Melt & Pour Soapmaking [Illustrated] [Hardcover]

Marie Browning (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 30, 2001

Soaps fragrant with oils or spices, fizzing up the bath, or molded into perfect petals to place in a pretty jar beside the sink. Ones with guardian angels or good luck coins tucked inside. A virtual cornucopia of beautiful soaps will delight your senses with their scents, shapes, and feel. (Of course, they'll get you clean too, oh so gently, but they're almost too attractive to use up!) And, these soaps are easy to make, out of the kindest, chemical-free ingredients. Just take a commercially available glycerine or coconut-oil base, cut it up, and melt in a microwave or double boiler. Pour the liquid into molds to set--and let the real fun begin. Your imagination will go wild with possibilities as you check out different types of aromatic and essential oil (with tips on blending); additives such as almond or beeswax, colorants; and molds for hexagons, delicate shells, and more. Plus: information on hand milling! A Selection of the Crafters Choice Book Club.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Extremely thorough and beautifully designed, Melt & Pour Soapmaking features dozens of luscious soap projects, with directions explicit enough for the novice and ideas sophisticated enough for the practiced soap maker. Accomplished craft designer Marie Browning (author of Beautiful Handmade Natural Soaps) explores a wide variety of technique variations, from chunk style and layered to additives, embeds, embossing, and hand milling. Slice a marbled soap at angles for the look of rock crystal; make delicate petal slivers using a silk rose petal as a mold; blend fragrance oils to yield the scent of sea mist or the power of Zen spice. Besides all the tempting bars, balls, and molded shapes, there are recipes for bath salts, massage oils, sachets, potpourris, and dusting powder. Pamper yourself with these indulgent creations, or if you can bear to give some away, follow the lovely packaging ideas or assemble gift-giving collections of related items. --Amy Handy

From Library Journal

With the rise of interest in aromatherapy and natural fragrances, homemade soap has increased in popularity. Herbs and essential oils play a large part in the finished products in both of these books, whose authors have written other books on soapmaking. Browning's melt-and-pour projects use commercially available soap bases that can be melted in a microwave or double boiler and scented and molded to suit the maker's taste. Her recipes include bath salts and oils as well as soaps. Maine has a natural soap business and makes everything from scratch. She offers instructions and formulas for all types of soap, including bath soap, shampoo, pet soaps, and even poison ivy remedies. Both books are recommended for public libraries.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 128 pages
• Publisher: Sterling; illustrated edition edition (June 30, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0806929987
• ISBN-13: 978-0806929989
• Product Dimensions: 10.1 x 8.9 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (25 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #80,083 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

27 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful book, plus tons of great info., January 17, 2002

By 

R. K. Miske (Monument, co USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Melt & Pour Soapmaking (Hardcover)

I was specifically looking for a book with ideas for Melt & Pour, since I'm not interested in messing around with Lye. This book was everything I was looking for and more! The projects will give you a lot of ideas for melt and pour, plus there are some fairly simple recipes for hand-milled soaps. And as a bonus, there are projects for bath salts, lotions, etc.

This books is everything you need to make your own spa product line!

18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wow, a great MP book!, March 29, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Melt & Pour Soapmaking (Hardcover)

I just got mine today and I love it! I can't wait to start making some of her beautiful soaps. There are not very many great MP books out there but Marie Browning has 2! This along with my copy of Kaila Westerman's Melt and Mold book, are my two favorites so far! I absolutely recomend this book for soapers of all levels, even if yu just look at the pictures! This book also includes many recipes for other toiletry items- salts, oils, bombs, milk baths and more. She also has many gift baskey and packaging ideas. It is just a beautiful book, worth every penny!!!

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars COULDN'T BE BETTER!!! =), October 31, 2001

By 

"choppsueii" (Kent, WA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Melt & Pour Soapmaking (Hardcover)

I really love this book & simply can't say enough about it!

It's a very simple, easy, & fun read. It's an extremly user-friently book. It's written well and it's thorough enough that you won't have any worries or unanswered question. Also, there are beautiful & helpful pictures on nearly every page! With each recipe you'll know what the end goal is and what it should look like!

It also contains detailed information on natural additives, fragrance oils & aromatherapy, soap bases, soapmaking tools, plus directions for other bath products (bath salts, fizzies, bubble baths, powders, tea baths, bath & massage oils and potpourri). Many packaging and gift ideas are given too.

I've gone through dozens of soap making books trying to find the right one, and I don't have to look any further! Neither do you. This book is well worth the price. I hope you choose this book because I'm quite sure you won't be diappointed. =)