Art of Soap Making

Soaps are so taken for granted that we hardly pause to think more about how they are made. The general feeling is that the entire process is far too complicated, industrial, and way out of being made a hobby. In reality, soap making is a simple process, and there are ready-made melt-and-pour type of kits available that allow us to make soaps with our own chosen colors, fragrances, herbal ingredients, and shapes.
Soap making can be pursued as a hobby, and can even be turned into a small home-based business. All it takes is an interest in the making of soaps and some diligence in the whole process.
Soap is a simple mixture of oils and caustic soda (lye.) The resultant liquid when left to solidify forms soap with a lot of glycerin, hence also called glycerin soap. The industrial soap manufacturers remove excess amounts of glycerin and use other ways to make the soap soft and mellow.
The oils used in soap-making are common oils like palm oil, coconut oil, olive oil, grape seed oil, etc. The caustic soda used should be of industrial quality.
There is some amount of heating involved in soap making, and this therefore requires caution. The exact proportions of mixing oil and lye should also be known beforehand.
A melt-and-pour soap making kit can introduce a novice into soap-making. Simply buy the kit and follow the instructions that come along. Once you are familiar with this process, you may consult other sources and can try making soap yourself.
Everyone wants to have herbal soap, one filled with natural oils and fragrances. Children are delighted with soaps of various shapes such as animal figurines. Pursuing soap-making as a hobby allows you to make soaps as you desire.
A great and fun idea you can do with soap is by molding it into different shapes, shades, and sizes. Kids love writing on the tub when bathing and they can with soap crayons. Or you can experiment on soap flakes recipes. You can make your own with finely grated bars of pure soap to make soap powder. The amount of water may need to be decreased, so start with less water and add as needed. If you don’t want to make your own pure soap flakes, you can buy a package in the laundry aisle at the grocery store.
A few creative projects involving soap and how to make them are given below.
1. Bath Time Crayons
Combine 3 cups of soap flakes and ½ to 1 cup of water. Add 1 teaspoon of food coloring. Put the mixture into lightly greased ice cube trays, candy or soap molds. Press soap dough into molds lightly and let dry over night before un-molding.
2. Soap on a Rope
You will need some string for this project. Shape the soap with your hands. Cut a piece of string and tie the ends together. Push the knot gently into your finished shape. Let the completed soap dry before hanging it by the rope.

3. Cookie Cutter Soap Shapes
Pat or roll out mixture and let kids use cookie cutters or theme cutters to make individual soaps. Make “soap on a rope” by cutting two identical pieces and sandwiching the string between the layers.

4. Multi-color Soap or Soap on a Rope
Make two-tone soaps by using identical shapes of different colors and sandwiching them together. Small cookie cutters make nice shapes in guest-soap size that can be placed in a small wicker basket for a gift, bathroom display, or drawer sachets.