How to Make Your Own Soap Favors for Weddings and Baby Showers

Want to make soap as a gift for your party guests? Here are some simple tips for making soap gifts and favors:

1. There are literally hundreds of different ingredients that can be used for soap making. Basically, you will need the following - soap chips or soap base, essential or fragrance oil for scent, and colorants. You will also need a soap mold and a pot to melt the soap in.

2. The easiest way to make soap is to take an already made bar of soap and melt it down. The bar will already have all the ingredients you need in it. You can then pour the soap into a mold of your choice or shape it as desired. Or you can use a cookie cutter or knife to shape it while it is still warm.

3. If you are using raw ingredients, simply pour and mix them in the mold of your choice.

4. Heating - Make sure to heat the soap slowly to prevent combustion or degradation of smell. 130°F - 155°F is a good general range, although there are slight variations depending on what ingredients you use. Try not to leave the soap unattended for long periods of time while heating.

5. Scent - You won't need too much fragrance oil to scent your soap because scented oil is generally highly concentrated and strong. 0.5-1oz of oil is sufficient to scent a whole pound of soap. The amount you use will depend on the strength of the oil, which varies based on the
scent. Mix the oil in with the soap while heating.

6. Coloring - Once again, you will probably not need to much coloring agent. Add a few drops at a time and watch the color change.

7. Mold selection - You can select molds that are themed to your occasion or just use a standard bar mold. For weddings, angels, hearts, and wedding cakes are popular shapes. For baby showers, baby carriages, bottles, and Disney characters are some common themes. The soap can also be carved. If you use a standard bar mold, you can still add personalized themed tags.

8. Finishing touches - After your soap is made, seal it inside a cellophane bag, organza bag, or gift box. Add a favor charms, personalized tag, and message and you have a nice favor for your guest.

Generally, you will want soaps that are 1oz - 3oz in size. These gifts will be used by your guests and are a simple, but effective way to say thank you.

About the Author

Criss White is a professional web writer on baby and new mother topics for baby and pregnancy websites. See Baby Shower Soap Favors(www.mybabyshowerfavors.com/bb.htm) for more soap favor ideas and Make Your Own Baby Shower Favors (www.mybabyshowerfavors.com/make-your-own.htm) for other related baby shower supplies.

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Commercial vs Handmade Soap

Soap, in it's most basic and fundamental form, is the result of a chemical action between a fatty acid and a caustic alkali. (See How Is Soap Made?) However, the method by which that chemical action is accomplished can vary widely. There are some similarities and vast differences between commercial and handmade soaps.

Generally, when one speaks of commercial soap one is referring to soap made in huge batches (100,000 pounds or more) in a mechanized process where the glycerin is removed and fillers and sometimes synthetic detergents added. Often a commercial soap manufacturing plant has facilities for refining oils, recovering and purifying glycerin (which is then sold separately) and producing soap in various final forms.

Many companies that produce soap and soap related products (such as shampoos, cleaning agents and even toothpaste) buy the basic soap and then add their own ingredients and packaging to the final product.

Handmade soap, on the other hand, is generally thought of as soap made in smaller batches with personal attention, where the naturally occurring glycerin is retained in the soap. Fillers or detergents are rarely added to hand-crafted soaps because these require facilities and chemistry unavailable to (and unwanted by) most hand-crafted soap makers.

Often the hand-crafted soap maker does the entire process from start to finish, including manufacture, scenting, curing, cutting, trimming and packaging.

There is also a hybrid form of soapmaking, called melt and pour. It is a commercially produced soap base which is chemically formulated (through the use of various additives) to be able to be melted and then poured without changing its consistency. The soap base is then purchased by a soap maker who melts it down, adds colors, scents and other artistic touches and packages it for final sale. Melt and Pour soaps can be true soaps and are generally considered to be "handmade" if more than 50% of the entire process from recipe formulation through to packaging is done by hand.

Source: http://www.chandlerssoaps.com/commercial-vs-handmade.html

Soap Fragrance Oils - Making Your Own Custom Scented Bath Products

Why don’t you consider making soaps scented with natural essential oils in your own home? While it might seem difficult at first, it just might turn out to be one of the easiest and most relaxing things you’ve ever done. Essential oils and herbs are a way to bring plants’ healing properties into your daily routine. Frequently used in aromatherapy, you can also bring essential oils into your life by making your own soaps.

Some essential oils have stimulating fragrances, while others have completely the opposite effect and can help you relax. Every essential oil has distinct and unique properties. For example, rose oil comes in handy for treating sore throats, sinus congestion, or puffiness. Rosemary helps treat physical and mental fatigue, rheumatic pains and aches, and respiratory problems such as asthma.

Each of the natural essential oils has specific, beneficial properties. Chamomile has long been used to help with digestion, but many people don’t know that it helps ease premenstrual pain as well, and applied to the skin, it will help clear up acne, eczema and other sensitive skin problems. Eucalyptus is administered orally to help coughs, colds, bronchitis and viral infections; when applied to the skin, it eases muscular aches. Many people find geranium oils useful for healing sores, infections, and other skin problems. And lavender not only smells pleasant; it can also be useful for soothing headaches, healing bruises and insect bites, and reducing swelling.

Sandalwood not only smells great; it’s calming and soothing, and can help heal dry, cracked lips. Jasmine helps you when you’re feeling down, and neroli treats anxiety and insomnia, and will help improve your blood circulation as well. It’s a good idea to try to find ways to bring essential oils’ beneficial properties into your life.

Herbs are low-growing aromatic plants that can be used either fresh or dried; these include annuals (which must be seeded each year) as well as perennial herbs (which survive the winter to grow again in the spring). Usually, it’s herbs’ leaves that are used to enhance skin care products’ benefits.

For more on handmade herbal soap making as well as candle making and other do-it-yourself crafts visit the soap making resources center at Pure and Natural Soaps where you’ll find articles, recipes, instructions, ideas and tips.

To discuss these and other craft projects visit the Soap Making Forum - a community message board for soap and candle making as well as other crafts and do-it-yourself projects. Discuss techniques, share ideas, learn new methods, post your favorite recipes and meet new friends.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Sarah_Freeland

Marketing a Craft Product

There are many ways to market your soaps and homemade bath products.
I have found that giving free samples is one of the best methods for
getting new customers for my soaps.

You can cut 16 samples from one basic 4 oz. bar of soap by cutting
the bar into 8 pieces, then cutting those pieces in half. Next, place a
piece of the soap in a small craft bag (you can get these at Stores in
the Crafts section) and label it with your business information using
regular Avery mailing labels.

To distribute your samples, place them in attractive baskets and
visit a few non-competing stores to see if they will let you leave your
baskets on their counters.

You can also staple these to your business cards, and hand them out
as you normally would a business card.

Yet another method that works better than the above two would be to
make what are called “fish bowls” and leave these at area
businesses. To make a fish bowl, first print out some cards for customer’s
information such as name, address and phone number. Next, purchase a
few containers that are clear, and that has a secure lid on them, that
are about the size of a regular fish bowl. Some people actually use fish
bowls, but I have found this causes problems because the fish bowls
break easily, and cannot be closed to prevent theft of your customer’s
information.

Now take the lid of your container, and cut a slot that is big
enough for your slips of paper that you printed off earlier to slip into
when they are folded in half. Secure your lid onto your container with
tape and then cover the tape with attractive ribbon.

Next, make a sign stating that anyone that enters your drawing for
a free “whatever” will receive a free soap sample in the mail. The
“whatever” can be a gift certificate from the store that lets you
place your fish bowls on their counters (this helps promote the store,
thus making the store owner more agreeable to letting you use their
counter space), or it can be a few bars of soap from your inventory or both

Next, locate stores that do not mind sharing some of their counter
space with you. This is where you'll place your fish bowls.

Although this method costs a bit more because you are offering a
prize, and because you will need to mail your samples, it also produces
better results than by just handing out samples.

You will get potential customers addresses and phone numbers, when
you mail your sample you can also include information about your
products, and you can also send them a follow up mailing asking for their
input on how well they liked your sample. This information can be very
valuable towards the growth of your business.

You can also package samples of your bath salts and scrubs in the
small zip lock bags as well, and use these instead if you do not make
soap.


About the Author

Paul is Head of Training for a major UK Charitable Organisation with
a wealth of experience in personal development, management development,
e-learning and operational management. In addition he owns PK eBooks
(http://www.pk-ebooks.co.uk) and has just published a Guide to Making
Soaps and Candles which can be found at href='http://www.pk-ebooks.co.uk/making_soaps_and_candles.htm'
target='_blank'
class='navigation'>http://www.pk-ebooks.co.uk/making_soaps_and_candles.htm




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Four Methods of Making Soap at Home

There are four basic methods for making soap at home:

Melt and Pour - melt pre-made blocks of soap and add your own fragrance
Cold Process - the most common - making soap from scratch with oils and lye
Hot Process - a variation of cold process where the soap is actually cooked
Rebatching - grinding up bars of soap, adding milk or water, and re-blending them

Each method has pros, and cons, and variations.

Pros of Melt and Pour

An easy and inexpensive way to start making soap.
No need to deal with dangerous lye mixture.
You don’t need a lot of ingredients to start.
Your soap is ready to use as soon as it hardens.

Cons of Melt and Pour

No control over your ingredients.
Melt and Pour is not quite as “natural” as other methods. (Many manufacturers add chemicals to increase lather or to better allow the soap to melt.)
Your soap is only as good as the base you purchase.

Pros of Cold Process Soap Making

Your soap is truly made from scratch
You control all of the ingredients in the soap
You can tailor your recipe into unlimited variations

Cons of Cold Process Soap Making
You need to learn how to safely work with lye
You’ll need more ingredients and tools to start
It takes longer to make and there is more cleanup involved
You need to wait several weeks before your soap is ready to use