Soap Making Class

When you camp in RV parks, many of them offer craft classes. This Thousand Trails park had a volunteer crafts teacher who was offering a class in handcrafted soap making that sounded interesting so we signed up.

  HOME Page
  The Alamo
  Talking Houses
  It's Wild Out There
  Shiner Brewery
  Flatonia Texas
  Crooked River
  Bird Watching
  Joshua Tree
  Stop & Smell the Roses
  Rain Forest Adventure
  Soap Making
  Big Birds
  Will Rogers Birthplace
  About Us

Click on the pictures to enlarge them.

Lyla, out teacher, showed us the two types of soap being made in class today. A clear glycerin soap we could embed with silk flowers to make a decorative bar for gifts or home use and a milk and honey bar.

She had a large selection of small silk flowers to choose from. We cut them off the stems and arranged them in the soap molds.

After we had the design in mind, we removed the flowers. Then she showed us how the soap was cut into small cubes and put into heat resistant glass 2 cup measuring cups to melt in the microwave oven. We were instructed to melt the substance for 40 seconds, then stir it. If lumps remained we were to microwave it for an additional 10 seconds and stir it until it was a syrupy liquid. She sprayed the molds with a non-stick cooking spray.

Then we poured the mold about 1/3 full and arranged the flowers face down in the liquid. Next we filled over the flowers to near the top of the mold. Stopping just short of the top makes it easier to remove the finished bars. Removal of bars from the molds seems to be the most difficult part of the job.

These molds were set aside for the soap to harden while we had tea and cookies and got better acquainted with the other students. One student was a volunteer water arobics teacher. Another was visiting patients at a nursing home. Another knitted and crocheted small hats to donate to a children's hospital.

Beautiful soap art creations!

They make wonderful gifts and bathroom decorations.

Or use them as bath or hand soap.

After the break Lyla showed us how to mix honey and powdered milk into the melted coconut oil soap and poured it into angel shaped molds.

She also taught us about the use of fragrances and color in soapmaking and different types of soap bars. She taught us proper cleanup skills-don't use the dishwasher because the soap left on the cup and spoons will make too much foam. She showed us how to wrap the bars in plastic wrap so they would not dry out. She suggested sources and books that would help develop our skills in soap making.

This was a very interesting class and could be a rewarding hobby.

Home Go top of page