Soap Making Kit. The natural essential oils and cocoa butter allow you to create super moisturizing and luxurious soaps at home. Kit includes 2-pound clear glycerin soap base, Spring Collection liquid colors (lilac peach seafoam), Massage Bars soap mold, Geometric Shapes soap mold, 1-ounce cocoa butter, 1-ounce Cucumber Melon Fragrance; and 1-ounce Lavender Fragrance. Made in USA.

If, after I try it, I find I really like soap making I may look at wholesalesupplies to restock supplies, but didn't want to invest too much this first go around.

Anyway, It's supposed to be here Monday so maybe I'll be making soap for the New Year...lol

You'll have to post a review on how good it smells. I've used Lorann Flavoring Oils many many years ago for making candy .. but I didn't know they had skin grade ones.