FAQ about cold process soap making!

Q: Where do I get my soap making supplies and equipment?

A: Where you live will be the difference in how you get your supplies. Most larger cities have a soap making supplier, leaving smaller center people to order supplies by mail. I would do an internet search first, entering 'soap making supplies', then your state or province. This should give you a variety of suppliers.

I had about 5 suppliers for most of my ingredients. Some had better prices in different categories. For example: one wholesaler had great one pint or liter sizes, but sometimes you just didn't need a large size of, say, cinnamon. So the next supplier had good essential oils prices for 1 to 16 ounce sizes but the bottles and packaging cost more than other suppliers. I had one supplier that specifically delivered only one item, and that was 50 lb bags of lye.

You will definitely get better prices from wholesalers or suppliers than you would a hobby or craft type retailer. Some suppliers also have purchasing minimums as well, anywhere from $30 - $200. The $30 minimum is easy to reach, but usually the $200 minimum suppliers are the companies that deal in bulk sizes, which is good for some items. It would be easy to go through a pint or liter of Lavender Essential Oil, but it could take years to go through the same in Cinnamon.

The simpler equipment, your basic kitchen utensils, you could use extra pieces just for soapmaking purposes or you could get used kitchen utensils from a thrift store. Pots, wooden spoons, and old tupperware containers for molds, can all be found there. The thermometers, scales, and goggles can be found in the kitchen utensil aisle and/or hardware store. Scales can also be found in office supply stores as postage scales and soap making suppliers.

Some of the oils are fairly easy, I started with the bulk aisle at the grocery store for the olive oil and canola oil. I did have to order the coconut oil as not every store carries it. The scents really need to be bought at a supplier as any bottles of scents in a health food store or grocery store will be in small quantities. You will probably find it cheaper to order in essential oils in larger amounts for the same amount of money. Click here for the soap making supplies page for more detailed information.

Q. How long to cure my soap and what should I look for? (article here)

A. How to keep my soap from getting mushy? (article here)

Q. How to test the PH levels of my soap? (article here)

Q. What is trace in soap making and what does it look like? (article here)

Q. How can I find large or bulk quantities of supplies? (article here)

Q. Can I put fruit in my soap to scent it?

A. Yes and No. Yes you can put some fruits in your soap, but you won't smell it. Use pureed kiwis and strawberries, not exceeding 5% of your total soap base. Too much fruit will actually start to degrade with time and ruin your finished soap. Because of the limited amount of fruit, you will not be able to smell it in the finished soap. The same applies to vegetables as well, like carrots, cucumbers and lettuce.

Q. Can I put bee's wax in my soap?

A. Yes, the beeswax will help harden the finished bar and give it a warm honey scent. Add the beeswax to the oils in the very beginning as the beeswax needs a little more time to melt. Don't go over 5% or you soap may end up a little sticky. (Read more about beeswax here)

A. You could always try it, but the reasons against these is that crayons are a petroleum based item and would add same to your soap, and the food coloring isn't quite the same, but almost, to the food grade color you can get at suppliers. Food coloring (petroleum again) is very intense and could leave you or your tub streaked with color. The natural colorants may be lighter than the chemical versions, but much nicer for skin.

Q. What about using wax paper for lining my molds?

A. Wax paper is just not tough enough for soap. With the other methods listed in the ebook, these are strong enough to pull up on to help remove the soap from the mold and move it into place. And these liners are reuseable. The wax paper will fall apart tear and you may have to pick off numerous pieces. If you were to be really stuck, then try it, and then you'd probably have to turn your mold over the release the soap.

Q. What about using Crisco or other solid vegetable oils?

A. I have used Crisco to test it and it did work well. Depending on the majority of the oil in there, it could throw off your saponification calculations. Try on a smaller batch to test it. I would also check the vegetable oils ingredients, as there are varying Criscos, and avoid the ones with Cottonseed Oil, as this oil is derived from a plant that is the most heaviest sprayed crop in the country.

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Check out the differences between Essential Oils and Fragrance Oils here

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