Intro to Soap Making

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Category: Homemade Soaps

Published: Wednesday, 07 December 2016 03:40

Written by Super User

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As a I moved from being a novice into the intermediate stages of soaping, I have found that it combined two (now three) of my favorite things that I enjoy doing the most, which are baking cakes and abstract acrylic painting. It's not only relaxing and thrilling, but it allows for me to be as creative as I want to be. With all three, it always sparks the excitement and the thrill to see how my final product will come out.

How does the two relate to the intro to soap making? Well, in comparison to baking my cakes where I had a choice as to what kind of cake and ingredients I had chosen to use and whether or not it would be from scratch or from a box mix, I had that same option when it came to me being introduced to soap making. I had an option to make it totally from scratch or from a ready made soap called melt and pour, which I had chosen to do as my first experiment.  I had chosen the "from the box" route because it was very easy to do and I created soap to my liking  by adding different fragrances, colorants, and botanicals. And just like making  my cakes, I was able to create different  shapes, sizes, and build it into many layers. And believe it or not, I was even able to the whip the batter into a fluffy texture that resembled frosting and piped it onto the top of my bars of soap.

As I had continued to experiment with soaping, I eventually moved to the "from scratch method" and I was able to learn even more about how similar the two were. The one key thing that I had learned that was similar in comparison to baking cakes was that not only did I needed to make sure all of my ingredients were ready and available, I also had to pay attention to the timing and temperature of my ingredients. Just as the temperature and timing of the oven determines the outcome in the rising and moisture of my cakes, so it was with soap making. The amount of lye, water, types of carrier oils used, essential/fragrance oils, and the timing and temperature all played an important role in my soap making process too. It regulated my soaping experience from the beginning to the end. 

The only one difference (well maybe two - you can't eat the soap) that I had seen with soap making, is that everything is measured on a scale by weight and not in a measuring cup by volume.

When I looked at my patterns for acrylic painting, the same became true with making soap. I got to think out how I wanted to create my design and what colors that I wanted to choose. I had a choice and options as to how I wanted to formulate my soap because my soap batter (base) was my canvas.

Sometimes it came out just the way I had envisioned it, sometimes it didn't, and sometimes it came out even better. It was just a matter of being patient and waiting out the process for my final soap creation to be revealed.