Hobby & Craft Forums

Hi,

I am new here and have been reading this section with interest. I do lots of crafts with children but would like to do some simple soap making as well.
As its with children it would need to be fairly simple so i am thinking melt and pour (please dont shout at me for mentioning M&P). I have looked online but its so confusing as there is so much information.

I was wondering if any of you lovely people could give me any help. I have done some simple soap making before with my daughter using M&P, with colour and fragrance we made simple shapes in moulds, but i would like to do more.

I would like to make other things with initially my daughter who will be 10 so can anyone give me some help of where to go from here please.

What else can i make? (ie: other soap ideas, bubble bath etc)
How do i make it?
Is there any online tutorials i should look at?
Where is the best place to buy supplies from?

I would really appreciate all and any help you can give me.

Thank you in advance x

Hi, Welcome to the forum.

I cannot answer questions about M & P as we do not make it.

However, we do run courses on CP & HP and our insurance will not cover us for under 18s.

Most recipes do require using heat and warm/hot oils so do check your insurance before embarking on working with children.

Hi and welcome to the forum,

We sell M&P soap kits (as well as a large range of other kits for making bath and body products) - have a look on the site and please feel free to email me if you need help deciding.

http://www.bath-bomb.com

Judi

Thank you so much for your replies i really appreciate you taking time to answer.

The reason i asked about M&P is because some recipes i have seen for soap making contain caustic soda which i wouldnt use with children so i am trying to be responsible and find alternatives, Being new to soap making i apologise for my ignorance but i am keen to learn.

Jane, I wanted to find a soap making course for me next year, so thank you for the link and help. Also you are local to me which is brilliant!

judi , Thank you so much for the link, i am really interested in the kits.

Kits would be great as it is for girls, and i have seen some party kits online but id like for them to make some fun things as well.

Again thank you for your replies, i look forward to seeing if any one can help. I think i may be lurking here alot!

partylady wrote:Thank you so much for your replies i really appreciate you taking time to answer.

The reason i asked about M&P is because some recipes i have seen for soap making contain caustic soda which i wouldnt use with children so i am trying to be responsible and find alternatives, Being new to soap making i apologise for my ignorance but i am keen to learn.

Jane, I wanted to find a soap making course for me next year, so thank you for the link and help. Also you are local to me which is brilliant!

judi , Thank you so much for the link, i am really interested in the kits.

Kits would be great as it is for girls, and i have seen some party kits online but id like for them to make some fun things as well.

Again thank you for your replies, i look forward to seeing if any one can help. I think i may be lurking here alot!

In my expereince as a small child.. just about any "plittering" (messing about with "stuff"!!) was pretty entertaining!!

I think you are right about avoiding CP soaps with younger folk - the risk is just far too high and it would be irresponsible.. But I do remember my aunt used to save all the little end bits of soaps, then once a year she would melt them all down and recast a big bar from them.. some bits were grated and chopped , others aloowed to melt in to an amorphous goo.. the resulting bars were a bit like terrazzo.. and you never knew quite what colours or effects you might get.. Although this was an exonomy excercise, the kids loved helping, and used to find odd shaped containers to mould the new bars in! I am sure you can find instructions on the safest method to do this with any leftovers you collect, and it is a less risky way of using Lye based soaps as the soda will have been neutralised already, but will still need adult supervision due to the melting process.

I also posted on anothe thread in candlemaking section, my mum used to save up all the candle stubs and every so often we had a session making our own candles from all the bits!

There seems to be a huge resurgence of interest in the skills our grannies took for granted, our parents for the most part forgot.. and I think it is great that kids learn how things are made, where they come from, and the "value" of something made by a person rather than a machine.. We are heading towards times where perhaps disposable and cheap things are going to come to an end, and teaching kids to recycle in a fun and profitable way is a great start I think.

Hi partylady and welcome,

I first got into soap making when my children got soap making kits last christmas and we all made them together. It was great fun, I enjoyed it just as much as the kids and we didn't have to wait long to see the results of our making.

Judi's kits are a great way to get started. I would recommend getting one or some even.

There is nothing wrong with melt and pour soap either.

Absolutely! Melt and pour is fab for kids and by far the easiest method to get them started...maybe start out with some kits and then move onto bigger quantities bought seperately. I think it's a fab thing to do with kids and gives them a sense of making something which people can actually use.

Hi,

I apologise for the late reply, i dont want you to think i am ignorant,its just been a busy time!

Thank you so much for all the replies, all are appreciated. I think Melt and Por would be easier to start with for children, but i would like to do fun shapes or something cute as it is for 10 yr old girls, any ideas on this?

Where could i find some nice moulds, such as love hearts with words in them?
I have some smaller shape moulds but really want some bigger ones.

I a very interested in doing a soap making course myself so all information for any close to me are appreciated. (I am in Leicestershire).

Thank you again for all your help.

We run CP courses in Leicestershire - we are just putting our 2010 agenda together.

I will post when all details are available.

Which part of Leics are you in?

This is the best range of moulds I can find http://www.dennycraftmoulds.co.uk/ although he is not open until next Tuesday now.