What do I need to make my own soap?
Tired of boring bland soaps sold in stores? Having skin issues that you cannot seem to get relief from? Looking to find a soap that completely matches your bathroom’s theme or colour scheme but you can’t just seem to find it? Maybe you have little monsters/angels and you want to know EXACTLY what is going on their skin when they scrub up or heck, even entice them into bathing a little easier by finding soap that appeals to them. There are sooooo many reasons to want to make your own soap, so whatever your reason is for wanting to create your soap our goal today is to show you what you need to make your own melt and pour soap.
What are the ingredients needed for soap?
Soap is created by a basic chemical reaction from combining fats or oils and lye. This is referred to as saponification.
There are basically 4 processes that can create soap; hot process, cold process, melt and pour and rebatching.
*Hot process and cold process soap making styles - both of which include handling of and working with Lye, which not everyone may feel comfortable with doing and comes with dangers involved as well.
*Rebatching- is simply a term used to describe melting unsold or unusable soap to repurpose.
*Melt and Pour being the last process which essentially is taking a soap base that someone else has created (i.e. they handled the lye/chemicals needed to make the soap base) that you can melt safely, colour and add your own extras into.
Every process has it’s own pros and cons to it. So depending on your needs for making your soap, you should do some research and figure out which type makes the most sense for you. In today’s post we are going to be using the Melt and Pour process. This is usually much simpler for beginners, needs less equipment, definitely comes with less risks and can be the cheaper alternative. It does come with downsides as well like not being able to control the bases ingredients and extra stuff you may not want added like glycerin may also make it less natural than some alternative processes.
So if you want to have the most natural soap possible for you or your family, Melt and Pour would in fact not be the best process for you. Unless you can find a GREAT base, making your own hot/cold process soap might instead be the better choice if you are looking for minimal or organic/natural ingredients. But again, cold process will also involve working with lye to create the saponification process so if comes with it’s downsides as well. So I definitely recommend researching all the processes, bases, ingredients and make an informed choice.
Where can I buy my soap supplies?
Well for me I simply went to google and did some research, I found an amazing soap manufacturer and supplier local to me https://candorasoap.ca/. Great reviews, incredible customer service, knowledgeable staff, and reasonable prices, they have met every need I have found in my soap journey. They have all of their ingredients and products laid out on their website so I can look through and make the most educated choice for my needs. I recommend finding a supplier that offers not only clear bases but also more natural types of bases like Goats Milk, Oatmeal, Honey, Apple or Buttermilk to work with as well. The more natural types, obviously tend to have less added/extra chemicals but they also come with a higher price tag too. My soap supplier not only carries over 20+ different soap bases, they also carry lines of packaging materials, oils, butters, powders, chemicals needed in the hot/cold process, flavour oils for lip products and soap molds. This makes getting my necessary supplies not only more cost efficient buying in bulk rather than somewhere on Amazon where I would get half the quantity for similar priced items, it also supports another local business, which I am so down with.
So once you have decided on your soap supplier, you should make your shopping list based on your soap making needs. You are going to need some basic things; mold(s), fragrance, soap base, colourant. The next step would be other things like; Oils/Butters or other add ins that you would want to incorporate into your bars like; flowers, exfoliants or even toys to hide inside your soaps. Some things to consider:
1- What shape of soap do you want to make? Big square, funny shape, basic rectangle?
2- What shape do you need to create, and what mold will it take to make it?
Big Square bars come from a mold like this: https://www.amazon.ca/Silicone-Soap-Mold-Rectangular-Stainless/dp/B082KHKXDP/ref=sr_1_3_sspa?dchild=1&keywords=large+soap+mold&qid=1617380443&sr=8-3-spons&psc=1&spLa=ZW5jcnlwdGVkUXVhbGlmaWVyPUEyVDg3WVJKRkdURE5DJmVuY3J5cHRlZElkPUEwNzAzMjM0MUFHVFBBRFJJV0RKUyZlbmNyeXB0ZWRBZElkPUEwODQ5NTg5UkRWMUdXNElQSTUyJndpZGdldE5hbWU9c3BfYXRmJmFjdGlvbj1jbGlja1JlZGlyZWN0JmRvTm90TG9nQ2xpY2s9dHJ1ZQ==
Basic Rectangle store sized bars come from a mold like this: https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B07WP56ZM4/ref=redir_mobile_desktop?_encoding=UTF8&aaxitk=CNeCLh.03EnUVhGvuyrAFw&hsa_cr_id=4127503530901&pd_rd_plhdr=t&pd_rd_r=066cbcd2-92c0-4abf-a107-d7be3f18ea5c&pd_rd_w=bFP0r&pd_rd_wg=wICJ0&ref_=sbx_be_s_sparkle_mcd_asin_1_img
And funny/unique shapes can be something like these: https://www.amazon.ca/Fewo-Cavities-Non-Stick-Silicone-Supplies/dp/B07MBMHBKQ/ref=sr_1_20?dchild=1&keywords=unicorn+mold&qid=1617380581&s=kitchen&sr=1-20at
2- What does your soap base already contain, and what will any extra butters/oils you add do to it’s formula? Most melt and pour soap bases already contain the necessary breakdown of fats/oils/lye needed to make the most efficient bubbles possible. Although oils/butters can add extra moisturizing benefits, it MAY decrease your soap’s bubble making capability. So, make sure you thoroughly research not only your base, but your ingredients and their side effects as well before you purchase or include.
3- What scents and colours do you want for your bars? There are a couple different ways to colour your soap. Mica powder, food dye, soap dye and natural pigments are some of them, but all come with pros and cons as well. Mica Powder in a clear based soap, makes the colour opaque and harder to see through, while using a food dye would leave a more visible see through colour to your soap. You need to research and evaluate which colour base is best for your needs. Fragrances are fun to work with and develop in some cases even, but they do come with safety limits. Know these limits/amount restrictions, because you do not want to be putting something on your body that is not meant for it at that level and cause harm.
4- What kind of toys would be safe to put in my soaps? Well, you want to include toys that are not going to be damaged by the soap process. Plastic figurines, keychains, bouncy balls, plastic rings are all affordable and adorable additions to your kid’s soaps, that won’t break the bank but WILL last till your soap is done and not be damaged. I personally have found a couple favourites like Hatchimals, Pokemon, Dinosaurs and Keychains can be found for a decent price on www.Amazon.ca and seem to not only work well in soap but kids love them.
Now that you’ve done the research necessary, you can make your shopping list and set out to purchase the ingredients and tools needed to make your soap bars and then it is time to learn how to actually put your melt and pour soap bars together.