Finding Inspiration Everywhere

Inspiration is a complicated creature. It can be striking, flighty, or seemingly gone.

When inspired, you may experience the light, happy feeling of creative spark. Or you may be thunderstruck by an idea and unable to concentrate on much else.

When uninspired, you may feel anxious and search restlessly for something to set your imagination afire. Or you may feel sad and empty, hoping that the muse finds you soon.

Sometimes inspiration is fleeting, like something you can feel brushing your palm but can never quite grasp. Sometimes inspiration seems nowhere to be found.

Other times inspiration is so abundant that it is difficult to take it all in. You may find yourself overwhelmed with ideas and scribbling furiously in a notebook to keep track of all of the brilliance unfolding around you. Such inspiration is beautiful, but rare.

Sometimes inspiration surprises you. Sometimes you have to go looking for it.

Inspiration is everywhere. That's the great news. If you look for it, you'll see it in a guest bedroom, on a store shelf, and even on the floor.

For the past few weeks, I've been taking photos of objects here and there that I think can inspire my soapmaking. I saw a cluster of candles on the nightstand at my mom and dad's house and thought, "I wonder if I could recreate those layers for a pretty autumn soap?" I saw vases, jars, storage boxes, and potholders while I was out shopping and the designs made me think of gradient layers, spoon swirls, and impressionist swirls. One night I happened to look down at the carpet of a casino and was struck by the thought that its pattern would look gorgeous as droplet swirls.

Here are those photos of everyday items that have inspired me:

Inspiration for layered soaps ...

Gradient layers ...

Spoon swirls ...

Impressionist swirls ...

... And droplet (or teardrop) swirls.

If I find myself needing an idea for a new project, I can refer back to these photos and hopefully feel a surge of creativity.

So make it a point to seek out inspiration wherever you go. Write it down when you find it. Or take photos. Sometimes it is difficult to capture inspiration in a photograph. Sometimes a photo will reveal much more than you remember seeing. Other times you'll just look like a weirdo snapping pictures of the floor. But it's always good to look for beauty in the world.

Where do you find inspiration, my soapy friends?

Favorite Soapmaking Books ... and More

Whether you're a brand-new soapmaker or a seasoned pro, it's likely that one thing you can't get enough of is soaping books.

As an excited newbie soapmaker, I went in search of every soaping book in existence. (And I bought most of them, too.) Now that I'm nearly four years into my soapmaking journey, I've amassed quite a stash of books. And when I hear about a new soap book, I have to check it out. The great thing about this hobby is that I feel like I am constantly learning and getting new ideas. There is never a shortage of information or inspiration in the soapmaking community.

A lot of my soapmaking knowledge comes from books, but books are just the tip of the iceberg. There are so many other helpful resources - websites, blogs, YouTube channels, and online forums - that I have found along the way, and I keep finding new ones all the time.

So, here a few of my favorite books that soapmakers of all levels will enjoy:

300 Handcrafted Soaps: Great Melt & Pour Projects 

by Marie Browning 

This was the very first soapmaking book I ever purchased. A conversation with a friend who was reminiscing about a bar of glycerin soap he had bought for me for Christmas years earlier got me curious about making soap at home. I went to my local bookstore and was lucky enough to find this book on the shelf. Gorgeous color photos adorn nearly every page, and Browning gives great overviews of the craft and various techniques of melt-and-pour soapmaking.

Soapylove: Squeaky-Clean Projects Using Melt and Pour Soap
by Debbie Chialtas
Most folks in the soaping community know Debbie Chialtas - she is a rock star in the world of glycerin soaping and she runs the very successful Soapylove enterprise. This book is super user-friendly, and it is also a treat for the eyes. Chialtas walks readers through 25 melt-and-pour projects, and each tutorial is accompanied by plenty of color photos so that even the newest soap crafter feels empowered to give it a go. Every project is bright, fun, and a work of art.

The Everything Soapmaking Book
by Alicia Grosso
This book provides a great overview of various soapmaking techniques, including cold process, hot process, melt-and-pour (or soap-casting), handmilling, and making liquid, transparent, and cream soaps. Grosso provides several recipes for each method, and she also covers basics like equipment, additives, fragrance and essential oils, and color. She also briefly touches on packaging and starting a soap business.

The Soapmaker's Companion
by Susan Miller Cavitch
The subtitle of this book is "A Comprehensive Guide with Recipes, Techniques, & Know-How," and it certainly is that. Cavitch's book delves deeply into the cold process soapmaking method. In Part I, readers are treated to more than 30 recipes as well as an in-depth view of the basics. Cavitch provides step-by-step soapmaking instructions and explores oils and their properties, natural colorants, and fragrance; she also gives troubleshooting tips and answers to more than forty common soapmaking questions. Part II explores the science and chemistry of soapmaking, explaining everything from SAP values to saponification at the atomic level. Finally, Part III offers advice on starting a soap business and connecting with the soapmaking community.

Smart Soapmaking
by Anne L. Watson
Before I made my first batch of cold-process soap, I read through a bunch of books, blogs, and websites, and, quite frankly, my head was spinning. And then I found this handy little book. In it, Watson demystifies soapmaking, boiling the process down to the key need-to-know facts, which was reassuring and empowering. Instead of feeling overwhelmed with information, I felt like I had a solid road map to see me through my first batch. In simple but precise terms, Watson explains what soap is and how to make it. She offers clear step-by-step instructions and some of her favorite recipes, and she also answers some frequently asked questions and dispels some common soapmaking myths. If you are interested in making milk soaps, I recommend checking out Watson's Milk Soapmaking, which is laid out in a similar format.

Basic Soapmaking: All the Skills and Tools You Need to Get Started
by Elizabeth Letcavage and Patsy Buck
I love this book because it offers clear, simple instructions for the cold process method of soapmaking, and it also has tons of color photos. I am very much a visual learner and I found it so helpful to have a photograph of each step of the process. This book covers basic equipment and ingredients, making cold process soap, additives, rebatching, and packaging. There is even a section devoted to making your own soap molds, liners, and cutters.

Essentially Soap: The Elegant Art of Handmade Soap
by Dr. Robert S. McDaniel
This is one of soapmaking's quintessential books. Dr. McDaniel has his PhD in organic chemistry, and for many years he worked in the field of emulsifiers and detergents. He eventually took up soapmaking and, after much experimentation and conversation with other soapmakers, the book "Essentially Soap" was born. McDaniel explores the chemistry of saponification and includes discussions about INS calculations and SAP values. He also gives instructions for making soap, troubleshooting, and using fragrance and essential oils. More than 25 recipes are also included, and the book is full of color photos. It appears that my copy of "Essentially Soap" is no longer in print - I bought my 2000 edition used online. However, Soap Maker's Workshop by Robert S. and Katherine J. McDaniel was published in 2010 and it appears to be an updated version of "Essentially Soap." (And it comes with a 30-minute instructional DVD, too!)

The Directory of Essential Oils 
by Wanda Sellar
Although this book is not specifically geared toward soapmaking, it does give an excellent overview of more than 80 essential oils. Entries are arranged alphabetically, and each entry offers information about the aroma, properties, and precautions of the essential oil. Sellar also provides insight into the history and folklore of each oil as well as scent blend suggestions. This is a wonderful resource for learning more about essential oils and for getting new ideas about how to use them.

The Art of Soap
Edited by Debbie Chialtas
If you want to drool over some gorgeous soaps made by gifted artisans, spend some time with this book. Debbie Chialtas (the aforementioned owner of Soapylove) edited and published this book, and Erin Pikor (owner of Naiad Soap Arts) took its stunning photos. "The Art of Soap" features the work of 24 soapmakers from around the globe, and each profile includes personal stories and color photos. (If you keep up with the soaping world, you will probably recognize some of the featured soapmakers.) This book is breath-takingly inspiring and a must-read for any soap enthusiast.

Of course, the World Wide Interwebs offers lots of information, too. I would be remiss if I did not mention some of my favorite online resources:

Teach Soap
This website is owned by Bramble Berry and offers tips and tutorials for making soaps and other toiletries. Make sure you also check out the Teach Soap forum to connect with other soapmakers around the world. (And don't forget to visit Bramble Berry's website for tons of fun supplies!)

Soap Queen TV
Anne-Marie from Bramble Berry hosts these fun and informative videos about making soap and other bath-and-body items. (Check out Anne-Marie's Soap Queen blog, too.)

Talk Soap Forum
Steve from Soap Making Resource created this forum to allow soapmakers from all over to connect with each other. (Also drop by Soap Making Resource's website for some great supplies, tutorials, and recipes.)

The Soap Scent Review Board
Ever wish you could research a fragrance or essential oil before using it to see if it has any "issues"? Then get yourself registered here at this board! Members offer reviews based on their experiences with fragrance/essential oils from various vendors, whether they be good or bad.

And, of course, I follow a long list of blogs created by fellow soapmakers. Blogs are wonderful for meeting other soapers, learning new techniques, and gaining inspiration. Check out the sidebar of my blog to see more of my favorite soapy blogs, links, and suppliers.

These are just a few of my favorite soapmaking books and resources. What are some of yours?

What the Heck is Soap?

So, you've seen a few of my soaps here and you've probably seen folks selling soap at craft shows or farmer's markets. Did you ever wonder just how exactly one makes soap from scratch at home? What does one need in order to make soap? And just what the heck is soap anyway?

In a nutshell, soap is made when oils are combined with sodium hydroxide (lye). That's really about it.

Let's expand a bit on that, though. Here's where I lay some chemistry on you. I promise it won't hurt much. To make soap, a chemical reaction has to take place between an acid (the fats and oils in a soap recipe) and a base (a lye solution of sodium hydroxide and water). This chemical reaction, which is called saponification, produces soap and glycerin, a natural by-product of soapmaking.

The chemical structure of a typical soap

The mention of lye can make some people uncomfortable, conjuring images of harsh soaps and irritated skin. The truth is, you cannot make soap without lye. It's just not possible. The good news is that when soap is properly made, there is no lye present in the final product. Great-grandma may have made some lye-heavy batches in her day, and too much lye can certainly make for an unpleasant bar. But soapmaking has come a long way in the past couple of decades and today's soapmakers use things like gram scales and lye calculators to make sure that they are using exactly the right amount of lye to oils.

See, each molecule of sodium hydroxide combines with a molecule of oil. During saponification, triglycerides in the oils break down into fatty acids and glycerols. The fatty acids react with the sodium ions, creating sodium compounds that are better known as soap. (So soap is chemically a salt. Cool, huh?) And where does all of that skin-loving glycerin that I mentioned earlier come from? The newly liberated glycerols react with the hydroxide ions to create glycerin.

Of course, you can't just dump some sodium hydroxide into some oils and get soap. There is a process.

Dig my look?

What does that process look like? First and foremost is safety. Lye is caustic and it must be handled with respect. A speck of lye in your eye will really ruin your day.

Here are the basic safety rules: Suit up with goggles, gloves, long sleeves, long pants, and close-toed shoes. Take care to not breathe the lye fumes. Standing back and running the exhaust fan is usually enough, but wear a painter's or dust mask if you want to. If you get lye or raw soap on yourself, rinse thoroughly with water and then rinse with vinegar. (I always have a spritzer of vinegar handy.) Protect your countertops and appliances, too. I take a tip from Dexter and cover everything with plastic drop cloths. I also lay down paper bags so I have a place to rest my soapy utensils.

A few words about equipment: I use either heavy-duty plastic (polypropylene is my plastic of choice - the kind with the recycling code with the "5" and "PP" on the bottom) or stainless steel for making soap. Never use aluminum, tin, copper, teflon, or any other metals, as they will react badly with lye. I also do not use glass - over time, lye can etch tiny cracks into the glass and one day it may decide to just shatter.

Kitchen prepped for soapmaking

Every soapmaker's process varies, but here's how I do things. I am a mise en place kind of soaper and I like everything out and measured before I get started. First I measure out my oils and butters for my batch size, which is usually two pounds of oils. (I measure everything in grams for greater accuracy.) My basic recipe typically includes olive oil, coconut oil, palm oil (from a sustainable source), shea butter, and/or avocado oil. I like to measure out my oils in separate bowls so I can put some back if I over-measure. Plus, I'm OCD and feel reassured to see four bowls of oils if I'm using four oils in my soap. I gently heat the oils in the microwave to melt them and to get them a bit warmer. When all of my oils are warm and melted, I combine them into one big bowl.

I also like to measure out my fragrance or essential oils and get any colorants ready. I usually use powdered oxides and micas and mix them with a bit of liquid glycerin to work out any clumps.

Next, I get my lye solution ready. As discussed, soap is made through a chemical reaction with oils and sodium hydroxide. You need some sort of liquid, though, to dissolve the sodium hydroxide and to act as a carrier, ensuring that all of the lye gets to the oils. Water (preferably distilled water) is usually used, but beer, wine, fruit juices, milks (goat's milk being a particular favorite), etc. can also be used in place of the water. I keep my liquids in the fridge so that the lye solution doesn't get too hot. To make the lye solution, I measure out my lye flakes into a cup, and then slowly sprinkle my lye flakes into my cold liquid, stirring as I go. NEVER ADD WATER TO LYE - ALWAYS ADD LYE TO WATER. The lye solution usually heats up to about 165 degrees F when I start with cold liquids, and I like the temperature to be more like 100-110 degrees before I combine it with the oils. So, I always make sure I have an ice bath waiting in the sink so I can rest my lye container in the frigid water, thus cooling it down faster. After about 10-15 minutes of stirring my lye solution in the ice bath, it's cool enough to add to my oils.

Adding lye flakes to water (inside a dishpan in case of any spills); stirring lye solution in ice bath

Some soapmakers wait until "trace" (something I'll explain in a moment) before adding fragrance or essential oils, but I usually go ahead and add my fragrance to the oils once they've cooled down to about 110 degrees or so. I do this for a couple of reasons. First, this way I won't forget to add it. Second, if my fragrance is finicky, the oils will give me a bit of a buffer against seizing, ricing, or acceleration.

Adding lye solution to oils; emulsifying lye and oils with stick blender

When both my oils and my lye solution are somewhere around 100-110 degrees, I slowly add the lye solution to the oils, stirring as I go. To help speed things along, I use a stick blender to mix and emulsify the soap batter.

Look closely. See the trails of soap on the surface? That's trace.

How do you know when to pour?

Soapmakers look for something called "trace." Trace occurs when the soap batter is completely emulsified and will not separate into a watery, oily mess. How do you test for trace? Dip a spoon or spatula into the soap and dribble a bit on top. If the dribbles leave a trail of soap that stays on the surface for a couple of moments before sinking back into the batter, that's trace. Trace can be light or heavy, depending on how long you mix it and what consistency you want. Lighter trace is good for swirling, heavier trace is good for layering.

Once I've reach my desired level of trace, I pour my soap into my mold. Some molds (like silicone, plastic or acrylic) don't need to be lined, but others (like wooden molds) do. To line a mold, I use freezer paper with the shiny side facing in.

Freshly poured soap in the mold

Once the soap is in the mold, I pop a lid on it and insulate it with a couple of towels. I like for my soaps to go through gel phase, which is a part of the saponification process in which the soap heats up and becomes rather gelatinous. After 24 hours, gel phase is complete and the soap can be cut. Soap doesn't have to go through gel phase to become soap. Some soapers purposely avoid gelling by popping the soap into the fridge or freezer because they like the color or texture of ungelled soaps better. Ungelled soap still saponifies, it just takes a few days longer.

After about 4-6 weeks of curing time, the soaps are ready to use!

And that's pretty much it! Now you know the basics of soapmaking. I hope it was interesting!

Until next time ...