Melt and Pour Soap Crafting, Part 2

By Ellen Russell

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An afternoon spent crafting melt and pour soaps yields a great supply of soaps for personal use, gift giving, or party favors. The soap crafting industry offers soap molds in a variety of sizes and shapes, made to withstand the heat of soap crafting projects and to flex and release the finished product. Soap molds are a higher quality product for this purpose, but are also higher in price and somewhat limited in theme and availability.

Chocolate molds are a more widely available mold option with a much wider variety of themes and motifs. Virtually any imaginable theme can be found in a plastic chocolate mold on the Internet. Some caution should be used, however, when making melt and pour soaps using chocolate molds. Chocolate molds are made from a less sturdy plastic and may warp more easily when poured with melt and pour soaps. As long as the soap is not poured at an extremely high heat, chocolate molds can be used with care. Be sure the molds are supported fully on a flat surface during pouring, and do not move the poured soap until hardened. Chocolate molds will withstand multiple pours, but will not last as long as soap molds. Candle molds and molds crafted from PVC pipe are options for inexpensive molds as well.

For easy removal of hardened melt and pour soaps, a mold release brushed or sprayed onto the mold surface is recommended prior to filling. Petroleum jelly and vegetable oil are two household products that can be used, or purchase a labeled mold release agent from the soap craft supplier. Placing molded soaps in the freezer for a few minutes once hardened helps release the soaps as well.

The process of molding soaps is quite basic and similar to that of molding chocolates. Follow the manufacturer's directions supplied with your base for the safest and most appropriate directions for the melt and pour soap base you have purchased. General directions are to cut the melt and pour base into small chunks and melt in a double boiler (or a clean tin can placed inside a larger pan filled with water).

Color is added once the soap is melted, and scent is added last to keep the fragrance from cooking away before the base is completely melted. Stir gently to keep air bubbles from forming in the mix and pour the melted base into your chosen mold. A gentle tap or spray over the top of molded soaps will encourage air bubbles to rise to the surface and pop, but this is not always necessary unless the melt and pour base was mixed excessively or poured too fast.

Once poured, glycerin based melt and pour soaps need only to set until hardened before they can be used, a benefit over traditional hand made soaps which need to set for several weeks prior to use. Completed melt and pour soaps should be wrapped in plastic or sealed in plastic bags or air tight jars. Use your soap creations to make unique gift baskets, or give spa bags with loofahs, decorated bath puffs or soap bags, bath salts, and your home-crafted soaps.

Melt and pour soaps are an inexpensive, quality party favor, or craft them just to give your family a better quality moisturizing cleanser for greater skin health, enjoying the comfort of knowing just what went into your bathroom products.

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