What inspired you to start soap making?

[NinaRey]

Just curious how everyone got into soaping. For me, it was when my friend gave me some beautiful homemade soaps as a Christmas gift a couple years ago. I had always just used store bought generic brand soaps in the past and was astonished at the difference. Needless to say, I've never bought grocery store soap again and have been hounding my friend ever since to show me how to do it myself. We finally got together and she helped me make my first batch. I can see already I am going to be addicted. So how did you all get started?

 

[IrishLass]

Curiosity got the best of me (as well as the creative challenge). I started out making perfumes, which led to sachets, which led to body butters, and then to M&P, etc... All of those were very fun and easy for me to make, but I kept looking at the CP section of the different forums and said to myself, 'Yes! That's what I really want to do!" But the fear of working with lye scared me off from trying for over a year or so. Within that year, I read everything I could get my hands on and I studied and researched the archives of numerous forums and took copious notes before I finally gained enough courage to 'just do it'. To make a long story short, on September 18, 2005 I finally took the plunge and I've been hooked ever since. :mrgreen:


IrishLass

 

[Kansas Farm Girl]

My daughter had watched something on YouTube or some craft TV show and wanted to make soap. I picked up a book for her while on a trip. She bought the lye and some basic oils and made it. She told me that she thought she messed it up and was frustrated. I said let's make a batch and see how to do it. She brought the lye over and we used whatever oil I had on hand. We stirred for 2 hrs without ever recognizing trace. She needed to leave so I put the pan aside and decided I would go back to it the next day. When I looked at it the next morning it was solid. The importance of that did not dawn on me so I put it on the stove top and tried to melt it. Of course it didn't look like what I expected but I poured it into something we had set up as a mold. After that I had to figure out exactly what should have happened and I was hooked. So is my daughter. We don't live close enough to work together now, we only get to when she comes to visit but we share stories, successes and those that pose challenges.

 

[ToniD]

I bought a bar of melt and pour at a local shop and enjoyed it. I thought, I bet I could do that. At about the same time, I was experiencing some physical changes and becoming much more sensitive to soaps shampoos and other personal care products. I started with melt and pour, which I found to be a lot of fun. I was a bit more hesitant to try cp, but after purchasing a bar from a friend, felt it would be good for my allergies. I somewhat reluctantly started to get supplies together, thinking more that making cp soap was something I should do, rather than feeling like I wanted to. I found that it was very he lpful for my problems, but also that I was having a lot of fun. I really enjoy making soap, and have found a lot of satisfaction in learning about and making lotions and other products, as well.

 

[Iris Reola]

Having sensitive skin and a strong sense of self-sufficiency, haha.

 

[FOhoarder]

I've always been a crafty person all my life. I picked up some handmade soap at a craft show one year and couldn't believe how much I loved it. I really never knew much about it and started researching. I watched some videos on line and knew I wanted to try it. I was obsessed from my very first batch and it was a disaster! I think back now and I wouldn't change anything because every batch has taught me something valuable.

 

[TeriDk]

For me, it was goats milk soap I came across at a local store here in the north country. I didn't know you could make it yourself until a friend lent me a book. Scary to work with lye but like Irishlass, I read a number of books and came across this forum. Love the craft and how hand crafted soap makes my skin feel. I'm also a diver and am very concerned about what is going down the drain. My hope is that hand crafted soaps are better for the environment then the chemical junk I was using . What a great question.

 

[lch/soaps]

I was amazed by it .It gives me the feeling that I accomplished something.made it with my own 2 hands.Have done it off and on for about 15 yrs and am still in awe when a new batch is ready.I am starting a biz now ,I am not out to get rich quick,I just want to feel the reward that people enjoy what I made and seeing there reaction.Has any one else ever got the look from people,ya know the"you can make soap"look?It makes me feel good.This is a art that is very rewarding

 

[cp chick]

A few years ago, a local hotel rep gave me a bar of locally made soap as a courtesy gift. I didn't care for the smell, so I went to the shop to see if it could be exchanged (which they did). I bought a few others while there, but the sticker price of $6.95 per bar was too much for me to pay regularly. My mother had made homemade laundry soap years before out of bacon fat, so I started looking the process up on the internet. Finding that it wasn't beyond my abilities, and starting with a few simple ingredients, my first batch was made, and I haven't looked back. While my friends and family like my soap, they aren't as obsessed with it as me.

 

[WildcraftWorkshop]

Like FOhoarder, I've always been crafty whether it was making gift baskets, crocheting and making bath & body products for personal use or gifts. I'd purchase handcrafted soaps but often found myself unsatisfied with certain aspects of it, usually how long it lasted vs the amount I paid for it.

I work as a massage therapist and recently started contracting with a spa that allows me the freedom to custom blend products for client sessions, whether it's a salt / sugar scrub, body wrap or bath blend. I enjoy the process of learning more about the benefits of various herbs, clays and salts and started infusing oils for use during sessions. Clients really appreciate the personal touch that this adds, which fuels my desire to learn more.

When I realized that all I needed was a bit of lye to make the oils I already have on hand into soap, it was a natural progression. And all the endless blends I can make with herbs, exfoliants and EOs is exciting. Plus, my husband got hooked as well exclaiming after the first time, "We just made SOAP????!!!! That was so EASY!!!" We made one 2 lbs. batch each and gave many bars away to friends, yet still had enough to last us for three months. There's no going back to store bought soap for our household, and crafting it has renewed my interest in purchasing others' handcrafted soaps that contain ingredients I'm curious about using in mine.

 

[Genny]

Like a lot of you guys, I was always doing one craft or another. As children, my mother was always finding crafty stuff for us to do to keep us busy. As an adult, we all still do this. My brother's a glass artist, One sister's a candlemaker, Another brother's a drawer, one of my sister's and brother's work with wood. I'm a crocheter, drawer, painter & soap maker.

I got interested in making soap because of my 2nd daughter's very sensitive skin and my quest for lotion and lip balm without aloe. All my life I'd had to use shampoo, lotion & lip balm that ended up giving me a horrible rash. Finally, I could make my own and be aloe free

 

[peteyfoozer]

Itchy skin, living 4 hours from the store, an abundance of Goat and Cow's milk and unwillingness to pay for something I can do better myself. (meaning, commercial soap is awful. I am pretty sure there are soapers out there with superior homemade soap to mine.) I also make all my own bread, dairy products, laundry soap and a mess of other things. :mrgreen:

 

[honor435]

I adore soaps and I was buying imported soaps, paying way too much!( although I spend way too much on supplies now, but its so fun) So I started researching online, books, etc, bought my stuff and made some hp, then cp.

 

[Davika]

After my daughter was born i quit my job and did the stay-at-home-mom thing. I loved it, but got so bored after a while. I started picking up random hobbies and decided I needed to find one that i not only loved, but could also use to bring in some extra income. I tried a few various other ideas before trying soap, but it was the one i had the most fun with and felt like it was something i would enjoy for a long time. I started with watching youtube videos and checked out a couple library books. I'm still not making near as much money as I'm spending on it, but at least I'm having fun.

 

[madwitch58]

i have a niece who has very sensitive skin , she can only use certain kinds of soap from the store. so i thought if i made soap it would help her out.

 

[itunu]

I started off making lotions and then lip balms, scrubs, lotion bars and then surfactants. I had done some M&P when I made sugar scrubs but wasn't successful - i ended up boiling it in the microwave!

On this forum and thedishforum I read bits of the CP forum and got more and more interested so read more and more. I started looking at photos of the gorgeous CP soaps people were making and the idea of creating something which smells nice and looks so creative drew me into it. I love the creativity of it and giving it to family and friends.

 

[Brian Suds]

Moved to Oregon a month ago today. Went to the Saturday market and purchased a bar of hand made cherry almond soap. Was in complete awe in how it made my skin feel, and knowing the person I am I thought, "I have to learn how to make this."

 

[sosocal]

Mine is a long story. I bought a nice soap at a market for an old boyfriend. I was looking for a small but manish gift and it was a masculine bar. He kept it in his guest bathroom, never used it. He was killed some time after we broke up and he had no family in the country to go through his home or belongings. I accompanied his friend to his home to pick up his personal documents to be sent back to his country. While there I noticed my soap still there in my guest bathroom. I decided to take it as a memento. I deliberated on whether or not to use it or keep it but I decided to use it and fell in love with real soap there and then. I then started to buy handmade soaps from an awesome soap maker but later emigrated to the US. I tried to find a good local soapmaker in my new country but to no avail (I now know there are plenty close by me but couldn't find any back then!). So I decided i'd learn to make my own! Haven't looked back. It is the only hobby I have ever really had.

 

[youreapima2]

I was searching for something on you tube and somehow ended up watching videos on M&P soaping. I stumbled upon this site while looking for something else as well. I'm glad I found it really. I was afraid to try making CP cause of the dangers of the lye. But after reading a lot of postings here, and asking a few questions, I decided that I would try making CP. Since then I haven't looked back
I really enjoy making CP soap now and aside from the kids wanting to get involved in it, I usually don't bother with M&P anymore
I am curious about trying HP soap as well, but again I am afraid to try it. I like being able to make swirled soap the most and I can't do that with HP.

 

[Bama]

A friend in another state sent me a bar of her chamomille soap she made and after using it on my face for two weeks i begged for another and for her to tell me how to make it. That will be two years ago now and I fell in love with soapmaking and she now says I am a soap making fool,