Melt and Pour Soap Basics ~ Part 1

Copyright 2011-2016 By Lisa Maliga 

Crafting melt & pour glycerin soap looks effortless and is the perfect gift to give any time of the year. Better yet, why not just start making and selling it? Apparently, some over-enthusiastic people think that because glycerin soap is so easy to craft; it can be sold with little to no preliminary testing. After you’ve made your first batch you might be just beginning your way to rivaling Primal Elements or Lush, yet you’re nowhere near ready to sell.

Your Soap Base

Melt and pour soap base is premade. You can buy a small amount, cut off a piece, and use it to wash your hands. But that's only the first step into creating wonderful looking bars, slabs, domes, rounds, squares or rectangles of colorful and/or beautifully scented soap.

How do you find a good soap base? Always read the ingredients. Stay away from soap base with a very long list of ingredients.

As with food, the ingredients listing on soap bases begin with the most prominent component listed first. For melt & pour glycerin soap base you’ll want to see the word GLYCERIN within the first two or three ingredients. If not, you might just not have a great product, or you may have a coconut soap base. There’s nothing wrong with coconut soap, it’s just a bit heavier than glycerin soap, and it’s not translucent.

Soapy Myths

The most common myth is that glycerin soap doesn’t contain lye. It does. ALL soap contains lye. Lye is mixed with fats and water and in the case of melt & pour, other clarifying ingredients such as sugar, alcohol, propylene glycol and sorbitol. The soapy fact is that once you purchase glycerin soap base YOU don’t have to use any lye.

Not 100% Glycerin Soap

I’ve read of people who claim they use 100% Glycerin soap. That’s impossible as it would be a jar of a clear, sticky plant-derived substance that’s devoid of lather and cleansing ability. Melt & pour soap contains is 100% plant glycerin – an amount of approximately 20%. That quantity is enough to give it clarity and softness – as well as its shorter lifespan in the tub, sink or shower.

Read Melt and Pour Soap Basics ~ Part 2.

Learn more about melt and pour in the eBook The Joy of Melt and Pour Soap Crafting. See the recipe for MAXIMUM Cocoa Butter Soap in the eBook 12 Easy Melt and Pour Soap Recipes