Grosso - The everything soapmaking book

SOAPMAKING BOOK
3RD EDITION

Dear Reader,

I love soap. I love to use soap. I especially love to make soap. Making soap gives me a feeling of gentle, subtle power. Using the soap Ive made is an extremely satisfying experience. Not to mention that Im very clean, as are my friends and family.

Ive been making soap since 1995, and even after the creation of innumerable batches and bars, I still get a thrill when I get out the soap pot. Each new project presents an opportunity for creativity. Even though I have been doing this for years, the very act of making soap remains profoundly creative.

Preparing this third edition has provided me with the opportunity to update the techniques I wrote about in the first and second editions. My own soapmaking techniques have evolved in exciting ways, and Im very happy to share what Ive learned with you.

I know you will experience great pleasure in making soap.

Welcome to the Series!

These handy, accessible books give you all you need to tackle a difficult project, gain a new hobby, comprehend a fascinating topic, prepare for an exam, or even brush up on something you learned back in school but have since forgotten.

You can choose to read an Everything book from cover to cover or just pick out the information you want from our four useful boxes: e-questions, e-facts, e-alerts, and e-ssentials. We give you everything you need to know on the subject, but throw in a lot of fun stuff along the way, too.

We now have more than 400 Everything books in print, spanning such wide-ranging categories as weddings, pregnancy, cooking, music instruction, foreign language, crafts, pets, New Age, and so much more. When youre done reading them all, you can finally say you know Everything !

PUBLISHER Karen Cooper

MANAGING EDITOR, EVERYTHING SERIES Lisa Laing

COPY CHIEF Casey Ebert

ASSOCIATE PRODUCTION EDITOR Mary Beth Dolan

ACQUISITIONS EDITOR Kate Powers

ASSOCIATE DEVELOPMENT EDITOR Eileen Mullan

SENIOR DEVELOPMENT EDITOR Brett Palana-Shanahan

EVERYTHING SERIES COVER DESIGNER Erin Alexander

Visit the entire Everything series at www.everything.com

To the Real Annabellamy tether and my rock.

SOAPMAKING
BOOK
3RD EDITION

Learn how to make soap at home with recipes, techniques, and step-by-step instructions
Purchase the right equipment and safety gear
Master recipes for bar, facial, and liquid soaps
Package and sell your creations

Alicia Grosso

Many thanks to Lauren Ruth for support and guidance through the process of creating this edition.

My amazing family has pitched in and allowed me space to make lots of soap and write about it. They are my guinea pigs, helpers, and biggest fans.

Deepest thanks to Marc Studer for illuminating the soap and making the images.

Many thanks to my communities of soap and fiber friends who have provided support and encouragement.

The SOA remains a steady and Sovereign force for good in my world.

1. You become intrigued by the idea of making soap.
2. You observe your first signs of trace.
3. You actually use your soap for the first time.
4. You make your first soapmaking friend on an Internet forum.
5. For the first time, you turn a disaster into something unexpectedly wonderful.
6. You fill up a soapmaking notebook for the first time.
7. You have your first dream about soap.
8. Your family complains for the first time about all the soap stuff taking over the house.
9. For the first time, someone asks if they can buy some of your wonderful soap.
10. You make soap so perfect, you cant believe how far youve come.

IN KITCHENS, GARAGES, BASEMENTS, and other homey spaces, people all over the country are making their own soap. For some, it is a hobby; for others, it is a microbusiness venture. For others still, it is a way of life and livelihood, employing a full staff of artisans.

If you talk to people who make soap, you find a number of common threads. The most marked is what is called the addiction. It appears that once a person has made soap, there is no turning back. Soapmaking becomes a focus, a goal, even an obsession.

Soapmaking is fun. You get back to the basics of color, chemistry, and cooking, and at the end, you wind up in the tub or shower! Soapmaking, more than many other great crafts, employs a broad set of skills, recombining them in ways you may never have imagined. You already have a number of the skills you need to make soap; you just need to start thinking like a soapmaker.

Holding a bar of soap that you created in your hands, no matter which method you used, is a great feeling. You will find you cant stop looking at it, sniffing it, and washing with it. Everyone in your house will become very familiar with each new bar. They may scoff at first, but once theyve actually used your soap, youre going to get lots of requests for more soap, please!

Your learning curve will be on a nearly vertical trajectory as you find yourself back in the kitchen again and again, with another recipe and a bunch of new ingredients. Youll find yourself combing the Internet for ingredients and information and sharing ideas with other soapmakers in the many online soapmakers communities. Learning has never been so fun and exciting.

As you make more and more batches of soap, you will develop your own preferences, style, and methods, and your family will be the cleanest for miles around. Requests for your soap will extend beyond your family to your friends and coworkers. Its an excellent excuse to make as much soap as you can, learning more with each batch.

Quick projects are a great way to start, and you may find that you dont want to do anything else. You can make beautiful soap quite easily. It is, however, more likely that youll want to challenge yourself more. Youll try one technique, and it will lead to another, and another, and another. The next thing you know, you'll amaze yourself with the complicated projects youve completed.

One major thing to remember when learning to make soap is safety. You will be working with heat sources, hot liquids, and caustic substances. Thousands and thousands of people safely make soap every day because theyve taken basic, common sense precautions. Well go into much more detail about safety later, but in general, always wear eye protection and gloves when working with heat and caustics and always tell your family and other people in your soapmaking area what you are doing and what not to touch.