All About Natural Soap

More and more people are experiencing the pleasures of crafting natural soap for use in the home. Handmade natural soap a joy to use, and when making soap yourself you can be certain to use only top-notch natural ingredients. Your family will enjoy your natural soaps and your friends will be clamoring for your soap, too. Your holiday and birthday gift lists may be taken care of for years to come! Not only that, the natural soap making process is easy and pleasurable, too.

Before we describe the process of natural soap making, here's a little history. Until about a century ago, all soap was made from animal fats, and much of it was made at home. Families would save the lard and from butchering animals to make soap. However, in 1916, the first synthetic soap, or detergent, was made. This occurred because of a shortage of animal fats due to World War I. From that point on, synthetic soaps became popular with women eager to free themselves from yet another exhausting household chore.

Today, however, we not only understand the process of natural soap making better, there are a wide variety of natural oils and ingredients available. Making handmade natural soap has never been easier, and you don't have to use animal fats to do it.

What makes natural soap so wonderful? Handmade natural soaps contain more glycerin than commercial products. Glycerin softens the skin and attracts moisture to it. In the commercial soap-making process, much of the glycerin is extracted from the soap to be sold as a valuable separate ingredient. Also, large commercial manufacturers rarely use natural products in their soap preparations.

So, now that you are convinced you'd like to try your hand at natural soap making, where is the best place to begin? Gather instructions and ingredients, which are widely available in both local stores and on the internet. Once you have your natural soap making supplies ready, it is time to study the natural soap making process. You can use any of the following processes:

• Cold Process. A favorite of many home soap makers. Many kits following this method are available.
• Semi-boiled. Heating in a double boiler.
• Full boiled. All ingredients are combined in one large container.
• Melt and Pour. A good place to start for the beginner. With this method, glycerin blocks are melted and poured into soap molds. However, be aware that glycerin does not solidify naturally and requires the addition of chemicals to get it set in the blocks. Many glycerin blocks do have natural oils and other ingredients added to them, however, but read labels carefully.

Once you have experienced the joy of natural soap making and the pure luxury of always having handmade natural soap on hand, you will never want to return to commercial soap preparations. Of course, if making natural soap is simply too much for you, there are many small soap companies who make wonderful natural soap. Check out local boutiques, craft fairs, or the internet to find these soap makers.