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Soapmaker's Companion: A Comprehensive Guide with Recipes, Techniques & Know-How (Natural Body Series - The Natural Way to Enhance Your Life)
 
 
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Soapmaker's Companion: A Comprehensive Guide with Recipes, Techniques & Know-How (Natural Body Series - The Natural Way to Enhance Your Life) (Paperback)

by Susan Miller Cavitch (Author) "Before jumping into new ideas, some old ones are worth reviewing..." (more)
Key Phrases: Special Instructions, The Natural Soap Book, Stained-Glass Soap (more...)
4.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (69 customer reviews)

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Frequently Bought Together

Soapmaker's Companion: A Comprehensive Guide with Recipes, Techniques & Know-How (Natural Body Series - The Natural Way to Enhance Your Life) + Smart Soapmaking: The Simple Guide to Making Traditional Handmade Soap Quickly, Safely, and Reliably, or How to Make Luxurious Handcrafted Soaps for Family, Friends, and Yourself + Milk Soapmaking: The Smart and Simple Guide to Making Lovely Milk Soap From Cow Milk, Goat Milk, Buttermilk, Cream, Coconut Milk, or Any Other Animal or Plant Milk
Price For All Three: $35.39

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Editorial Reviews

Product Description
Basic soapmaking instruction and specialty techniques like marbling, layering, and making transparent and liquid soaps.

From the Back Cover
The most comprehensive guide to soapmaking ever!

From the author of the best-selling The Natural Soap Book comes this illustrated guide to making over 40 specialty soaps -- from exquisite stained-glass, marbled, and layered soaps to soothing masseuse bars, hardworking laundry soap, and practical liquid soaps.

Through clear, step-by-step instructions, master soapmaker Susan Miller Cavitch leads you through every step of the soapmaking process and teaches you how to:
*craft exotic and practical soaps in your home
* blend and use essential oils and natural colorants
* design multi-colored, marbled, and imprinted soaps
* understand the chemistry of soapmaking and create your own personal bars

Plus, you'll get tips on how to get started selling soaps!

See all Editorial Reviews


Product Details

  • Paperback: 288 pages
  • Publisher: Storey Publishing, LLC (January 7, 1997)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0882669656
  • ISBN-13: 978-0882669656
  • Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 7.9 x 1 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (69 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.com Sales Rank: #14,312 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

    Popular in these categories: (What's this?)

    #3 in  Books > Home & Garden > Crafts & Hobbies > Soap Making
    #5 in  Books > Health, Mind & Body > Beauty & Fashion > Cosmetics
    #5 in  Books > Science > Chemistry > Industrial & Technical

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Customer Reviews

69 Reviews
5 star:
 (34)
4 star:
 (19)
3 star:
 (11)
2 star:
 (4)
1 star:
 (1)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
4.2 out of 5 stars (69 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
60 of 61 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars THE "must-have" book on Soapmaking for beginners to pros!, May 4, 1999
By A Customer
This is one of my favorite books I've found on the wonderful, newly found hobby of mine - Soapmaking!

The author does a brilliant job of combining the must-have step-by-step detailed instructions on soapmaking basics for beginners, with the best list and descriptions of all soapmaking ingredients!

Beginners and experts alike will enjoy the many tried and true recipes, even specialty soaps! It also covers the "Chemistry of soapmaking", including tables for making your own recipes! She even has a section on starting up your own business to sell your handmade soap creations! And it is all put together in an easy to understand and follow format, for us beginners, or "dummys" in soapmaking!

The only reason that I rated this book at "4 stars", instead of "5 stars" is because it does not include any pictures (and I LOVE pictures!)- only the hand-drawn illustrations in green ink, as is the print, featured throughout the book. She does use alot of fragrances & different oils in her soap recipes, but includes a list of buying resources in the back.

This, along with my other favorite book on soapmaking, "The Complete Soapmaker", by Norma Coney, (full of beautiful pictures!)which features mostly "hand-milled" or rebatched soaps, are the ones I find myself going to time and time again for reference and inspiration!

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208 of 231 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars comprehensive with some serious limitations, September 15, 1999
By A Customer
It really is too bad that the author published her first book before anyone else could publish something with more accurate and flexible information, because she is now regarded as an expert in the soapmaking realm. Some basic problems with Cavitch are logistical and procedural. No one has to weigh water, no one needs to use some of the ingredients she calls for in every single recipe, such as grapefruit seed extract. Her recipes call for GSE because her overly superfatted soaps will go rancid without addition of this preservative. Why does she superfat so greatly? Some speculate she had a lousy scale and poor math skills in terms of calculating amounts of lye and accurate fat measurements back when she was learning this craft, and never bothered to perfect her science nor correct the recipe problems (and if you can get it in print and people buy it, well, you must be doing something right), it certainly is a logical reason for the way she does things. Cavitch is a good example of a good resource with serious limitations, she's done her homework on vegetable-based oils/fats and you get all kinds of great info on these, but it's clear she never researched thoroughly enough to make statements on things like the use of animal fats, using a stick blender rather than spoon for stirring to trace, etc. Soaping isn't rocket science, but it isn't a very strict methodology either, and there are far better resources on the web and mailing lists therein, where one can learn much more than this book promises, with a multitude of perspectives and approaches. Please don't buy into the hype and buy this book.
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42 of 43 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Undoubtedly the best book for beginners -- bar none., March 18, 2001
By Jan Bednarczuk (Columbus, OH) - See all my reviews
If you are a beginning soapmaker, there is no other book you should buy. Other books have helpful information; this book, however, compiles all the information you need into one helpful guide. It has frequently asked questions, lists properties of oils, discusses colorants and scents, and explains the chemical process that occurs. If you have never made soap before, it is an incredibly useful guide.

I have read some of the criticisms in the other reviews, and I must disagree with some of them. I did not find most of her recipes to be unduly expensive to make; those that are can easily be avoided by the soapmaker on a budget. Furthermore, I rarely use the recipe section of the book; I use her formulas and the other information she provides to construct my own recipes instead. Also, I disagree that a 10% fat discount (which she typically recommends) is way too much. Some people choose to use a lesser fat discount, and that is fine; for the beginning soapmaker, I think it might be better to provide more of a margin of safety. Once you are more experienced, you can experiment with lowering the fat discount if that's what you prefer.

Really, a beginning soapmaker cannot do better than this book. It compiles all the information you need. Once you are more experienced, you will do well to explore other sources of information (there are some good resources on the Internet, and some other decent soapmaking books as well), but if you are a beginner, Cavitch is definitely the place to start.

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Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars The Soapmaker's Comapanion
I am very please that the book arrived promply, I would purchace from the seller again. Thank you very much and keep up the good work.
Published 7 days ago by Perla Gosselin

5.0 out of 5 stars Very informative book
This book has exactly what a new soapmaker needs: well written explanations of the chemistry of soapmaking, easy to understand, so anyone can successfully experiment to develop... Read more
Published 2 months ago by N. McHone

3.0 out of 5 stars Not for beginners!
This book is filled with good information about making soap. But I would definitely not recommend it for a beginner! Read more
Published 4 months ago by L. Steadman

3.0 out of 5 stars A Timeless Classic!
There is a lot of helpful information within these pages. Every wanna-be-soapmaker should read this book. That doesn't mean that I think it's excellent for beginner's. Read more
Published 7 months ago by L. Hastings

5.0 out of 5 stars The Soapmaker's Companion
I absolutely LOVE this book! It really is a soapmaker's "Bible". It is very easy to read and is organized in a way that you really can get started right away. Read more
Published 9 months ago by A. Frayser

3.0 out of 5 stars Methods are Dated
I really enjoy this book for ideas and inspiration. She has some truly wonderful soaping ideas in here, and I love just browsing through it. Read more
Published 10 months ago by G. M. MCNAIR

5.0 out of 5 stars Great guide to making soap at home
I found her information very helpful and clear. My mother also uses this book and is the one who suggested it to me. Read more
Published 15 months ago by Jaime Hope

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Soapmaking Book for Beginners and Experienced Soapmakers
The Soapmakers Companion has been in print for more than ten years now. My copy of this book is worn and stained from many soapmaking sessions. Read more
Published 15 months ago by Winsome Tapper

5.0 out of 5 stars Good teacher
I've been making soap for some time and have enjoyed this book immensely. It has lots of good suggestions and tons of excellent recipes.
Published 17 months ago by D. Tuggle

3.0 out of 5 stars Some good advice for novice soapmakers, with limitations
I am only just getting into soapmaking and found this book to be comprehensive and interesting for the most part. Read more
Published 19 months ago by Helen

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