Natural soap making - Elizabeth Letcavage

How to make cold-process soap (soap from scratch) using only natural fragrances, colorants, and texture additives

Information on different kinds of oils and botanical additives and the special properties they give to the soap

How to make soap with layers, swirls, soap nuggets, and confetti
Includes 12 special soap recipes-oatmeal, milk, and honey soap; gardener's hand soap; all-natural shampoo bar; and ore-along with tips for creating your own natural recipes

Elizabeth Letcavage gardens, crafts and writes in central Pennsylvania, USA.

Dec 13

This is a wonderful introduction to soap making. It includes 12 recipes to make soap and the instructions are very easy to understand. If you are new to soap making I expect it's a bit like taking up baking - you need a few moulds and cutters but once you get over the initial gathering of materials it could be lots of fun and save quite a bit of money. The emphasis is on natural ingredients - essential oils, medicinals such as coconut milk or vitamin E and natural colourings such as rose clay for pink or alkanet root powder for purple. The soaps are so pretty but look natural so would be nice to sell as natural vegan soap which is more durable and longer lasting than some vegan soaps which don't use caustic soda. Elizabeth has included sections on how to use up soap scraps, how to make nugget soap, how to stamp and how to make swirled soap. If you dream of making your own soap which is free from the heap of additives it's sold with in the shops then this is the perfect book.