Soap Making for Beginners - Melt and Pour Method

In my first article on making soaps, I told you about getting a 'soap base'. This Melt and Pour method will tell you how to make that into your soap. You need the soap base to make it into the soap you want. Here is a list of what you will need. The 'melt and pour' method is like compared to learning to ride a bike with training wheels.

Melt and pour soap Base

Sharp Knife

Wooden spoon, use ONLY for soap making. Mark the spoon in some way as not to be used in cooking.

Microwave or a double broiler.

Soap dye and soap scents, essential oils and colorants

Soap molds.... You will need something to pour the liquid into.

Large heat-resistant measuring cup... 1 liter in size is ok.

First, pour some water into the soap molds. This will show you just how much soap you will need to fill the mold. Pour that into the measuring cup to see how much of the soap to use for that mold. Then write down how much is was. Empty the measuring cup and wipe it out dry.

With the knife, cut into small chunks the soap base and put into measuring cup. Cut a little more than what you think you need, as some of the soap base sticks to the sides. Microwave for about 2 minutes, then if not completely melted go again for 10 or 15 seconds at a time until it's pretty well melted. This will be very hot coming out of the microwave, so be extra careful. These times will give you an estimated time of how long to heat, without over-heating.

If you do the double-broiler way. First bring the water to a boil, then in the top pan, put in your small chunks of soap and let melt on low heat, stirring once in awhile until completely melted.

With the spoon, stir the liquid until all the chunks are melted completely into a smooth liquid. Then add the color, scents and/or essential oils. (just a few drops to desired color or strength) Then pour the soap liquid into the molds, be careful not to splatter, but don't be too slow as it will begin to get hard again. The molds need to be soap-making molds and any shape or size.

Let the soap sit until it's completely hard, I would say about 8 hours to be safe. Then you can take the soap out of the mold and enjoy! If you used a long mold, you might want to cut the soap into palm-sized pieces to handle it easier. (About the same size as store-bought soap.)

Cleaning up - Hand wash all the stuff you used! Do not wash it in the dishwasher, or you'll have an overload of soap, and will cause a leak! Remember the measuring cup and spoon has soap stuck on the sides that did not pour out.