If you are familiar with this new wave craft movement, this crafting renaissance as it were, then you know one of the main corner stones of most craft fairs today is home made soap. Home made soaps are superior to regular store bought soaps in almost every way. They smell better (you can find ones with all sorts of natural essential oils), they tend to look nicer, and you can be sure they aren’t animal tested. To be honest, they do tend to be pricey compared to, say, a bar of Ivory. But at least if you pay $4 for a bar you know its hard won earnings for the small craft business person, and not just another dollar in the pocket of a large corporation. But I’m getting off track. The point is, hand made soaps are a wonderful luxury that you can make at home. And today I bring you a website that gives you the A to Z in making your own soap. At teachsoap.com, you will find a series of instructions into the basics of soap making, like how to use emulsifying wax and how to render tallow, not to mention recipes for particular scents of soaps and a gallery where people can share their soap creations, like the Jade Dragon and the Sushi Rolls pictured below. What really sets this site apart is that not only its extremely comprehensive range of topics, but the comprehensive writing as well. The articles don’t just tell you the how, but also the why. The section on using emulsifying wax not only explained why it is necessary, but broke down the chemical process that happens when you use an emulsifier so that it was easy even for someone like me, the layest of laypeople, to understand. I’m going to try to work it into conversation at my next social function in order to impress people. I’ll say “Did you know that oil is hydrophobic?” and push my glasses up by the bridge. It’s going to be great.


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