Despite what some good folk might think, making natural soap is not quite as easy as “baking a cake.” Although it is not particularly difficult, the process definitely does not allow the scope to add “a pinch of this, a drop of that and a little bit of the other.” For safety reasons, the ingredient amounts and weights have to be decided in advance, balanced against each other and the recipe then followed, precisely. Any proposed changes need to be made before the revised process begins, together with the appropriate adjustments to the formula. Don’t worry though. There are some very helpful websites which encourage free use of their on-line soap-calculators, to assist, and there’ll be more information, on that, later.
The artisan soap making community, I’ve found, is very supportive, welcoming and helpful to newcomers so don’t be frightened to subscribe to sites you like. It usually does not involve a payment, You can simply enter your email address and will probably receive some free recipes, e-books, tutorials and advice along with periodic newsletters and invitations to purchase books and on-line courses. They are rarely a nuisance and it is always easy to simply ignore the offers or even unsubscribe.
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