Soap Maker's Workshop: The Art and Craft of Natural Homemade Soap

by Robert S. McDaniel, Katherine J. McDaniel

Indulge in the luxury of homemade natural soaps!

Preserve the timeless craft of artisan soap making using Soap Maker's Workshop . As you enter the world of hand-crafted soap, you'll discover its moisturizing, glycerin-rich, cleansing and soothing benefits--all-natural soap without added chemicals, preservatives or synthetic fragrances and colorants. Commercial soaps found at local stores can contain chemical additives that not only dry out skin, but also lead to rashes and other irritations due to synthetic additives and the removal of glycerin.

The bonus DVD takes you step-by-step through the soap-making process. Dr. McDaniel will teach you

   • Use everyday kitchenware for at-home soap making
   • Set up a safe workspace environment
   • Prepare lye, oils and water to make perfect homemade soap
Filled with 30 recipes and multiple soap-making techniques, Soap Maker's Workshop offers instructions for making bar and liquid soaps, shampoos and more. Using coconut oil for a rich lather, palm oil for a longer-lasting bar, olive oil for soft smooth skin, and natural botanical essential oils and herbs for aromatherapy benefits--you'll never want to leave the shower!

Genres: Nonfiction, Crafts

160 pages, Paperback

First published June 9, 2010

Reviews

[Dee · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a good book for beginners nervous about the process of making soap, and it includes a video to show how cold process id done.

There are many, many more recipes available for free online; in fact, everything in this book can be found online for free, and there are YouTube videos, as well. Still, it's a comfort to have as a quick reference, and the homey style of this long-married couple is an added joy.

Google "Soap Calc" to figure out/adjust any recipes, or to size batches differently (the recipes included make at least 5 pounds, which is a lot of soap), or design your own! But start here to gain an understanding of fixed oil properties, INS numbers, & iodine and saponification values. Don't be afraid of these terms if they seem foreign; you needn't be a chemist to make lovely, non-chemical soap, and McDaniel quickly helps build confidence.

There are, however, too many recipes reliant upon palm oil, the farming and harvesting of which is destroying world rain forests, causing the burning deaths over 600,000 orangutans, their habitats, and some people,too. Palm oil is bad for us to ingest but it's in just about everything, not only foods (read ingredient labels and think "Crisco," for example) but also soaps, beauty products, and much, much more. People shy away from soaps made with beef tallow or lard from pigs, as traditionally soaps have been made, but even non-meat eaters should respect that if cows and pigs are slaughtered for food, then all parts should be used, as native Americans used buffalo. And soap can be made without animal fats or palm oil--but this book has only three such recipes, which is a shame.

[Dee · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was an excellent book for anyone who makes soap or just wants to make it someday. It's clear, easy to read, has plenty of pictures to show you exactly what your soap should look like at benchmarks throughout the process. The same cannot be said for many other books I've read on the subject! This is a must own book for anyone seriously working in the soapmaking craft. The recipes in the back are simple, many with only 3 or 4 ingredients, though others are a bit more complex. A DVD come with the book, which I cannot comment on as I've yet to view it, but it's a video on the entire process of making a batch of soap. Once I've finished the text part of the book and devoured the recipes, making notes here and there, I'll be sure to watch the video, even if I've already made many batches of soap, it helps to watch others to see how they work and if my own technique can be improved. This is a learning curve and Mcdaniel's book is certainly taking it up a great deal!

[Melissa · Rating 5 out of 5]

I saw this at the library and picked it up, and now I totally want to buy this book. The included DVD was extremely informative, also.

[Barbara · Rating 4 out of 5]

This provides chapters on soap making the old fashioned way with lye or easier and simpler methods without lye. It gave me hope that I could actually do this. Many pictures and recipes for beautiful soaps that are so inspiring. Also gives you tips on where to purchase the products for soap making and safety is always first!

[Megan · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was all right, but it didn't have anything new in it for me. Not even any new recipes I'm excited to try. The pictures and layout weren't especially attractive, either. If I were introducing someone to soapmaking, I'd still point them to a few good blogs over this volume, unfortunately.

[Nicole · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book contains lots of useful facts for the beginner soapmaker, interesting techniques and very helpful things to watch out for if the soap goes wrong. As I got this at the library i only had it a short time, but this is a book that is on my to-buy list because I see that in the future I would like to refer to it again and again.

[February Four · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really appreciate the slant towards chemistry and experimentation.

[Alison · Rating 2 out of 5]

I didn't learn as much as I thought I would, even as a beginner. I just don't think this was the right book for me.