There are times that using the usual boring bar of soaps we have at home can get a little tiring. We always have the same thing when washing our hands or when taking a bath. So if you want something more exciting, you might want to try soap making as a hobby. Many people are now getting into the fun of decorating and making soap for home and business use. These carefully crafted and molded soaps are not only made for washing and cleaning purposes, they can also prettify your bathrooms and make it the envy of your guest.

Before you start off, you have to know that the two main ingredients in soap making are fats and lye. Other additional ingredients are dyes for coloring and fragrance oils for the scent. Fats are the ones responsible for the essential qualities of soaps so it is considered as a major ingredient. Fat is responsible for the lather produced which is mild for the skin whether it is a soft or hard soap. Lye, one the other hand is the ingredient which hydrolizes the fat to turn it into soap. The other ingredients such as fragrance oils and dye are only to add art and scent to the product.

Fats are converted into soap through two simple methods - hot and cold. Cold method is done by adding the fat into a previously made lye water mixture. Everything is mixed and poured into melts which have been dipped in cold water. Hot method is much like the cold method except that the fat is heated before it is mixed with lye water mixture and is further heated for 2 hours before it can be used. Of these two, the cold method is known to produce a longer lasting soap.

Once the mixture is set, the other ingredients can be added to make the product more aesthetically appealing. One has to properly use dyes and molds to come up with perfect soap creations shaped like food, animal and others. You have to practice more before you can really perfect the art of using these ingredient with the soap molds. Fragrance oils are added into soaps mixtures for the product to have the kind of scent you want. Soap making activities helps you produces soaps with sweet, flowery or clean scents.

When engaged with soap making activities, always remember that lye is a hazardous ingredient. It should not be handled with your bare hands because it has corrosive properties which can injure your skin. Lye also gives off fumes when mixed with water. This can also be dangerous when inhaled. Despite the ease of making soaps, the harmful properties of lye should not be overlooked and precautions should be observed when starting the project.

Soap making can be a fun-filled activity which you can enjoy with your friends on your free time. You may find it difficult to perfect your soaps at first, but this can be improved as you make more and soon you will be making beautifully crafted and scented soaps.