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Why and how to make your own soap?

As I explained it in a previous article, I came to home-made soap because I wanted to control the ingredients (no palm oil) and their origin (as few kilometres as possible), so as to use the most ecological soap for my laundry liquid.

But there are other valid reasons to make soap for yourself: some oils are naturally soft and good for the skin, others you will choose because they give extra lather and foam to the soap, or even because they just give a special colour you like.

In a word: home-made soap is very good for the skin (also because it naturally contains glycerine, which is otherwise removed from industrial soaps) and it's even better because it's customized to your needs. Another good reason to make your own soap is the price.

Finally, it's a very creative (and addictive!) activity, which may explain why soap makers make more soap than they can use. Soap making is a complex and very rich art. It’s a great hobby, and you probably won't offer anything else than soap for Christmas.

That's a lot of good reasons to start, and the good news is that you can combine them all.

Before starting, I suggest you carefully read the different articles below about soap making. I didn't mean to write so much but everything was important.

0 - Why and how to make your own soap?
1 - How: the saponification process
2 - Using caustic soda: safety precautions
3 - Using caustic soda: the online calculators
4 - Superfatting your soap
5 - Oil and other ingredients you may use in a soap
6 - How to make soap: equipment
7 - How to make soap: tutorial 

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