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How To Make Melt & Pour Soap
How to Make Melt & Pour Soaps:

Materials:

  • Melt and Pour Soap Base
  • FD & C Liquid Bath & Body Dye (or other dye as noted below)
  • Soap Safe Fragrance Oil (not all fragrances are safe!)
  • Soap Mold
  • Pot or Pan or Microwave Safe Dish (Pyrex measure cups work great!)
  • Stainless Steel Spoon for stirring

*Optional supplies to purchase include a Digital Scale (to weigh the soap base and fragrance) and a Thermometer to keep track of the temperature of the soap base to prevent over-heating.

Melting the Soap Base:

  • Microwave Method: Cut the Melt and Pour Base on the score lines and place it in a microwave safe dish. (Pyrex measuring cups work nicely) Place the dish in your microwave. Using full power, heat the base for one minute at a time until it begins to melt. Once it has started to melt, decrease this to 30 second intervals until it is fully melted stirring often. OR
  • Stove Top Method: Cut the Melt and Pour Base on the score lines and place it in a sauce pan. Turn the heat on Medium and stirring constantly, allow the soap to melt fully. Be sure to stir constantly to avoid scorching!

*The melted soap should be between 130-140̊ F.

Adding the Dye:

  • In your kit, you have a bottle of FD&C Liquid Bath and Body Dye. This is the appropriate dye type for Melt and Pour Soap. Once your soap is melted, just add the dye a drop at a time, stirring after each until you reach your desired shade. The amount used will vary.

*Bitter Creek offers several other types of dye safe for Melt and Pour. They may be found under Soapmaking Supplies, then under the Melt and Pour Supplies under Colorants.)

Adding the Fragrance:

  • Your kit comes with fragrance oils we know to be safe for Melt and Pour Soap Making. Each bottle in the kit contains 1 weight ounce of fragrance oil. For Melt and Pour, it is safe to use up to, but no more than ½ Weight Ounce of fragrance per pound of soap base. Each block of Melt and Pour Base is Two pounds. For one full block of soap, you would use up to 1 ounce of fragrance. Stir well after adding the fragrance oil to the melted & colored soap base.

*For your first try, you can approximate this amount by looking at the bottles and knowing the above. If you plan to make soap for sale, then it will be crucial you purchase a scale and weigh the fragrance and base out each time.

Pouring into Molds:

  • Pour your scented and colored soap base into the molds. Use a fine mist spray bottle filled with Rubbing Alcohol to lightly mist the tops of each of the just poured soaps to remove any bubbles. Allow the soaps to cool at room temperature until completely cooled, about 4-5 hours then remove from the molds. You may need to pull the edge of the mold back to get the soap to release.

*You can place the mold in the freezer for a few minutes if removal is difficult but I typically suggest waiting longer instead before resorting to this method.

Melt-n-Pour Soap making Tips & Ideas

Chunk
Soaps


Melt, color and scent your soap base per the instructions. For the chunks with a clear over pour you can use either clear or white base. Once melted, pour into a square plastic or metal pan or tray (Rubbermaid® tubs, drawer organizer trays, or loaf pans work well). Allow the soap to cool then remove from the mold. Cut the soap into small square chunks using a knife or chopping blade.

Place chunks into your soap molds (you can use single or multi colors). Spritz liberally with rubbing alcohol (this will allow the chunks to properly adhere to the over-pour, if you do not spray they may not hold together) and immediately pour your soap base (clear or clear with color depending on what your chunks are made of and colored) at about 120-130̊ F over the chunks and again, liberally spritz with rubbing alcohol once poured to remove any air bubbles.

Variation: Instead of chunks, try using a slicing plane and make curly shavings!

*Tip: If you chunks tend to melt into the clear outside soap, try putting them in the freezer for awhile before pouring over them or make sure your over-pour isn’t too hot!

Exfoliating
Soaps

Try adding some ground coffee, ground jojoba, ground apricot meal, poppy seeds, cornmeal, crushed oatmeal, loofah, etc. to make exfoliating soap that scrubs the skin! (You can grind your own oatmeal, loofah, etc in your blender). Remember that some may be a bit rough for the face and body and will be best suited to being hand soap.

*Tip: Be sure not to pour soap too hot or the scrubby additives may sink to bottom and not distribute evenly throughout the soap. Soap will need to be stirred constantly and poured just before the congealing point.

Swirly
Soaps

Using the white soap base, make a small batch of soap with concentrated coloring (no scent necessary). Also make a larger batch of plain white soap in the scent of your choice. Pour the white soap into a mold. Wait until it begins to thicken slightly, then slowly dribble in some of the colored soap, gently swirling it around with a toothpick. Be careful not to swirl too much so it doesn't fully blend the two together. Do not move mold around, let it sit until fully hardened, then remove & cut!

Treasure
Soaps

Great for kids! Try embedding a small plastic toy (be careful so they are not a choking hazard!) in a clear bar of soap. Just pour a small layer of your clear scented soap into your mold. Wait until it is fairly solidified, spritz with rubbing alcohol then carefully place the toy in the center. Pour in remaining clear soap until toy is fully covered and mold is filled & spritz again with rubbing alcohol. Wait until hardened, then remove from the mold.

*Tip: Make sure toy is not too large for the mold by placing it in mold before hand.

Loafs -
Soap by the Slice

Try using a small bread loaf pan as a mold. Make soap as usual, using any number of the methods above. Remove from loaf mold, and slice with a knife or chopping blade into slices about 1 to 1.5” thick.

Botanical
Soaps

Try adding some small dried bits of flowers and/or herbs for a potpourri kind of look! Chamomile, lavender, peppermint leaf, etc. Some of these botanical can make the soap rough or scratchy on the skin. You may want to test these before deciding weather to embeds the botanicals IN the soap or just place them on the top for looks.
*Note: Be sure not to pour soap too hot or embedded items may sink to bottom and not distribute evenly throughout the soap.


Bitter Creek offers
FREE Technical Support to all our customers! Online help is available 9am to 5pm Central Time Monday through Friday. Click here for information on how to contact Tech Support by phone, e-mail or through our Live Online Chat Application! Real soapmaking advice from a working soaper with over a decade of experience in the business!
 
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