Can’t decide which soap making method is for you?

Well let me help.

Melt and Pour soap is a great way to start. The start up costs are low, the base is already made for you and the method is simple. There are no caustic ingredients used and the process is very straightforward and quick. However, your soap will contain chemicals which are present in the base. It won’t have many nourishing qualities, although you can add essential oils and a small amount of butters, oils or goat’s milk to improve this.

Hot and Cold Process soap will be a soap that is completely hand crafted by you. The types of ingredients used i.e. butters and oils are usually chemical free and good for the skin. The proportion of fats in this type of soap is much higher than in melt and pour, so you will produce a soap of much greater quality. The downside is that the method is more complicated and you have to be very careful because caustic ingredients are used which can burn the skin and damage surfaces.

Melt and Pour soap is ready in a few hours, whereas the other methods need a certain length of time for the soap to cure before it is ready. This means you also need somewhere to store it while it’s curing.

With Hot and Cold Process soap you will be producing a rustic, natural, handmade looking soap, especially if you add essential oils, herbs, petals or oatmeal to enhance the properties further. Your soap will be in chunky bars and opaque.

Melt and Pour can be transparent or opaque. With Melt and Pour you can add lots of decorative features. You can embed contrasting pieces of soap, or toys inside bars of soap. You can use layers and contrasting colours. You can use herbs, petals and other additives to create lots of great visual features. You can use lots of different shapes of moulds to create soaps for any occasion, whereas hot and cold processed is much thicker and can’t be poured into intricate moulds. Colours appear brighter and stronger, so it easy to create fun effects with this type of soap.

Melt and Pour soap is cheap to make as the base is relatively inexpensive, whereas buying butters and oils can be expensive, especially if you are just buying small amounts at the start. However, you could start with melt and pour to see if you like soap making and then branch out into making your own soap from scratch later.

Some people like the rustic feel of hot or cold processed soap, and the choice of what ingredients to put in the base, whereas others like to have a ready made base and have fun turning it into something creative and visual. It really depends what you fancy doing, the costs, and the time involved.