melt*n*pour soap
i haven't done a how-to in a while, so although melt and pour soap making is super easy i thought
i'd take the time and write a nice walk thru for it. i was inspired after martha (it's always "after martha")
had an article featuring all these cute lil home made soaps w' ingredients from the 'fridge and spice cabinet. i went to michaels and bought four lbs of glycerin (2 lbs white, 2 lbs clear), a soap mold, some coloring, and some filler (a bag of pre-school plastic beads). my glycerin already had essential oils in them, and my additives (cinnamon, nutmeg, honey, herbal teas) had strong scents - so i didn't need oils or fragrance. if you only have the basics, you can still get really nice *all natural* type soaps. if you wanna be flashy and fun, grab the extras.
basic supplies
-at least 1 lb of glycerin
-additives (spices, honey, brown sugar, oatmeal, etc.)
-a mold or container for the soap
-a microwave safe measuring cup
-butterknife or scraping tool to cut glycerin
-several toothpicks, for mixing
-lots of napkins or dishclothes
-a pot of boiled water, for clean up
extras
-coloring, either for soap or food
-fragrance, if your additives aren't *smelly* enough
-props (beads, trinkets, little things to suspend in the soap)
gather your glycerin, molds, tools (measuring cup, toothpicks) and fun stuff (glitter, beads, trinkets, etc.)
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and find all your additives (spices, oatmeal, any oils or fragrance), colorants,
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figure out which additives and which props will go into each soap - after the glycerin melts you won't have much time to figure this out.
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cut up some glycerin using the knife or scraper - you may want to measure how much water fits into a mold, then pour that into your measuing cup to estimate how much glycerin you need for that mold, but i didn't.
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i cut three chunks of glycerin for my first mold, and it was just the right amount. if you have too much or too little it's okay - you can always melt more or re-melt stuff that has hardened. follow the instructions on your glycerin pack, or 'wave the chunks on low for 30 seconds, then 10 seconds until *mostly* melted.
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you can wave the chunks till it's all melted, just don't let it start to bubble up. take the cup from the 'waver and stir the melted glycerin (w' a toothpick) to make sure it's smooth and *relatively* bubble free.
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now if *all* your soaps will be the same ingredients, you can add them directly to the measuring cup. if not (like me) pour some glycerin into the mold - halfway - then add your, um, additives (including any props!). stir with another toothpick till mix is even, then fill the rest of the mold w' glycerin - mixing while to you do. luckily my soap was made to suspend ingredients evenly throughout the soap. don't worry if yours doesn't. it's all good.
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continue the process till all your molds are filled. you can either let them sit overnight, or for 40 minutes in te fridge. i don't advise putting soap in the freezer, because they get moist and slick after you remove them from the mold.
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all my soap turned out fine - except for the bright red one. you can add lots or kitchen-found stuff to soap, but kool aid isn't one of them. oh, well.
1) lady marmalade - mandarin orange tea, ginger, orange shavings (white glycerine)
2) berry bliss - wild berry zinger tea, pink glitter, lavender dye, beaded bracelet (clear)
3) blue slushie - pink glitter, blue dye, beaded necklace (clear)
4) rum tummy - oatmeal, powdered milk, sugar, honey, and creamed rum (clear)
5) sunday morning - cinnamon, nutmeg, oatmeal, sugar, honey, cinnamon stick (clear)
6) snappy turtle - lemon juice, lime shavings, mint tea, green dye, necklace w' a turtle bead (white)
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