Fresholi | Melting Pot Café

Hello folks..........I am new to the forum and even newer to soap making. I made my first batch of cold process soap last night, from one of the kits off the internet. It is about 24hrs since and I am itching to see if it is OK!

I have two children, a boy aged 5 and a girl aged 3. They take up soooooo much of my time but I am determined to do something for myself at last.

All I can think about is soap. It's all I talk about and is driving my hubby round the bend ha ha. I think I may at last have found my creative passion. :idea: I do hope the batch is not a flop.

Anyway, I may be back with lots of questions. I hope you don't get sick of me once I start. The forum seems so friendly.  

Merry christmas                    
love Jane x

Hiya Jane! enjoy ur time here!!!  :hi:

Hi Jane  :hi:
Welcome, and I hope you have as much fun here as I do.
I think about soap all the time too - if you've read the threads, you'll realise I'm not very good, but I enjoy it.  Your hubby will soon reach the stage where he just glazes over so I shouldn't worry about it.  :D
Jo

Hello Jane,

A warm welcome to the forum (the others are a little crazy but I'm ok   ::) *whistle*).  How wonderful that you are doing something for YOU (very important when you have little ones (I have two so I know  ;)).

I know that feeling of wanting to just get your first batch un-moulded, sliced up and lathered....  I myself am a newbie to soaping but there are some far more experienced peeps here that are a wealth of information.  We merge our skills really well here and my goodness, the questions I and others have asked - so don't worry about questions...  Its what its all about (sharing information).

At least now you have folks that you can talk about soap with (hubby may well be pleased  :mwaha:)

Anyway, a big welcome and thank you for posting a bit about yourself.  It's always nice to know a little bit about new members

PS.  A merry christmas to you too!!   ;D

Liar liar pants on fire.  :P  I'm not hijacking this thread 'cos Mum's about.  ;D

Too right Jojo!

Hello Jane, I hope you can manage to put up with this lot, they can get a bit unruly.

However they are very helpful with answers to queries re soap, lotions and potions.

Dirty rotten lies Jane.  :mwaha:

*whispers* Only when 'mum' is not around  ;)  :mwaha:

Thanks for the warm welcome from all of you ladies. I am off now to check out my soap. I will let you know how it goes!

Bye for now

Ooh!  Let us know Jane  ;D

Hi Jane, hope you enjoy being part of the forum!

Let us know how the soap turns out?!?

Its all true Jane....I however, am very tame and meek and mild  :mwaha:

Lot of burning pants around tonight.  ;D

Hi Jane, so how is the first batch???
We would love to know (I/we are very nosey)
Welcome here and ask all the questions you want, someone is sure to come around to answer.
I make CP and dabble in HP soap, if I can help I will

Hi Jane...welcome to the forum and your new addiction... :)

Welcome to the forum and good luck with your soapmaking adventures :pot:

Chrissie & 8 Gorgeous Guineas

ooooh my soap looks wonderful :woohoo:. I made a lavender one....not sure why really cause i'm not that mad on the smell!! Daft, eh?

I have sliced it up into small chunks, put it on my 'no longer for cakes' baking tray and it is sitting in the spare room. I hope it's ok cause it looks great. Suppose that means very little though if I end up with flaky skin. Ha ha.

I know i've got to leave it for a bit but i'm desperate to make some more now. I thought I might try a bar for my little girl. Her skin is so dry so i will need one that suits her skin type.

Because I bought a kit I have no ingredients left now. I was wondering if any of you ladies have tips as to where to buy the raw ingredients. I've looked at hundreds of sites, some wholesale and I am just stumped for which to choose, to be honest. What I would like to do is get the oils, fats, lye, EO etc from one website, iff possible, to cut costs.  

I'm so excited. Like a child in a toy shop really!


Bye for now

  Jane x

Well done Jane  :woohoo:

Lye=Caustic Soda= Drain Cleaner from ironmongers/hardware shop/B&Q (check the label, it will probably say 98%, according to other forums that's OK).

You can get the rest from the Fresholi shop

Wilkinson's is where I get lye from. It's quite cheap there. I also saw it in Boots, but forgot to look at the price.

It is possible to get some oils from actual shops rather than over the internet (depending on where you live). I'm up North, and find Booths to be best for cheap olive oil, and Morrisons to be good for range of oils. I get coconut oil from my local(ish) organic food shop, and could probably also get it from the nearby Indian food shop.

I get all of my butters from here. Paying for postage really annoys me (in general - this site is as good as any. And including postage in the prices wouldn't improve matters - you're still paying for it!), but the prices here seem fine, and the cocoa butter just smells so yummy! It always arrives impressively quickly, too.

Olive oil is supposed to be very gentle, so it could be a good choice for sensitive skin. You're supposed to use the lowest grade you can find, I think - extra virgin is said to be less suitable than bog standard stuff. I've only done one olive oil soap, and that didn't turn out well (top tip - don't add honey, even though you just know it's going to make their sensitive skin feel lovely. Honey's renowned for causing problems, and it certainly caused me some!), but I shall be doing another one very shortly, as I'm almost out of palm oil.

Ooh - almost forgot. Look on the internet for a local bee-keeper type place and call them to see if they'll sell you any beeswax. My last lot from my local place was lovely and cheap, and smells absolutely gorgeous!

Hi Jane, I remember those first days... weeks... umm, months of soaping when I couldn't think about anything else than soap. I dreamed about it and I even took a few days off from my job to make soap  :D Soap took my heart but luckily I'm no longer in that kind of soap psychosis I was those days. I hope your situation is not that serious ;)

Anyway, reading your post brought those days back to my mind. It was like first love :)

Awww thankyou to all for those useful comments. Abi, (that is my litt girls name too) I do know a couple of Bee- keepers actually, and my husband even once said he might like to try keeping them. I will have to give him a nudge and then we can really become a team in the making of soaps!

Don't mean to sound dumb.......ooopps i feel it though....but what would I use the wax for, please put me out of my misery! I am very keen to learn.

I appreciate all the advice, I genuinely do.

Take care

Jane x

The wax is good in balms, ointments, massage bars, lip balms and protective creams.  I'm not much help on the soaping front though  :)

Soap with honey and beeswax is lovely!

Tricky though apparently (like I know  :mwaha:)

HI Jane welcome to the mad house and to soaping, lye i get from the SK but i buy in bulk,

there are lots of sites out there to chose from to get your oils, eo's fo's,
if you want to do a soap for your daughter try an unscented calendula soap.

by the way you have to post pics of your first soap,