Thread: making your own soap

Have any of y'all made your own soap before? I have always wanted to play with this but don't know if I would be taking on more headache then it is worth.

yes and you can make some great soap what dosent work for shaving does great for bath soap. i have at last made a great shaving soap, and i like shaving with the things that i have made it makes you feel beter about every thing or it does me.

I have, of course. I normally tell people that making a good shaving soap is a lot harder than it seems. What I mean by a good shaving soap is one that can compare or beat the best in their class. Soapmaking is a lot of fun and you can take it to whatever level you want but it takes a lot of time and effort to get a good formula. The worst "headache" is the formulation and it things get complicated when you use more complex methods and ingredients that are harder to work with.

You probably should read a lot on the subject before making any purchases or attempt to make any batches. Obviously, before you start, you should have also tested a few good soaps to know what you are looking for and are able to decide on a good plan of attack. If at that point you are still interested, I suggest that you make small batches of only a few ounces at the time. Then change one variable at the time to optimize your formula. The most important thing is to keep good records of the results that you obtain. Good luck and definitely keep us posted on the results of your experiments. I have tested soaps and creams for several people in the forum so please, do not hesitate to ask.

Al raz.

is there any particular place you would suggest that I start looking? I have heard a lot of interesting things about the "cold press method" do you have any thoughts?

Originally Posted by georgebsummer

is there any particular place you would suggest that I start looking? I have heard a lot of interesting things about the "cold press method" do you have any thoughts?

The Village....? I bet there's a ton of Artisan soap makers down there. Probably high end ones in Manhattan...
Your in the city...Check the net for soap makers in NYC...some of them offer classes, could be helpful...

Sincerely,
Displaced New Yorker....!

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I'm always on the verge of trying it.

I am working on making my own soap right now.. and Alraz stated it is best to start in small batches to get the basic unscented formula down first that provides the best shaving soap properties possible and then move on from there.

the reason I am doing it is more for personal fun that anything else and it has also peaked my wife's interest which can't be a bad thing.

From reading around the forums, there appears to be a desire for more tallow-based soaps. I've been wanting to try making my own shave soap, but with all of the premium soaps on the market, I wanted to produce something that's different and/or superior to what's out there. Anyway, I've already ordered food-grade tallow from one source, and the rest of the supplies from another. I have no experience so far, just alot of reading up on the net. I guess the worse that can happen is that I end up with a bunch of crappy bath/hand soap