When I first started to make soap, I used to get in a real panic about getting my temperatures right. This is totally normal when you are new to soap making and especially true if you read lots of conflicting information about the subject. After reading lots about soap making, at the time I thought (incorrectly) that the oil and the lye temperatures needed to be exactly the same before mixing them together. Reaching the same temperatures almost always never happens and if it does on the rare occasion it is completely by chance. What Temperature Should you aim for When Making Soap? I have al ..read more

Autumn has arrived in the UK and we have already had the first mists of the season. I love autumn and one of my favourite poems is about this abundant season. ‘Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness Close bosom-friend of the maturing sun…’ (From Ode to Autumn by John Keats) It’s the time of year when all the trees are loaded with fruit and nuts and the hedgerows are bursting with berries. What has all this got to do with soap making you might ask? And no, I haven’t gone bonkers! There is method in my madness… The horse chestnut trees are laden with chestnuts, also known as conkers. Chestnuts ..read more

When I first started to make soap, I religiously covered my precious creations in towels and blankets because I feared that it would not turn into soap if it wasn’t insulated, and I did not want all my efforts and oils to be wasted. Like many new soap makers, I had read that it was a serious offence to leave my soap uncovered and as I lived in fear of the soap Gods, I continued to insulate my batches of soap for a good few months. I eventually stopped insulating my soap and instead I covered my freshly poured soap with sheets of greaseproof paper to protect it from dust etc. And I leave it to ..read more

I have told the story about making my first batch of soap many times and I realised recently that I have never written a blog about my first steps into the world of soap making. I suppose it is better late than never! My soap making journey began many years ago, even though it only seems like yesterday, but as they say time flies when you are having fun. At that time, I had just completed a lengthy course of treatment for breast cancer. A diagnosis when I was 32 was a real shock as I was young, fit, and healthy so it didn’t make any sense. During my treatment, I really got to thinking about wh ..read more

The plastic pollution problem is huge. It’s been receiving lots of media attention and this is in part thanks to the work of Sir David Attenborough. The global extent of plastic pollution was first highlighted to the world in his nature documentary series Blue Planet 2. The series was truly heart-breaking as it showed the devastating impact that human activity is having on our oceans. Attenborough said everyone’s actions have an impact on the ocean. “We have a responsibility, every one of us.” Even though the problem has gained much publicity the statistics on plastic are shocking. More than 8 ..read more

If you are new to soap making, having the right equipment to hand is essential to ensure that you can safely make a batch of soap. And it goes without saying that it makes the process much easier. So, what exactly do you need to make handmade soap? And can you use ordinary kitchen equipment? You don’t need to invest in any specialised equipment to begin making soap. I will run through a list of the main items that you will need for soap making below. You can use kitchen equipment although it’s best to keep your soap making utensils separate from your cooking equipment for safety reasons and be ..read more

There are so many mould options available when you make soap and looking for suitable moulds can become a bit of an addiction. Trust me I’ve been there! There are all sorts of mould shapes and sizes, and you don’t even have to buy conventional soap moulds.  When you are starting out you might find that trips to the supermarket take on a whole new purpose. When I was new to soap making, I was often side tracked in supermarkets with looking for suitable packaging and containers that would make good soap moulds – there are so many when you start looking – such as pringles cartons and yogurt ..read more

If you are new to soap making you will be interested to learn that soap is a salt of a fatty acid.  During the soap making process where you mix fats and oils with a lye solution this starts something called the saponification process and creates a salt from the fatty acids contained within your recipe. And that’s your bar of soap.  All this sounds amazing right? I am still fascinated by the process of soap making even after all these years - I started making soap in 2012 (insert shocked face)!  Fatty acids are basically the building blocks of soap, and each fatty acid in your s ..read more

My students are always asking for soap making book recommendations, so I thought it was about high time that I write a blog about some of my favourite soap making books.  I Love to Read Before I started making soap, I bought a healthy selection of soap making books. I love to read, and I am definitely 'old school' in that I prefer reading traditional books. You can’t beat holding a book, leafing through the pages and not to mention that special smell of books. It’s an intimate experience that just cannot be replicated with online reading.  I recommend building up a small reference sh ..read more

A question that I am frequently asked by participants in my soap making classes is:  “Can I sell my handmade soap?”  And my answer is yes you can. However, it is not just a case of learning to make soap and then creating a few different batches to sell at your local artisan market. There is a little more to it than that. This usually leads to another question:  “Is it complicated?”  It is not complicated at all. It is quite a simple process, but you obviously need to know what the requirements are before you can meet them. So, in answer to the first question if you want to ..read more