The Natural Soap Book: Making Herbal and Vegetable-Based Soaps

I picked this book up because I was looking for a soap making book and this one fit the bill and was available on the Kindle. I am also only interested in vegetable oil soaps (no lard or tallow) since my hubby is a vegan. I found about 90% of the information presented in an easy to use form and was very applicable to someone who didn't know anything about making soap. I liked the part with the different vegetable oils and what they contribute to the finished product. I also tried one of the recipes (the shampoo bar for normal to dry hair) with good results. The recipes are made for HUGE batches (which is good for people who are selling their soaps) which doesn't help the beginning soap maker. I ended up translating the recipes to percentages rather than amounts which made it very easy to make any amount of soap. (My shampoo bar recipe made 3 bars) My suggestion for people who want smaller batches are to put the recipes into percentages then put the percentages into a lye calculator (I like SoapCalc) and put your recipe into grams. I picked up a cheap scale that does both ounces and grams and it works really well. I usually go for a 454 gram batch (about 1 pound) or 225 gram batch (about 1/2 pound). Those amounts are great for experimenting and will be able to show me rather I want to make a larger batch or make more of that recipe. If you are looking for a good book on making vegetable oil soaps, this is it. I would recommend it highly. It is also nicely formatted for e-readers like the Kindle.

For me, this book is a favorite. This book is from 1995 and I have no idea if it's been updated however by what I've seen in the book it closely resembles other books that I like. Very well laid out and in depth instructions to help you through the process.

Excelente

Excellent book. Thoroughly researched and well presented, this author goes into the fine points of natural soap making, explaining the chemistry so any soap maker can understand, with or without a chemistry background. She explains the kinds of soap you can make at home, the ingredients in soap - such as lye, scents, colorants, nutrients, and preservatives, and the properties of those ingredients - as well as why the synthetic ingredients are harmful. She presents detailed steps in making numerous recipes included in the book, then goes beyond making basic soap and explains how to diagnose problems in your soap, then cutting, trimming and wrapping your hand made soap. She lists suppliers, and reviews books and magazines very thoroughly. I highly recommend this book to potential soap makers. The problems with this book are as follows: There are very good ways to make soap that disagree with the author, temperature is a topic I don't agree with her about. Her recipes are too large, but you can find a lot of free recipes and instruction on the internet. You can lso find lye calculators online...soapcalc.net is an excellent resource,they also have many other helpful features on that website.

Let's have a round of applause for the long awaited answer of the differences in soaping temperatures. *And* when to use different temperatures for certain recipes etc. I live in an extremely hot and extremely dry place, I knew this would affect my soap but her advice is so sound and clear, not to mention inspirational. Very happy with this book.

Used this book years ago. Decided to try soapmaking again and this was THE book to start over with. It is the book with the best info for anyone looking to make old-fashioned lye soaps. Could not find it at the local bookstore. Once again Amazon is the place to find things you need!

While this book had a lot of information in it, I found that the author gave too much information on one subject,and not enough about the other. For instance, she mentions herbs that people can use for colorants, but refuses to even give an idea about what colors they yield or how much one should use. Additionally, some of her advice is outdated because the internet wasn't as huge as when she wrote the book as it is today- so her advice about where to buy materials and products isn't very helpful. However, if you want to "geek out" on soap and really want to know nearly everything, this a great book.

New to soap making and wanted some education on the subject. I liked the book but thought some of the ingredients in the recipes were rather pricy for a beginner. The recipes looked good. And I may try some if them later. But to start out I will try some if her other recipes from her book entitled "The Soapmaker's Companion". Having fun. Proud of my results. Gathering all the equipment to see how much I want to invest in this endeavor. I would recommend a book called "How to make wooden soap molds (without sawing a single piece if wood)" by M. Bear. If you are just getting started like me; you might want to check this one out.

I love this book! A friend recommended it to me as a way to get into making my own soap. I've been making soap for more than two years now and still peruse it from time to time (even though I've read it cover to cover multiple times and rewritten and reworked the recipes to my liking). It's an excellent place to start or get new ideas for base recipes, or get ideas for essential oil blends and learn about natural colourants. I highly recommend it for all soap makers.

I have become very interested in soap making since spending time in the Middle East. With an increasing bias towards more natural ingredients I looked for a book that would get me started with very practical explanations and recipes. That is what I found in The Natural Soap Book. An added extra was that the explanations of the science of soap making, prompted my husband's interest too! My only negative comment would be that the resources information is (understandably)for companies in the States so I will need to research my own suppliers online in the UK. I would highly recommend this book for anyone wanting to get started in soap making.

Es un buen libro introductorio pero no tiene nada de información que no venga en la secuela "The Soapmaker's Companion" de la misma autora y ese es mas completo.

libro molto dettagliato e pieno di consigli su come realizzare saponi totalmente naturali! Consigliato a che desidera uscire fuori dalla mischia e realizzare saponi belli, efficaci e totalmente biodegradabili... Peccato sia solo in inglese!

The book is very informative for a beginner and has helped me better understand the basics of soap making.