Customer Reviews

Melt & Mold Soap Crafting

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is my favorite melt and craft soap book, despite my four star rating. The instructions are easy to follow and the numerous photos are great to look at. Even the book's covers are attractive. My favorite projects are the 2 color swirled soaps with a marblized appearance, the faux french milled soap, a bath salts box, and fruit cane citrus slice soap.

The author's great instructions on layering and cane building have been most useful in turning my ideas into workable soap pictures. The faux milled soap is also great because I know people that don't consider translucent soap to be "real" soap, no matter how pretty. I absolutely adore the bath salts box, made with a chocolate box mold, because it can be used to hold smaller sized soaps or as a utilitarian air freshner. It's less of a hassle to keep one of these on my desk at work than a bar of soap--very cool! Beginners will really appreciate the troublshooting sections and tips so that you can correct problems and learn how to decrease/increase ingredient to achieve certain effects, like making a soap clearer in appearance.

I gave the book four stars because it doesn't contain a lot of information about fragrance mixing or which kinds of plant materials can be safely included in a soap. This is a minor quibble as the breadth of projects are more than enough to keep someone busy for quite some time. I would have given the book 4.5 stars I could. Whether you're thinking of crafting soap for your own enjoyment or to start a business, you can't do much better than this book.

Although this has a slick commercial look about it (I tend to doubt the usefulness of commercial stuff!), this is a great beginner's book for learning and doing Melt and Pour soapmaking.

This was the first book I bought, so perhaps there is some sentimental value for me. But it has clear written and graphic instructions on melt and pour soaping, along with useful information such as a guide to additives, basic information about setting up your work area, selecting and preparing your molds, determining the right temperature (thermometers are not so necessary in melt and pour, so you're going by 'behavior' and look of the glycerin). A troubleshooting page is included -- even with melt and pour, there will be problems! She has small sections (sometimes just a page) on mastering fragances, color theories, and other useful bits throughout the book.

Please note that in my reviews, recipes are very secondary to me. In looking at and using soapmaking books, I'm looking for information on how to (create swirls, mix colors or scents in better, use additives, package, wrap, sell). Recipes give me ideas for recipes to make on my own.

I like the variety she offers -- very brief bits on all kinds of soap making - loaf, french milled soaps, commemorative soaps, tube (cane) soaps, leftover soaps (she calls this shelter soap, which makes me wince a bit), soaps with small toys in them, bath salts, soap tassels (invented by Sandy Maine, see my review of one of her books), gemstoneskitchen soap and more).

Her recipes are written as instructions, telling you what you will learn. About 30 recipes, ranging in level of difficulty from one (moldless soap, saving face soap, tropical indulgence soap are examples) to five (Kaila's happy to be bar). She has a recipes for a Victorian bridesmade cake soap (difficulty level four) that looks good enough to eat. Most are in the one to three difficulty level.

Four stars, though, not five. This book is missing some information, and its sources in the back are incomplete. You will need a lot more detailed information for learning how to develop your own recipes. And I wasn't impressed by the picture, on the rainbow loaf soap page, of food coloring bottles -- food coloring is inexpensive, handy and can be used, but it will not last. No note is made of that in this section, though it really should be noted for beginners.


A basic book for beginners -- and fun recipes to try and to add to your own collection.

Without question, Kaila Westerman is the guru of all things "Melt and Pour." Her knowledge of the basics of soap crafting is as extensive as her knack for the details. If you're looking for a GREAT book to get you started, this is the one. If you're already involved in soaping and want some great new tricks, you won't be dissapointed.

In so far as the references in the back, yes, many of the suppliers listed are associated with Westerman, but frankly, there aren't a lot of reputable suppliers out there and Westerman and the others listed provide only the cream of the crop in the way of soap supplies.

Buy this book today, dive in and get soapy!

If you're a soapcrafter you'll love this book. The author does a very good job of selecting interesting projects with remarkably easy to follow instructions. I gave this book to my niece as a gift and she too adores it. Even being a beginner, she was able to follow the book and make wonderful soap. I highly recommend this excellent book.

I enjoyed this book a lot. It has very clear instructions and troubleshooting tips. It also has a great resource list of suppliers including internet addresses. The book also focuses on techniques and encourages the reader to create their own recipes. Another plus: recipes are rated by difficultly. My only complaint was that several recipes call for small amounts of hard to find and/or expensive ingredients. I recommend the book to anyone new to soapmaking who is unwilling to work with lye

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. The projects were creative, informative, and fun. The illustrations were great. The basics of soap crafting were presented. What I liked most of all was the author's love for this particular craft coming through clearly. With some other soapmaking books, I learned but I didn't really start to think about creating new soap designs. I felt this author was sharing her works and encouraging me to try my own. She was positively infectious. I really appreciated that. I wrote down ideas for no less than five new soap designs while I was reading the last part of her book. I say, thanks Ms. Westerman! This is just the type of book we need.

I really like this book and when I bought this book, I bought another M&P book. All I can say is I like the other one better. I like that there is a picture for each recipe but what seems to be lacking here is what fragrance to use at least on some of the recipes. I understand that some things should be left to the imagination but when it comes to recipes that I am trying to copy, I want to be exact and to kind of feel what she feels when the soap is used for the 1st time. There is no way I could make cake without knowing the full list of ingredients and I feel the same applies here. Overall this is a great book and a good read.

I bought this book so I could help my teenage niece make gifts for Christmas. New to this craft, I needed something that would give me the information you gain through experience, and it did that. I was able to select a medium difficulty project for my first project, and teach a teen how to do it at the same time. We both had fun, and the soap turned out beautifully. She got many compliments when the gifts were opened, and felt really good about herself. This one is a keeper!

This is a great book! Melt and mold soapcrafting is one of the best crafts I've ever come across. The only thing lacking was an informative, step-by-step book. www.alphabetsoap.com has been one of the best sources of information, so it only follows that the writer of the site would put out a good, easy to follow book. I wasn't disappointed. The many color pictures in the book help make the directions easy to follow, and the many practical tidbits offered are really useful. The style the book is written in is easy to follow. I do believe this will be the Bible of melt and mold soapcrafting. A must have for any soapcrafter!

My friend gave me some coldprocessed soap about 2 years ago and I wanted MORE homemade soap. The creative gene in me craved colors, molds, designs and simplicity.I found the melt & pour so easy. This is such a wonderfully addicting hobby. A+ for Kailas book. I now have a few friends who have also been inspired to join in the soap crafting after seeing her book. Each picture triggers another thought and the creativity just continues. Friends and family love getting the handmade soaps as gifts, especially kids. Thanks for the giggles and the bubbles Kaila.