Where to begin at soapmaking?

[elitenaildesign]

Hi all,

I am new to this board and have seen tons of neat stuff you guys create. I originally came on here looking for a line of candles to retail in my salon and now I have been inspired to try and make soap. It sounds like a lot of fun. So can you point me in the right direction of how to get started? Should I buy a book or something. This is all very foreign to me at this point.

Many thanks!!

[Rebecca_IA]

Are you thinking about cold process or hot process soap, or are you thinking about melt & pour soap?

I would start by reading through the threads here: http://www.candletech.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=27

Another good source is www.millersoap.com there is a ton of information there.

Take notes as you are reading, print out what you feel is something you need to study more. Come back and ask your questions. I think there is so much information out on the internet that buying a book is an unnecessary expenditure. Your local library might have some to check out if you prefer to read up in a book.

But when you have specific questions and you can't find the answer, you can ask them here. Good luck.

[elitenaildesign]

Well, being I have never done this before I guess I need to know which is the best or easiest method to start with. It sounds like the melt& pour method might be less complex. Am I right?

[eugenia]

You are on the right track. Melt and pour is a good starting point.

[ladysj]

Yes you are right the M&P is by far the easiest and quickest way to melt soap. There are so many things you can do with it. There is a pic of some one that layered M&P and it was gorgeous.