Melt And Pour: It Can Be That Easy To Make Your Own Natural Soap

Make natural soap for fun. Just like baking a cake, you can choose to start with a kit or make it from scratch. Easy soap making methods can be as simple as “melt and pour” or a more involved mixing of fat, lye and water. No matter what method you choose, you can have fun experimenting with fragrances, essential oils or herbs, and colors. Be artistic! Be creative!

Melt and pour is easy, and safe enough for kids. Some of the soap bases you can try are goat milk, honey, glycerin, olive & aloe, oatmeal or shea butter. There are some others as well, and each of the bases has different qualities. Try a few to choose the ones you like best.

To make a bar soap, just melt the soap base completely, stirring frequently. Add your desired fragrances, colors, or essential oils. Pour the soap into the molds and let it cool. If you get something that’s not quite what you expected, you can re-melt and try again!

Feeling adventurous? Try the more advanced method using fat, water, and lye. You will need a little more equipment, time, knowledge and caution. Lye is a caustic agent that requires special handling. Use eye protection and rubber gloves, and keep it off your skin and clothes. Also, lye will damage aluminum and Formica so avoid contact with table tops and counters. For details, recipes and more ideas, type “make natural soap” into a search engine.

There are many great reasons to make your own soap. You probably realize that it saves money. It might also make money! You could start your own soap-making business. Imagine generating income from doing something artistic that you enjoy doing.

It is environmentally friendly to make natural soap at home instead of buying soap from the store that was made in a pollution creating soap factory. Back before WWI people used to make soap at home from the fats left over from cooking. At that time, they used to buy cans of lye to make bar soap. Prior to that, people made lye from wood ashes.

The move toward sustainable living also has some healthy side effects. Skin is the largest organ of your body and taking care of it is important. By making your own soap, you know exactly what’s going on your skin. If you are allergic to one ingredient, simply substitute another. You can make vegetarian soap using vegetable fats instead of than animal fats.

Fun, flexible and creative, not to mention healthy and economical — that’s what making your own soap is all about. With so many easy soap-making recipes available, you’re sure to find a way to make your own unique soap. Anyone can do it.

Jen Hopkins has worked in the skin care industry for years. She maintains websites about make soap at home, and making organic soap. If you want to contact her, you can use the contact form at one of her sites.