Glycerin Soap

[melikahiwa]

So I bought myself a little kit at the store... To make a few little bars of soap (which I've never done)
I'm dying to make some from scratch but I know I can't now. Is there any way to make the soaps more natural after I finish what is in the box? (oh the smell of the fragrance makes me ill)
I really want to make some glycerin honey & goats milk soap (I used to have a fabulous source for this and LOVED it)
And I want to make some Shea butter & Lavender

Any easy ideas from the experts around here? Once the kids are older I'll move on to the real from scratch process

[JessicaS]

You can use essential oils rather than the FOs that come in the kit.

You can also add oils but the more oils you add the less bubbles you get, so don't go overboard on the oils.

Any flowers or herbs you add will turn brown in soap but it still looks pretty. If you use lavender buds or such you might want to grind or squish them up a bit as otherwise it is scratchy. Poppy seeds, rasberry seeds, strawberry seeds, ground apricot seeds are used quite a lot in soap.

You can try adding some bentonite clay to get a shaving soap.

Calendula petals are the exception to the brown thing. Calendula petals are very pretty in clear soap..and calendula is good for your skin.

Real glycerine soap and not the melty kind is actually a MORE complicated process than cold process soapmaking. It starts as cold processed soap and alchohol and stuff is added to make it clear.

You can find higher quality melt and pour from soap making suppliers online.

[HokieMum]

adding oils to melt & pour soap will also cause the soap to become soft and melt very easily when in contact with any moisture--even ambient.

[bluegrassgirl]

A company called "Life of the Party" makes glycerin base for soap that has shea butter, coconut extract, or goats milk in it. It works just like the glycerin base in the soap kits.

Another thing you might want to do is pick up the book "Soapmaking 101" from a local craft store. It has tons of different recipies for glycerin base soaps. You can also find this book at amazon.com
Let me look through my books and I'll write you down a recipie for honey oatmeal soap and some others.

Jessie
(single mommy to Emma, 3 years and Angela, 2 years)

[Jenlaana]

I havent used it yet, but I just bought an oatmeal based melt and pour soap and oatmeal milk and honey fragrance for it from Cierra Candles to make. I also bought some clear soap base, blue tint and "water" fragrance as well to make my dad some for his birthday coming in a couple of weeks. I'm really psyched to test them out. I think I read about them over on the Diaperswappers craft board.

[boheime]

I buy slabs of melt and pour soap and make all of our bar soap with that. The kids love making soap this way.

I can't stand the smell of the synthetic fragrances, either. I use essential oils. I usually also add 1 teaspoon of almond oil per bar (don't add any more than that, although you can change the type of oil). I have bought clear, opaque, and she butter slabs and had great success with all. I used to add solids to the soap like poppy seeds, orange zest, etc., but dh complains that solid additions hurt his skin. So now, I only add stuff like that to bars that will be in gifts.