brand new, interested in cold process soapmaking

[rubato456]

greetings!

i am anxiously awaiting the arrival of my NaOH. I have all of my other ingredients to make my first batch of CP soap. i am vegan (as of about one month ago) and make my own soy milk and now...i hope to make my own soap. i am 51 years old and have 2 almost adult daughters, one of which expressed an interest in helping me make soap!

i got several soap books out the library, but my favorite so far is the soapmaker's companion. it would be really cool to make my own cruelty free soap and to use my favorite essential oils, which are lavendar, yling ylang and jasmine.

i hope my first batch works....i'm nervous about the naoh....but i hope i'll get through that part ok.

 

[heartsong]

x

welcome!

you'll find a wealth of info just looking thru past posts in the forum-at the top right of the top page is "search" click on that and enter whatever you are interested in at it will take you to all the threads that mention the search word.

a good resource to get thru the first couple of batches, and i go thru it just looking for inspiration and new techniques:

www.soap-making-essentials.com

have fun soaping!

monet

 

[Lindy]

Hi & welcome to our delicious addiction....

 

[rubato456]

thanks so much!

for the welcomes and recommendations. the soap making essentials blog looks great! i look forward to much learning.

 

[Jola]

I think everyone is a little bit nervous when they first think about working with lye.

Just take all the precautions.. I wear gloves, goggles and a mask whenever I soap. I also wear long sleeves, pants and closed toed shoes.

It sounds like you're doing homework so just follow the information you read. When you are soaping, focus on that. No little kids around or pets.

It's not as scary as it seems.


Good luck and welcome! Make sure to post pics of your first soaps

 

[Guest]

Hey rubato!

Don't be nervous about working with lye. Just wear gloves and be careful when measuring it. It's not sulfuric acid use common sense and pay attention to what you're doing and you'll be just fine.

For the record, I've gotten lye on my skin a few times.... I'd notice that a certain area was feeling really itchy and scratching it just made it itchier and the skin would get a little red. A splash of vinegar and running it under cold water fixed it right away.

One word of caution though, the lye crystals tend to bounce around if you pour them, so pour very carefully or use a utensil of some sort to scoop them out.

 

[Guest]

Hello and welcome to a wonderful forum.