The Soap Making Equipment You Need

It is possible to make soap at home using utensils already found in your kitchen. To get a fairly good idea of the sort of soap making supplies you’ll be needing, keep in mind that soap is the product of blending fats (or oils) and lye (or some other caustic alkali) solution. Thus your basic list of apparatus should be something like this:

1. Containers for your ingredients which are mainly lye, oils, and water
2. Stainless steel boiling pot
3. Mixing bowl
4. Wooden spoons or sticks for stirring
5. Molding trays
6. Clean cloths or rags
7. Digital scale

Don’t make tin and aluminum utensils or containers part of your soap making supplies. They easily corrode when they come into contact with lye.

Other items, which may seem incidental at first, but which may prove to be crucial at some point include such items as eye protection gear, mitt or potholders, thermometer, measuring spoons or cups, and litmus paper for testing the lye content or pH of your soap.

Should your hobby evolve into an enterprise, or if you originally had bulk production in mind, you would probably have to invest in additional equipment, such as a blender or amalgamator for mixing your lye and oils, and possibly machinery for cutting soap bars and packaging.

The method of production you’ll be employing will most likely be the most common one, cold process. But in case you choose to go the hot process way, you may want to use a crockpot to quicken your output. These two start-from-scratch techniques of soap making are nearly identical, except that one requires cooking your mixture and adding enhancers at a latter phase of the process.

Soap Making Safety Equipment

Considering that you will be using lye with both the cold and hot processes, it is important that you have the proper safety equipment. You will need safety goggles that seal completely onto your face and rubber glove to protect your hands. You may also want to get a lab coat or apron for added protection.

Sources of Soap Making Supplies

How or where do you get your soap making supplies? Finding them is mostly a matter of applying common sense and being resourceful. Some utensils are already to be found in the kitchen, as mentioned earlier, and you may improvise or reuse old items lying around the house (e.g. stick for stirring the lye-oil mixture).

Most of the other items may be obtained from various retailers and dealers. Item such as essential oils, carrier oils, and other additives are also sold in specialty stores. Stick blenders, crockpots, and similar items may be purchased from appliance stores and industrial suppliers.

Not to forget, of course, the Internet as a convenient source of your soap making supplies. There are numerous Web sites from which you can order soap making supplies for your home-based undertaking. Some of the items you need may be just a few clicks away.