Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #4087 in Books
• Published on: 2000-02-24
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 288 pages

Synopsis
Provides instructions and recipes for making over forty kinds of soap, from stained-glass and layered soaps to laundry and liquid soaps.

From the Publisher
The most comprehensive guide to soapmaking ever!
From the author of the best-selling "The Natural Soap Book" comes this illustrated guide to making over 40 specialty soaps -- from exquisite stained-glass, marbled, and layered soaps to soothing masseuse bars, hardworking laundry soap, and practical liquid soaps.

Through clear, step-by-step instructions, master soapmaker Susan Miller Cavitch leads you through every step of the soapmaking process and teaches you how to:

-craft exotic and practical soaps in your home

-blend and use essential oils and natural colorants

-design multi-colored, marbled, and imprinted soaps

-understand the chemistry of soapmaking and create your own personal bars

Customer Reviews

THE "must-have" book on Soapmaking for beginners to pros!
This is one of my favorite books I've found on the wonderful, newly found hobby of mine - Soapmaking!

The author does a brilliant job of combining the must-have step-by-step detailed instructions on soapmaking basics for beginners, with the best list and descriptions of all soapmaking ingredients!

Beginners and experts alike will enjoy the many tried and true recipes, even specialty soaps! It also covers the "Chemistry of soapmaking", including tables for making your own recipes! She even has a section on starting up your own business to sell your handmade soap creations! And it is all put together in an easy to understand and follow format, for us beginners, or "dummys" in soapmaking!

The only reason that I rated this book at "4 stars", instead of "5 stars" is because it does not include any pictures (and I LOVE pictures!)- only the hand-drawn illustrations in green ink, as is the print, featured throughout the book. She does use alot of fragrances & different oils in her soap recipes, but includes a list of buying resources in the back.

This, along with my other favorite book on soapmaking, "The Complete Soapmaker", by Norma Coney, (full of beautiful pictures!)which features mostly "hand-milled" or rebatched soaps, are the ones I find myself going to time and time again for reference and inspiration!

First time user friendly.
This is "the" book to begin making soap. The recipes are just the right size to make a variety of soaps and they are reliable. The only one that doesn't compute is the "Blowin' in the Wind" laundry soap. Having made it twice and neither time did it work - I recalculated the lye to oils ratio and one or the other is wrong. Other than that it is a facinating and informative book - one to fall in love with soapmaking!! I highly recommend it.

Even more wonderful than "The Natural Soap Book"
I have had this book less than a week and have already dog-eared and stained it! This book is exactly what Cavitch claims it to be...the soapmaker's companion. She includes new recipes, more info on scents, coloring, and chemistry. In addition, she has provided recipes that make smaller batches which can be made in a stand mixer. I was as impressed with this book as I was with "The Natural Soap Book". (The recipes are accurate, reliable, and make great-looking bars of soap!)