Basic Soap Making: All the Skills and Tools You Need to Get Started (How To Basics) [Spiral-bound]

Elizabeth Letcavage (Editor), Patsy Buck (Contributor)

Book Description

Series: How To Basics | Publication Date: September 15, 2009

Hundreds of step-by-step, full-color photographs illustrate exactly how to make cold-process soap

Instructions on molding soap, cutting bars, creating original recipes, packaging gifts, and more

Includes a chapter on constructing a soap mold, liner, and cutter at home

Handmade soap is inexpensive, soft on skin, and makes a great gift for anyone. Readers will learn the basic four-oil soap recipe, which can then be enhanced with additives such as oatmeal, fragrance oils, colored swirls, two-tone nuggets, and moisturizing butters. Charts on saponification, base oils, and luxury oils make creating unique soap recipes easy.

Product Details

• Spiral-bound: 132 pages
• Publisher: Stackpole Books; Spi edition (September 15, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0811735737
• ISBN-13: 978-0811735735
• Product Dimensions: 10.9 x 9.1 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (24 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #24,659 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

38 of 38 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Start making soap within a week!, October 8, 2009

By 

WiseWoman "SAHM emeritus" (Barnegat, NJ USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Basic Soap Making: All the Skills and Tools You Need to Get Started (How To Basics) (Spiral-bound)

I love that the book is spiral bound so it lays flat and stays open to the page you need. I love the step by step photographs of the process from beginning to end, including the emphasis on safety. I love that the author includes easily understood equations that allow even a newcomer to create original recipes.

Within a few days of receiving this book from Amazon I had made my first wooden soap mold and cutter. The author makes it clear that this is not required, but I wanted to! I had just about every ingredient and tool on hand and made my first batch of 4 oil soap, which is now curing and waiting to be shared with family and friends. I plan on making every recipe in the book and then creating my own. LOVE IT LOVE IT

32 of 32 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Basic Soap Making: All the Skills and Tools You Need to Get Started, Letcavage and Buck, ISBN 978-0-8117-3573-5, December 13, 2009

By 

Kerri Mixon "Pallas Athene Soap" (Spring Valley, CA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Basic Soap Making: All the Skills and Tools You Need to Get Started (How To Basics) (Spiral-bound)

Basic Soap Making: All the Skills and Tools You Need to Get Started, Letcavage and Buck, ISBN 978-0-8117-3573-5, is the cold process soap book for which all soap makers have waited! This book is the most complete, comprehensive, accurate instruction manual on beginning soap making and is in brilliant pictogram format. The book contains literally hundreds of photographs and includes images of all steps and phases of cold process soap making, such as cutting, trimming, rebatching scraps, and packaging. Hands down, this is the most complete and most easily understandable beginning soap making book ever published. Even experienced professional soap makers should keep this amazing book within easy access to dazzle inquiring customers with photos of the art of handmade cold process soap making.

25 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars For visual spatial learners, December 18, 2009

By 

yogagirl "grrrl" (usa) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Basic Soap Making: All the Skills and Tools You Need to Get Started (How To Basics) (Spiral-bound)

I bought this book and another, the "Everything" soap book. I found that this book had all the basic info I was looking for without much chattering, and includes lots of step-by-step pictures, as well as a very lean and clear explanation of SAP values and how to calculate them in your own recipes. It even shows you how to make your own wood soap mold, and gives ideas for packaging. I cannot vouch for the recipes themselves, but there are tons of recipes on the internet if you do a search. All in all, the best clear, basic instructions for someone who wants to learn how to make their own soap. The other resource I found to be very informative, up-to-date and helpful was the "About" series with David Fisher. He has some really good videos on how to use lye properly, and great links for more resources.