question from a newb

I've been interested in making soap for a long time. I think it's time to explore this hobby to see if I enjoy it. My question is: how do I make this hobby affordable? I'm assuming it's very expensive to buy the supplies and materials. Links to wholesale websites that sell supplies would be awesome. Also, any good links for newbs in general would be great.

Thanks, Sara

Sara, you probably have a lot of the materials to make soap already. You can use these materials in your first batches to see if you like it first. You can use lots of things for a mold, but one idea is to use a milk carton. A quart milk carton or even a pint one works great. You can see the thread on how to figure out how much oil to use to fit in your mold. You can use oils like olive oil, coconut oil (the Louana brand might be available at Walmart) and even canola oil or Crisco.

You will need the following materials to make soap:

• A digital scale that measures grams and tenths of an ounce; you should also be able to adjust the scale for tare[/*:m:3d0kssmx]
• One or two food thermometers (digital is easier, but standard ones work, too)[/*:m:3d0kssmx]
• A stick blender (I got mine cheap on Amazon because it was an unpopular color—raspberry—and I love it)[/*:m:3d0kssmx]
• Gloves and goggles (dishwashing gloves work, but I find them unwieldy)[/*:m:3d0kssmx]
• Various containers (I bought a large box of plastic containers, and even though some soapers insist on glass or stainless steel, I have not had any issues whatsoever with the plastic; it just needs to be heat-resistant)[/*:m:3d0kssmx]
• Spatulas and spoons[/*:m:3d0kssmx]

You might find some of these items at a thrift store or online fairly cheap. You will also need lye, which is really only easy to get online. Some people use it to make meth, so it's not readily available in hardware stores anymore like it used to be. You can find lots of vendors online who sell it, and you can order it through Amazon, too. I prefer Bramble Berry's lye after trying a few kinds. It is in flake form and seems to dissolve easier and behave better, but I also have not been soaping too long, and others may have information about lye I don't know about.

Bramble Berry is my personal favorite store, but others on this forum use other stores for different purposes. It does take a long time for Bramble Berry to ship to me because I live clear across the country from them.

I would also recommend checking out some beginner books. The best ones I've read are Smart Soapmaking by Anne L. Watson and The Everything Soap Book by Alicia Grosso. I also really liked Basic Soap Making by Elizabeth Letcavage and Patsy Buck and The Natural Soap Chef by Heidi Corley Barto. The latter two books have great photographs that the first two lack, but their recipes are more limited, and they also have some quirks that I have a problem with. Still, they're worth reading. I would start with the first two, however.

Good luck, and let us know how it turns out!

I use pounces olive oil, lard & shortening they keep price low

thanks dana and dragon! really awesome and helpful advice for a newb!

a good formula to start with is 45% olive, 30% lard and 20% coconut oil. All these oils are at the groc. store and once you are comfortable with the basics you can sub out 10% of the olive with canola, or change the lard to crisco, take out 5% olive and add castor ect... ect... all these will give you great soaps. Take it one step at a time and you will avoid a lot of mistakes and waste of money. Good luck and have fun. One other hint is to avoid recipes you find in books or on line (unless it's on a good soap forum) until you get the hang of making this simple soap and get some experience you won't belive some of the crap out there.

thanks sistrum!

Actually Canola is not a good choice as it is known for causing DOS (Dreaded Orange Spot).

Okay a couple of other safety items:

• Do not use aluminum as it reacts with the lye and is not pretty.
  
  Mix your lye in the sink so if something happens it will remain safe.
  
  Get a face mask (like a nurse's one) to cover your mouth and nose, not only will lye burn your skin but over time it will create problems through your nose, throat and lungs - it is cumulative and not many are aware of this risk.
  
  Wear gloves when handling fragrances or essential oils to protect your skin.

Just respect what you are doing and you will have years of fun...

I recommend http://www.youtube.com/user/soapqueentv Anne-Marie has some really good videos for basic CP soaping.

Getting to know the properties of oils and what they bring to soap making is very helpful as well
http://www.colebrothers.com/soap/oils.html
http://summerbeemeadow.com/content/prop ... aking-oils
http://www.naturesgardencandles.com/mas ... apoils.pdf

I agree with getting or checking your local library for The Everything Soap Book by Alicia Grosso. Wonderful book.

Getting to know a lye calculator and how they work is very helpful as well. My favorite lye calculator is http://soapcalc.net/

As for suppliers, I'd first check out http://www.suppliersbystate.com to see if there are any close to you.

Feel free to ask as many questions as you want

thanks lindy and genny!

Still pretty new myself..I got started with a gift certificate to amazon for my bday and grabbed a stick blener (like $25) and some EO (which from now on I lean more towards the FO b/c it's much cheaper if it's just scent you're looking for)....I did already have a postage scale that I use but you can get a fairly cheap scale on the web that will do the job fine....

The best site I've found that carries pretty much everything you need (ingredients wise) at the best prices I could find is Essential Depot. (they just started carrying cocoa butter too! Can't wait to try some in my next order--i make this place my one stop shop and rather get everything at once from one place than just getting one thing from another site). Anway, it will probably cost you about $100 or less to get started with all equipment and supplies. My first order of supplies made 3, 2lb batches of soap...PLENTY. As for equipment, I stopped off at the discount/dollar store and got plastic buckets, spatulas, etc. Also picked up some cheap ziploc snack containers as molds for the first batch. If you use plastic, just make sure its PP 5 plastic (somewhere on the container will be a #5 inside a triangle). Chinese takeout containers work really well too! I just make sure they are the microwavable ones. However, I've found now that Milk cartons work REALLY well for molds...just be sure to use it on it's side. You could even get away with just using different oils from the local supermarket or bulk stores like Costco & BJ's and pick up some lye from your local hardware store if you don't want to get too fancy (just make sure it's 100% sodium hydroxide--ROOTO is a brand i think many use). I like ED's lye b/c it's food grade quality and you get free lye with the purchase of certain oils too which is awesome.

Anyway, once you start, you wont be able to stop! Good luck!

Oh! and this book is awesome too! http://www.amazon.com/Smart-Soapmaking- ... soapmaking

It's short, simple to read, packed with info and recipes. Made my first & 2nd batch with the beginner recipe in here. This book gave me the confidence to give it a go! It can be scary trying to figure it all out, but this book puts it all in one spot and simplifies it for you.

Actually I found Essential Depot somewhat expensive. I've used newdirectionsaromatics.com for most of the oils and butters you can't buy in the grocery store (and their prices were very good). I've used a number of their FO's and EO's as well. They also post client reviews for all of their products weather they're good or bad, which is very awesome of them! I've tried Nature's Garden for their FO's, but I actually prefer New Directions, as well as Bramble Berry - they have nice scents. Oh, and Wholesale Supplies Plus has great molds and some other supplies (their FO's are very pricey). I can find Lye locally in a hardware store, but I'm taking a leap into liquid soap, so I've had to use Essential Depot for their Potassium Hydroxide.

Good Luck!