Basic things needed for cold process soap making ( for first timer)

This is a question I get like all the time. What do I need to start making soap? Well here are the basic things u need:

Ingredients:

1) lye/sodium hydroxide/Naoh/Caustic soda  

Note: you can't make soap without this. If you do not want to handle lye, you can get the soap base-melt and pour soap making method.

2) oils and butter 

Note: you can choose whichever oil you want but for basic I would suggest to use olive oil and coconut oil. Master the art of soap making first before you invest more in the other exotic oils.

3) water or milk

Note: for starter start with water first. You do not need to heat up the water as lye when mix with water will heat up very fast.

4) Fragrance or essential oil

Note: use skin safe essential oil and fragrance oil. Make sure it's SKIN SAFE as many eo and FO are for candle making/burner which might not be suitable for skin

5) colorant

Note: use skin safe color!

Equipment:

1) Mixing Bowls 

Note: do not use alluminium bowls or utensils as lye/NaOH will react with alluminium causing the utensils to be dark and your soap to be black.

2) egg beater/ handheld blender

Note: if you are going to be making a lot of soap (which you will! It's addictive this soap crafting hobby! :) invest in a Handblender! Your wrist will thank you:)

3) towels and newspaper

4) thermometer (optional)

5) pH strip (optional)

6) Spoons for mixing

7) molds 

Note: you can use those jelly molds however it isn't practical if your soap is for daily bathing as the smaller shapes would cause your soaps to melt faster than the standard sized square soap.

So basically these are the basic things. If you have any further enquiries, please do not hesitate to comment below:) 

Happy soaping! 

Thank you for reading Soap Lab Malaysia.

If you are one of those who wants to understand why certain ingredient is in your skincare/ cosmetics, learn how to make and formulate your own cosmetics, do contact us on our next class. We also have business courses for those interested to start a business in handmade cosmetics.