The Everything Soapmaking Book: Recipes and Techniques for Creating Colorful and Fragrant Soaps by Alicia Grosso

Top Ten Events in the Process of Becoming a Soapmaker     x
Introduction     xi
The Renaissance of Handmade Soapmaking     1
Why Make Soap?     2
The Origins of Soapmaking     3
Getting Back to Nature     4
Finding Community     6
Soapmaking Research     9
Soapmaking Equipment     11
Safety Gear     12
Scale     14
Pots and Pans     15
Utensils     17
Measuring Equipment     18
Hand Blender     19
Soap Molds     20
Cutting Tools     24
The Basic Techniques and Ingredients     25
What Is Lye?     26
Making Soap with Lye     28
Choosing a Liquid     29
Using Infusions     32
Soapmaking Safety     33
Evaporation During Curing     35
Soap Ash     36
Making Soap Without Lye     37
Herbs     39
Using Herbs in Soapmaking     40
Growing Your Own Herbs     42
Drying and Storing Herbs     43
Common Soapmaking Herbs     44
Other Additives     48
Making Dentifrice     51
Fragrance Oils     53
What Are Fragrance Oils?     54
Choosing Fragrance Oils     55
Storing Fragrance Oils     56
Understanding Fragrance Oil Families     57
Fragrance Trends     59
Essential Oils     61
What Are Essential Oils?     62
A Bit of Chemistry     62
Methods of Essential Oil Extraction     63
Storing Essential Oils     64
Using Aromatherapy     65
Using Common Essential Oils     66
Luxury Soaps Using Natural Perfumery     79
Color     83
Understanding Color Theory     84
Writing Color Stories     86
Using Color in Soap     88
Enjoying Natural Color Sources     89
Food and Cosmetic Dyes     90
Mica and Glitter     93
The Cold-Process Technique     05
Curing     96
Storing Cold-Process Soaps     98
Soapmaking Terms     99
Getting Started     103
Taking the Next Step     105
Tips for New Soapmakers     107
Varying the Cold Process      109
Cleaning Up     111
Cold-Process Recipes     113
Creating the Perfect Basic Bar     114
Standard Recipes     120
Luxury Recipes     120
Layering Soaps     122
Swirling and Marbling Soaps     122
Chunking Soaps     129
Making Milk Soaps     132
Embossing with Stamps     132
The Hot-Process Technique     139
Understanding Hot Process     140
Hot-Process Equipment     143
Creating Color Variation     152
Sculpting with Hot-Process Soap     153
Cleaning Up     156
Liquid, Transparent, and Cream Hot-Process Soap Recipes     157
You Can Do It!     158
Making Liquid Soap     159
Using Foaming Bases     163
Making Transparent Soap     166
Making Cream Soap     171
The Soap-Casting Technique     177
More Than Just Melting and Pouring     178
Choosing a Base     178
Soap-Casting Equipment     179
Molds for Soap Casting     180
Using Tube Molds     183
Sample Projects      186
Soap-Casting Projects     189
Single Pour in Blocks     190
Block Over-Pours     193
Bar Over-Pours     193
Embeds     196
Multistage Pours     198
Geodes     199
Soap Gems     199
The Hand-Milling Technique     205
Type of Soap to Use     206
Advantages of Hand Milling     206
Hand-Milling Equipment     207
Sample Hand-Milling Recipes     211
Additive Ideas     214
Rescuing Soap Batches     215
Your First Batches     217
Patience Is a Virtue     218
The Learning Curve     219
Write Down Everything     219
Don't Be Afraid to Reread Directions     220
Single-Oil Soaps     221
Experimenting with Color     223
Making Your Own Recipes     229
Your Inner Chemist     230
Animal or Vegetable?     230
Oil Forms     232
Exotic Oils     235
Fatty Acids     236
Saponification Values     238
Making Worksheets     239
Presenting Your Soap      245
Reasons to Give Your Soap Away     246
Making Simple Gifts     247
Designing a Gift Suite     252
Gift Collection Ideas     254
Packaging Elements     258
Shelf Life     260
Storing Soap     261
Deciding to Sell     263
The Impulse to Sell Your Soap     264
Forming a Business     265
Doing Your Research     266
Learning to Sell     267
Creating a Product Line     268
Soap Selling Smarts     269
Bringing Soap to the World     271
Planning for Sales Events     272
Before the Event     275
At the Event     277
After the Event     280
Moving Forward     281
Creating a Web Site     282
Glossary     285
Troubleshooting     287
Making Molds, Cutters, and Planers     289
Resources     293
Contemporary Soapmakers     297
Index     299