5 Awesome Hacks for Successful Soap Making
5 Awesome Hacks for Successful Soap Making
Soap making is one of my favorite hobbies because you get to be creative and inventive, while still making things that can be useful to you and your loved ones. If you’ve been making soap for a little while now you probably have the basics down, but there may be some small issues you run into from time to time. Or you could be considering selling your soap, and want some tips and tricks to make your bars look more professional and ready for store shelves. Either way, here are my five best hacks for successful soap making!
Focus on the Little Things
Everyone knows it’s the little details that take your soaps from homemade to ready-to-sell or gift. You can start practicing your focus on the details by greasing your molds with oil before pouring your soap, so that it doesn’t stick to the edges or even worse break in half when you’re releasing it. This is a small step that makes a huge difference in your process. Once the soap has cured you can use a steamer to get rid of soda ash on the top of your soaps for a better visual appearance, and do little things as simple as beveling the edges of your soap for a professional look.
Prepare Ahead of Time
Have all of your soap making supplies, even the mix-ins, pre measured and laid out ahead of time. This way if the rest of the process takes less time than expected you won’t be scrambling to get dyes and essential oils ready while your soap base is needing to be mixed. It’s the same concept as used in cooking: “mise en place”, or everything in its place. Without this rule, your cooking will be less successful. This applies to soap making as well.
Use Color Wisely
There’s something special about making something that doesn’t just serve a purpose, but is visually stunning as well. Some companies benefit from extremely paired down and simple branding, if that’s the look you’re going for, it might be good to purchase some titanium dioxide and make all of your soaps one color and shape. Sometimes going so stark and simple with your branding can have a dramatic impact. You could also go in the opposite direction completely and make soaps that look as beautiful and complex as their creation process!
Test, Test, Test
It’s easy to get ingredient-happy and shop for every single colorant or oil that’s out there, but don’t forget to test each new element first. This includes smelling fragrance oils, testing colorants on a sheet of paper, and making an extremely tiny batch of soap with ingredients you haven’t used before. It’s a huge waste of money and time to just grab an ingredient and throw it into your big batch of soap without even considering how it might react. Working with and understanding your components on an individual level first will help you create a better final product.
Have Fun
My final tip is to just have fun! Even the most experienced soap makers will make mistakes at times, but it’s important not to get discouraged. Part of the enjoyment of creating anything is to experiment and try things you haven’t seen before, after all, few amazing things would exist without the courage to create something that could totally fail. If you do happen to fail, it doesn’t mean you aren’t good at what you’re doing, it just means you’ll need to take a new approach and try again. Improvement only comes through lots of mistakes and lots of research, so have fun and don’t be afraid to get your hands dirty (or clean!)
There you have it, my five tips for successful soap making! Let me know your best hacks for making bath and body products, and help out my readers (and myself) by telling us about your biggest mistakes. Now it’s time to take a shower and wash ten times to test out your hard work (am I the only one?). Good luck!
25 Comments
Lauryn R
Great tips! Thank you so much for sharing this! I have been seeing homemade soaps all over the internet lately, they are so pretty!! 🙂 I love all of the different types of ingredients and scents that can be mixed and matched. This is definitely something I might do.
Brandi Dawn
I love home made soap but I have never attempted it myself. This looks like fun!
CASSANDRA MARTZ
Thanks for the tips. I love making soaps!
Nancy Burgess
I want to try this I love handmade soap.
Kristen Schwarz
I have never made my own soap before. It is definitely worth a try. I like that it would be very natural and safe to use. No added chemicals. Plus it would be great to add to a gift basket.
Sue E
I had to pin this!
I used to make soap now and then when my kids were little. We had fun doing this together! We made it mostly in the winter time, when they were bored and had nothing to do.
Your article had a couple of tips that I didn’t know about and I thank you for sharing! It is important to test! So it doesn’t aggravate some people who have eczema or psoriasis or other conditions.
James Robert
My oldest girls are wanting to try to make soaps and candles. This post will help Thank you!
Melissa Storms
This is a great post. I love crafting and have had success with candles. I was discouraged when I tried soap though.
Ashley Dionne
These are great tips! I buy the homemade goat soap for my son since he has eczema but $5 for one bar is hurting the wallet!
Angela Nichols
These are awesome! Definitely tips I am going to apply!
Lynne B
Wow – it sounds so complicated. I’ll start with lip balms first! lol
Nancy Bowers
I don’t like melt and pour soaps and cold processed are too much to do so I buy them online.
Tracy DeLoach
I’ve said I’m going to do this for years. Your post has convinced me that it’s time. Thanks for sharing.
Lisa Queen
This was very interesting. I am going to give it a try! Thanks!
Dotty J Boucher
These are all great tips, Something I am hoping to do this Christmas is make a few gift baskets with homemade products.
@tisonlyme143
Linda Manns Linneman
This sounds like a wonderful project to work on. I really want to give this a try. Thank you so much for sharing
Jana Williams
Thanks So Much for Sharing this Hacks for Making Your Own Soap, I Really Appreciate it! I’m a Huge DIY Fan but I Also Love Playing Around with My Essential Oils So this is Right Up My Alley! I Actually Took a Continuing Education Class One Time I They Taught Us How to Make Lotions & Cleansers and I Really Loved it! Thanks Again for Sharing This, I’ll Have to Save this One for Later! Have a Blessed Day My Friend! – Jana
Robin Creager
This is one of the crafts I’ve always wanted to try and if I was good I’d make to give as gifts. Definitely on my bucket list of things to make.
Dani Lawson
Thank you for this article! I love making my own soap and have been doing so for about a year. It is so fun to just let your creativity run wild! All the colors and scents and little extras you can add in…
Katt Lewis
I’d love to try soap making and candle making.
Mary Songer
I’ve been thinking of taking up soap making. Thanks for these useful tips, especially the one about assembling all my ingredients before starting. That works in cooking and for other crafts and is excellent advice.
Elizabeth Tarlow
I’ve wanted to start making my own soap for quite some time now! Thanks for all of your helpful tips…it seems like so much fun and very rewarding, too!
Dotty J Boucher
I have been wanting to make my own soaps for a bit now, I am hoping to gather things this Christmas , yes! its on my wish list again. Thanks for all the added details here.
Rebecca b
I really like how straight-forward soap making is but still with layers of complexity.
Cheryl Everitt
I messed up the first time by not following the directions. But, there will be a next time. Homemade soaps are my passion.