Melt and pour soap is considered handmade if you customize it. The more unique you can make your MP soap, the more handmade it will be considered.
Following are 7 ways to ensure your melt and pour qualifies as handmade, without question.
How To Customize Melt and Pour Soap
Some of the most popular ways to customize glycerin soap are listed below. Before we get into those, however, here is a 2-1/2 minute video that goes over how to make melt and pour soap in a microwave.
1. Combine MP Base Types
When we say these types there are multiple meanings. The simplest refers to the ”flavor” of soap. This includes things like goat milk, Shea butter, coconut oil, and the like. There are dozens, if not hundreds of varieties available. You can create some amazing soaps by combining these different types, whether it is by layer, by swirl, or just melting and blending.
The other meaning behind melt and pour soap base type refers to whether it is all-natural, organic, or chemically based. This will be made clear when you purchase the soap.
You can expect to pay the most for soap basis that are all organic. Less expensive options are all-natural. This simply means there was no chemical process used in the development of the soap base, however the ingredients are not certified organic. And finally, you have detergent based melt and pour soap. As you can probably guess, this is when the manufacturer adds in some artificial detergent to increase bubble size, lather, etc.
2. Add Color
Colors can be added by including liquid dye, clays, and mica powders. If adding color is of interest to you, then it is worth the time to find a particular type and brand that you like to work with.
Liquid dyes offer a typically lower cost than any other. The concept is similar to that of food coloring. However, do NOT use food coloring in your soap. It is not meant to be placed on the skin and can cause staining and skin discoloration. Ugly a couple drops of liquid dye go a very long way toward adding color do your soap.
Clays are a good natural way to add color to soap. Bentonite clay is one of the more used. It is typically an olive green in color. Among other things, bentonite clay is known to provide slip. This makes it very sought after for shaving soaps.
Another clay type that works well in soap is known as Indian clay or Aztec clay. This is a clay harvested from parts of the southwestern United States and northern portions of Mexico. Aztec clay is typically a rusty reddish brown in color and often used in masks.
We are, of course, discussing clays as additives for color. I did want to mention their other benefits however, since you can use them to achieve both color and tangible benefits to your soap.
Mica powders are online the more costly options for coloring soap. They do, however, after some of the most vibrant color schemes you are likely to see. These look especially good when used for tinting clear glycerin soap base. Depending on the amount of powder used and clarity of the soap, it can give the impression of a stained-glass window.
Here is a great video on how to not only color MP soap, but also to layer and swirl it. BTW – When you see her hand quickly moving over the soap mold, she is lightly spraying the top layer with rubbing alcohol. This removes bubbles and helps layers adhere to each other,
3. Melt and Pour Swirling Techniques
this goes right along with having color. By separating out portions of your glycerin base, after it has been fully melted but before being poured into the mold, you can get very original with color swirls. This is accomplished by having different colors to each of the different melted basis. Then you can either pour them into the mold in different layers and swirl the layers or simply make zigzag patterns alternately while you pour in different colors. Just have a good time and experiment.
It is far easier to get good swirling techniques from cold process soap, but if you can do it with melt and pour you will gain even greater skill.
4. Enhance Scent
most melt and pour soap bases will have very little odor, if any. This, of course depends on the additives or base type, such as oatmeal or Shea butter. However, in general, the scent is typically neutral.
You can add scent to MP soap using essential oils and soap fragrances. I will provide a complete article on this topic very soon. For now however, just be aware that you can accomplish nearly any sent that you can imagine by using artificial fragrances or essential oils.
Also keep in mind that essential oils not only have a particular sent. They also have properties that can impact the body in one way or another. Again, for legal reasons you should not describe the medicinal properties of your soap, including its essential oils, but it is important to know.
The reason it is so important, is that too much of one type of essential oil can actually cause more harm than good. Always be certain you follow the appropriate guidelines for adding essential oil to any product.
Insider Advantage on Fragrance Use
Always use a soap fragrance calculator before adding any essential oils or other fragrances to your soap batch. There are plenty of these available from different soap supply manufacturers. My favorite happens to be from Wholesale Supply Plus. You can use this resource for free by clicking this link: soap fragrance calculator.
5. Add Organic Solids (Botanicals)
in this particular instance, the term organic simply refers to something made by nature. This has nothing to do with whether or not something is certified as organic.
Dried flower buds, and other botanicals can make excellent additives to melt and pour soap. I urge you to experiment with these, but also to understand that moisture can cause organics to discolor and go bad. That said, buds and other natural items tend to work well as decorative toppers that are only very slightly embedded within the soap.
6. Incorporate Exfoliates
Although the aforementioned organics, such as buds, may be exfoliates – we are now talking about having scrubbing agents for the purpose of texturing the bar.
Some of the most sought-after scrubbing agents include finely ground pumice, diatomaceous earth, and sand at different grit levels.
Most people use exfoliates to remove dead skin or to smooth over rough calluses. By using melt and pour soap you can easily incorporate your exfoliated and shape it as you wish.
One of my more popular winter season sellers is a melt and pour soap bar with a 1-inch thick layer of finely granulated pumice at the bottom. Customers tell me they love how convenient it is to not only use paper, stone but actually get a deep clean while doing so in the bath.
Heads’ Up!
If you want your exfoliated additive to cover uniformly throughout your soap you need to get the appropriate kind. Make sure you purchase ”suspension melt and pour soap base”. This is not a brand that allows particles to remain suspended once stirred into place.
It is possible to get a close approximation by allowing regular melt and pour soap to slightly cool and congeal before heading your particulates. But investing the small additional amount of money for suspension type soap base is a far smarter use of your time.
7. Go Artisan
Artisan soap is just another way to say handmade. However, to those who practice the craft it is actually a bit more involved.
To consider handmade soap as truly artisan, it takes some creativity and artistic ability. This is not to say you need to be an expert designer or anything like that. It simply means that the resulting soap should be unique and have some level of artistic flair.
One of the easiest ways to do this is to start with something that you already have in the house. Used coffee grounds and tea leaves are often used in artisan soap making.
One of the great things about using melt and pour is that you can easily create multiple layers or levels to your soap. This is a simple as pouring the first level and letting it set for a few minutes so that a skin forms on top. Then you lightly spray it with a high concentration of isopropyl alcohol, also known as rubbing alcohol, and pour your next layer.
Utilizing just that simple method mentioned above you can easily see how simple it would be to add a 3 inch layer of soap at the bottom of the loaf meant to represent copy or beer. Then adding a second layer on top of that to represent foam.
This is one of the quickest and easiest ways to make a very quick and easy custom bar of artisan soap. People unfamiliar with the practice will marvel at your accomplishment. Following is a quick video on how to do this. And remember, this is just one of thousands of possibilities.
>>> Get the Inside Edge
If you like the idea of working with melt and pour soap, you might want to check out another post on this site… Making Melt and Pour Soap in Bulk. You can use every one of the ideas on this page – just more at a time!
Good luck and Happy Soaping!