If you are new to soap making get ready to be hooked!  Soap making is a fantastic hobby, craft or the start of your new business.  The brilliant thing about soap making is that you can get started from your own home and you will have most of the equipment that you will need already in your kitchen.

You will often see when you first start looking into soap making references to melt and pour soaps, what this basically means is that you melt a soap base and then add in colour or fragrance should you wish too and pour the same into your mould.  When looking for a melt and pour soap base think about what kind of base you are looking for... our soap base is suitable for vegetarians, has not been tested on animals, is SLS Free (we will shortly be running a blog on what is SLS), is moisturising and beautifully lathering. 

There are two very common forms of soap base and they are translucent and opaque.  Translucent is exactly what it says it is a clearer soap base, this can having stunning effects one you are a little more experienced and you start to add in embedded soap shapes, glitter or more.  Even with just a dash of colour in a plain soap slice this can have beautiful results.

Opaque Soap Base is exactly that, it is opaque, it starts life as translucent soap but during the manufacturing process an ingredient is added called titanium dioxide which gives it it's white finish.  This soap base can change colours to using a translucent and is also useful for creating embeds within soaps, you can simply cut chunks and drop into a translucent base for a stunning effect.

To use melt and pour, you very simply cut it into small chunks (it is usually delivered in a block or in a bucket depending on the amount you order), by cutting it into smaller chunks this means that it will melt quicker, the easiest way in which to melt it is to pop it into the microwave, simply pop the soap pieces into a microwavable jug, bowl or pan, and heat gently checking it every 20-30 seconds and stirring each time you check it, once you can't see any remaining lumps it is ready to use, at this stage you can add colour and fragrance and pour into your mould.

If you are looking to make a soap loaf then we have found that moulds made for soap making with indented slicing guides, these do make a more professional loaf in our opinion as each soap slice will be a very similar size.

If you are just getting started you can look around your home for items that you can use as moulds such as ice cube trays, plastic containers, silicone moulds, etc. 

Once you have decided on your mould, simply pour your soap into the mould and leave to set, once it has set you simply de mould, wrap immediately in cling film to stop the soap drawing in moisture and it is ready for when you wish to use it!