Soap Making

The path

1. 1
   Level 1Free

   Melt and Pour

   A boxed gift set of six bars

   15 Steps, about 36 minutes each. Anyone with a microwave. No chemistry, no lye, no experience needed.

   1. Chapter 1: First bars. Plain, scented and colored bars, unmolded and wrapped, and your first two-layer bar.
   2. Chapter 2: Designs. Embeds, an ombre, an exfoliating bar, a cut loaf and a swirl.
   3. Chapter 3: Gift set. Six bars designed, made, wrapped and labeled as a finished gift set.

   1. 1
      Pour your first bar

      A plain bar of soap, melted and poured into your mold.

      Melt and pour soap starts from a ready-made soap base: soap that's already been made, so there's no lye to handle and no weeks of curing. You melt it, add scent and color, pour it into a mold, and it sets in about an hour. It's the safest way into soapmaking and still lets you make beautiful bars.

      The one rule that matters most is temperature. Soap base melts at around 50 to 60°C (120 to 140°F). If it gets much hotter, it scorches: it turns rubbery, smells burnt, and won't set smoothly. That's why you melt in short bursts and stir between them.

      The detail beginners miss is cube size. Large chunks melt unevenly: the outside overheats while the middle is still solid. Two-centimeter cubes melt evenly in a few short bursts.

      Here's what it looks like. 120 grams of base, cubed, in a heat-safe jug. Thirty seconds in the microwave, stir, then fifteen to thirty seconds more, stirring each time. When the last few small lumps disappear as you stir, stop. It should be clear and liquid, with only gentle steam. If it's bubbling or steaming hard, let it cool for a few minutes before pouring.

      Melted base is as hot as fresh coffee and clings to skin. Pour slowly, keep kids and pets away, and spritz the top with rubbing alcohol to pop bubbles. Alcohol is flammable: keep it away from flames and stoves.

      Bramble BerryCandleScience
      Show your group
   2. 2
      Scent your soap

      Two scented bars, using a safe amount of fragrance.

      Wholesale Supplies Plus
   3. 3
      Color with mica

      Two bars in two colors, evenly mixed with no specks.

      CandleScience

   See all 15 Steps

   1. 4
      Unmold and wrap

      Every bar so far wrapped tight in plastic wrap and stored.

      therese galeaHouse of Scent
   2. 5
      Pour your first layers

      A two-color layered bar where the layers don't come apart.

      Sunshine Soap and Candle Company
      Show your group
   3. 6
      Set an embed

      A clear bar with a colored shape suspended inside.

      Bramble Berry
   4. 7
      Pour an ombre

      A bar that fades from dark to light in four layers.

      Bramble BerryBramble Berry
   5. 8
      Make an exfoliating bar

      A bar with oats or coffee grounds spread through it, not sunk to the bottom.

      Wholesale Supplies Plus
   6. 9
      Cut a loaf into bars

      A layered loaf, poured and sliced into even bars.

      Soap Queen
   7. 10
      Try a swirl

      A bar with two colors swirled together.

      The O'Neil Sisters
      Show your group
   8. 11
      Design your gift set

      A plan for six bars: one of each technique, with colors and scents that go together.

      House of Scent
   9. 12
      Make bars one to three

      The first three bars of your gift set, poured and set.

      CandleScience
   10. 13
       Make bars four to six

       The last three bars of your gift set, poured and set.
   11. 14
       Wrap and label

       Six bars wrapped and labeled with their name and ingredients.

       Wholesale Supplies Plus
   12. 15
       Give your gift set

       Your gift set given, and one bar kept for yourself.

       CandleScience
       Show your group
2. Level 2Unlocks after Level 1

   Cold Process

   Your first batch from scratch

3. Level 3Unlocks after Level 2

   Market Ready

   Labeled bars you can sell

Where it ends: your own soap line

Free lessons in Melt and Pour come from Bramble Berry, CandleScience, Wholesale Supplies Plus, therese galea, House of Scent, Sunshine Soap and Candle Company, Soap Queen, The O'Neil Sisters, Rustic Escentuals, Koala Soap. We link to their work and never copy it.