Handcrafted Soaps Made Easy: Super Simple Melt and Pour Soap Making

Melt and pour soap making is one of the hottest trends around.You’ve no doubt seen the many fabulous designer soaps in exclusive stores that contain what appear to be jewels made of other soaps inside; or soaps with multiple translucent layer; or even decorative soaps that look like popsicles or sport their own rubber ducks on top. These are all examples of what you can do with super simple melt and pour soap making. If you would like to venture into the world of making your own homemade soaps, melt and pour soap making is a great place to begin. In fact, melt and pour soap making is so very easy, it is the perfect craft for an older child to do with a little supervision.

So, just how does one do melt and pour soap making? First of all, start with a melt and pour soap base. This soap- base product is different than the glycerin soaps you see in the drugstore. Unlike the glycerin soap that you see in the stores, melt and pour soap base is designed to melt easily. It’s not that you absolutely cannot use the glycerin soaps for melt and pour, but you will probably be very disappointed with your final product.

You can purchase melt and pour soap base at many hobby stores nationwide. If you can’t find it, there are a number of vendors that sell the product online. Always look for a pure glycerin melt and pour base–some companies try to sneak in fillers. Recently, there are other melt and pour soap bases to choose from, such as goat’s milk melt and pour soap base.

Most melt and pour soap base is clear, or white. In fact, they are the same product, only the white has been made opaque by adding titanium dioxide to it. Titanium dioxide is a common products in baby creams; it has not been shown to be  harmful, but it is a somewhat controversial product. So if this concerns you at all, stick with the clear melt and soap bases.

The melt and pour soap base is cut into smaller, uniform chunks, then melted slowly. A glass measuring cup and a microwave work well for this task. It shouldn’t take more than two minutes to melt down the soap chunks; guard against overdoing it and scorching the product. After the product is melted down, color and fragrance is added and then the melted soap base is poured into molds. You can use most anything for a mold, as long as it is leak-proof.

For more ideas on melt and pour soap making projects, please check out this site.