Making Soap From Scratch: How to Make Handmade Soap – A Beginners Guide and Beyond
With a no-nonsense approach and easy to follow directions, professional soap maker, Gregory White, shares his experience (and recipes) for creating cold process soaps. White takes the reader step by step through the process of making natural soaps for family, friends, and for profit. Easy to understand and master. This second edition includes extended directions for first time soap makers, new recipes, how to make soap in small and large batches and a guide to using essential oils. Includes tips and advice for how to cut and cure soap, how to sell your soaps, packaging and labeling, and how to set up at a craft fair or market. Over 45 soap recipes from luxurious to economical.
CONTENTS:
-All about Soap
(the history of soap of how it transformed through the years)
-Types of Soap
(cold process, hot process, liquid soap, soap balls)
-Soap Making Terms and Equipment
(all the necessary soap making lingo and the supplies you need to get started)
-The Oils in Soap Making
(the variety of soap making oils and their properties)
-Saponification Chart
(the math behind creating soap recipes)
-Standard Soap Making Instructions
(how to make cold processed soap)
-Standard Soap Recipes
(a variety of soap recipes for specialty, luxury, and everyday use)
-Animal Fat Recipes
(a few recipes for those who like lard or beef tallow soap)
-Master Batch Soap Making Instructions
(how to pre-melt large batches of oils to make large quantities of soap)
-Master Batch Soap recipes
(more soap making recipes that can be re-sized for single batches)
-An Overview of Essential Oils
(the basic properties of some of the most widely used essential oils)
-Selling, Packaging, and Labeling
(how to get your soap ready for sale)
-Tales of Running a Soap business
(funny stories and practical advice from an experienced soap maker)
-Resources and Suppliers
(where to find all the ingredients soap makers use)
Paperback: 150 pages
Publisher: White Willow Books; 2nd ed. edition (September 6, 2012)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0615695345
ISBN-13: 978-0615695341
Product Dimensions: 6 x 0.3 x 9 inches
Making Soap from Scratch is a great book for the DIY soap maker. Every detail in the process of soap making is covered without being overwhelming. Small batch and bulk soap making are both thoroughly covered. I was very impressed with the chapter detailing the actual recipes. The recipes cover everything from the super luxurious to the more economical. Resources and suppliers are also listed to make gathering all the ingredients very easy. This book will be an invaluable reference tool in my personal soap making practice. – James
This is my third try at cold process soap over the span of about eleven years and I wish I could have started with this one book. This is the ONLY book you need, seriously if you like natural handmade herbal soaps. I’ve made 20 lbs of soap in the last two weeks and haven’t had to throw out any of them! Every batch from your recipes came out smelling wonderful (although I use about half the essential oils in mine) and looking beautiful. I feel like an herbologist, grinding and mixing my herbs. Essential oils are expensive but so worth it. Following your mixing method, I did not have one batch seize up on me. I got into it this year to stock my cabinet back up and give bars as Christmas gifts but I actually think they might be good enough to sell. I’m recommending this book to everyone who wants to start or try once again to make their own soap. Thank you for writing a book that finally makes this easy for me! – T. Bennett
This book makes soap making so much more simple. I had spent weeks reading different websites and other books only to end up a little confused, terrified, and convinced that I could never make soap on my own. I just knew that I would blow up the house! Making Soap From Scratch was broken down enough that I could understand what I needed to carefully do without breaking down so much that I needed a chemistry class to figure it out. After reading the book a couple of times I attempted my first recipe and it came out perfect! The recipes are great and I cannot wait until I am able to make a “master batch” to save a little time. – Tiffany