Recent years are gaining popularity "fashionable"hobby - soap making at home. More and more people share their experience on soap making at home, on the Internet there are entire websites dedicated to this art: master classes on "how to cook soap at home" are held, on-line lessons of soap making are offered, pros are devoted to newcomers to the secrets of soap making. It is for those who want to figure out how to make soap with their own hands, and we have prepared this material. We will tell you what materials are used for soap making, what are the basic rules of soap making, you need to remember how to original pack it and much - much more. Soap making is not only an addictive hobby, but also a very useful activity. If you understand the basic principles of how to make soap at home, master the technique of soap making, you will permanently lose the problem of choosing non-personal, useful and beautiful gifts. The search for funds for washing that suited your skin, will remain in the past. After all, now you can create a fragrant slice, using those components for soap making that will be right for you. You will be able to realize your creative abilities. 
Accessories for soap making
Manual soap making is a space for creativity,an exclusive skill that can become a hobby from business. But like any serious business and any serious hobby, soap making at home requires certain financial costs. Buying ingredients for soap making is an expensive pleasure. It is difficult to get by with the contents of your first aid kit and kitchen cabinets, soap making requires special expenses. In addition, the process of soap making is so fascinating that it takes a lot of time. Be ready for this. So, what accessories for soap making need to be stocked?
- Baby soap (does not have a strong smell and is not expensive).
- Base oils for soap making (almond, olive, sea-buckthorn, cedar ... Any oil without a pungent smell).
- Essential oils - for soap making you choose the most pleasant aroma: lemon, lavender, tea tree, etc.
- Dyes - for soap making, you can use conventional food colors that can be found in any store.
- Dishes for a steam bath (remember that the dishes in which you cook soap can not be used for eating).
- Molds for soap making (preferably not glass).
As a form for soap making, we recommendUse molds made of silicone, rubber or plastic, for example, small forms for baking or children's sand molds. It is better not to use glass molds for soap making, since it will be difficult to pull out the finished product from them. Also, it is not recommended to use molds made of metal, especially aluminum. During soap making from the soap base, its components can react with the metal and cause corrosion. And the color of the finished soap may not be the same as you expected. 
Ingredients for soap making
So, let's talk about the components for soap making. Their list for each master is his own, so we will dwell on the main ones in detail. So what is needed for soap making?
- In the factory child soap is added a minimum of flavors and dyes, so to develop soap technology, baby soap is a good base.
- A ready-made basis for soap making gives room forcreativity. It does not have a smell, it dries quickly, it perfectly cleanses and does not dry out the skin. Soap making from the soap base - the process is easier and more pleasant than soap making from baby soap.
- Base oil for soap making, or base oil. It is added when the soap mass melts. Depending on what property you want to inject soap, different versions of the base oil are possible, most often in soap making, olive oil or almond seed oil is used.
- Essential oils will add to the product your favorite fragrance. In addition, they have the ability to influence the psyche and well-being of a person. Depending on the purpose, you choose oil for soap making.
- As colorants for soap making, you can use juices, herbal decoctions and conventional food colors. Sometimes, the dye is oil base.
- Additives. At manual soap making, any products are used. Milk, chocolate, herbal decoctions, oat flakes and ground coffee (excellent scrub ingredients), coffee beans, rose petals, seeds, sparkles are indispensable for soap making. They are indispensable for decorating a ready-made piece of soap, etc.
Important nuances
The process of soap making at home requires taking into account several important nuances - this will help you not to be in an unpleasant situation.
- Essential oils.
Remember that essential oils have a very highconcentration and if you put them too much, you can face unpleasant consequences: from allergies to chemical burns. After the soap making process is completed, test it on a small area of the skin, wait half an hour, and if there is no negative reaction, safely use your product for the intended purpose. Observing this rule, you will be sure that the soap that you created with your own hands, will not hurt your health ..
- Capacities.
The dishes, in which soap was cooked at home, can not be used for storage and cooking. In order to make soap with your own hands, you need to allocate a separate dish - only for the process of soap making.
- Allergic reactions.
It is very important to remember that sometimes homemadesoap preparation can cause the development of an allergic reaction, and on any component. Therefore, always keep in the medicine cabinet antiallergic agent. Which is better - consult your doctor. 
Soap technology
We pass to the essence that excites our readers: soap making at home. In order to make soap at home, the so-called cold soap-making method is used. In general, the classic soap technology is as follows:
Then within two months we give pieces to ripenin a ventilated room. Do not use soap earlier than this time: an immature soap is not very useful for the skin, over time it will become softer and softer, its acidity level will decrease and soaked soap will be more economical. Simpler compared with the cold soap making method is soap making from baby soap. As a technique of soap making for beginners, we recommend this method. The technology is also quite simple.
Interesting recipes
We told you about the main points of creationI washed myself. These basics must be known in order to master soap making - in the future you can come up with recipes yourself, depending on your taste and needs. But we still risk to offer you some of the most popular recipes. Soap-scrub This prescription of soap will be very useful for those people who have enough problematic skin. To prepare it you will need the following ingredients:
- freshly ground black coffee
- water (150-200 ml)
- soap base (for the preparation of which you will need two pieces of baby soap and warm water)
- Base oil (almond, sea-buckthorn, olive one tablespoon each)
- Essential oils (bergamot, ylang-ylang, rosemary, patchouli - depending on the skin condition and the desired effect) three to four drops of oil
- Soap molds
Soap "Pink Dream" In the event that the skin of the face is very dry and sensitive, offer you the following recipe. We will need:
- 100 grams of white soap base
- one tablespoon of pink clay
- one teaspoon of apricot essential oil
- five drops of vanilla oil, flower shape
Soap-scrub "Sea Bottom" This recipealmost universal, but the most useful soap for those people who suffer from boils. In addition, the recipe is useful for those who have a copious acne. We will need:
- 100 grams of transparent soap base
- two drops of blue food coloring
- half a teaspoon of olive oil and grape oil
- flavoring "sea"
- one teaspoon finely chopped algae.
Soap "Strawberry with cream" People with dry sensitive skin should add this prescription to their piggy bank. We will need:
- 100 grams of opaque base
- half teaspoon of olive oil and strawberry seed oil
- red or pink dye
- two tablespoons of cream
- flavoring "strawberry" and "cream".
Of course, all of the above recipes youcan be modified in accordance with their preferences, because so-so at home and attractive, that you can give a way out of your fantasy and creative beginning. Yes, home soap making is a real creativity, because you create not just a soap - in your hands a small but miracle is born! And as you know, a miracle can not be crammed into strict recipes. 
Errors of a beginner soap
Since we decided to open the topic "homesoap making "completely, it is worth mentioning about the basic mistakes of soap making, with which you may encounter. There are mistakes that are associated with the aesthetic side of the issue - soap does not thicken, breaks, breaks down into pieces when cutting. Similar problems can easily be avoided if materials are used for soap making with a normal shelf life and clearly observe the proportions.
- Soap does not thicken
Make sure you get the right amount of NaOH. If the alkali is the right amount, then perhaps in soap the percentage of "soft" oils (sunflower, safflower) is high. In this case, a long (15-20 minutes) mixing of the mass with a mixer will help.
- Brittle soap
If cutting a block into pieces of soapbreaks, crumbles and even burns your fingers, then there is a possibility that you added too much caustic soda. Such an effect happens when in soap a large amount of fats solidifying at room temperature. This defect does not affect the quality of soap and is an external disadvantage. To break the soap can lead to the use of certain essential oils. Next time try any other recipe.
- It turns out a soft soap, when cutting, it breaks down into parts
Most likely, your soap could not pass the gel phase. To solve this problem, you need to leave the soap for ripening for an additional two weeks or cut the soap into pieces with a guitar string.
- White coating
On the soap block, a thin white coating formed,which is also called "soda ash"? This is a visual defect, the quality of soap is not affected. You can avoid this effect by covering the moist soap with a cellophane bag immediately after placing it in the mold. Plaque can be washed off or cut with a knife. Attention! Do not confuse this defect with crystallized alkali. However, there are also mistakes of soap making that can affect health. Carefully remember the simple rule - this will avoid problems. Sometimes in the soap you can see white specks. Caution! These specks can be alkali crystals! It happens that the crystals of caustic soda dissolved in the liquid not completely. Test a pair of crystals with a test strip. Alkali? The worst possible defect, since in this case the soap will have to be discarded. The cause of the defect - during the preparation of the alkali crystals in the alkaline solution were not dissolved enough. Well, we can assume that you got an initial lesson on soap making. You own information about what accessories for soap making need to be purchased, learned some recipes for soap making and can confidently experiment and fantasize. Choose any favorite recipe and go for it! A non-standard hobby will allow you to attract additional attention. After all, now you can say about yourself: "Oh, yes, it's she who mastered the science of soap making with her own hands!" We advise you to read:
