subject: Bring Out Your Inner Artist With Soap Making [print this page] There are many ways on how you can spend your free time. You can try doing some sports, sleep, read books or try out some new hobbies. One of the best hobbies that you can do whatever your age is, is soap making. This is because it stimulates your creative mind to think of new ways on how to design your soap, and you are also able to work with your hands.
You will only need very few ingredients when making soap. First, you will need to choose the type of oil that you want. This will give your soap the final property that you want. Coconut oil will give your soap great lathering properties. Vegetable oil will produce a soft kind of soap while olive oil will produce mild soap perfect for sensitive skin.
The next ingredient that you will need is lye. If your lye is the purified type, it is better to use the cold process of soap making. But if the lye that you have is the impure type, you can still use this but the hot method of soap making is preferred.
Once you have obtained these two ingredients, you can now start with making your soap. The first thing that you will need to do is dissolve the lye in water. Be sure to research on a soap recipe so that you will know how much oil and lye you will use. This is especially important if you are going to use the cold method as slight changes in the measurements can alter the final properties of your soap.
Once the lye has completely dissolved, add you oil into the mixture and continue mixing until it becomes homogenous. Once the mixture is complete, you can add special ingredients such as dyes, lotions and fragrance oils to add to the appeal of your soap. You can now pour this mixture into molds and let your soap harden for a few hours.
After a few hours, your soap will now be hardened but it will still need to be aged before it can be used. If you used the cold method of soap making, it will require about 30 days before the soap will be ready to use. As for the hot method, it will require a much faster time before you will be able to use your soap.
Due to the ease of soap making, almost anyone can take this up as a hobby. Even small children will have fun in making and using the soaps that they will make. Just be sure that there is adult supervision as lye can have very dangerous effects. This is a great way to make children think similar to other arts and crafts hobbies.
So try out a new hobby and try soap making today. This is a hobby that will surely keep you occupied for a very long time. It is also a very practical hobby as you will be able to use your creations in the bathroom when you shower, or as a decoration similar to soaps that you see in hotel bathrooms. You may even give your soaps as gifts or sell them if you become really good at making them.
