The Natural Soap Book: Making Herbal and Vegetable-Based Soaps

It's fun to make your own natural soaps at home!

Susan Miller Cavitch takes the mystery out of soapmaking, sharing her formulas for making high-quality vegetable-based soaps that are good for your skin — and free of synthetic additives.

The Natural Soap Book gives you:

* Clear directions and illustrations to guide you step-by-step through the entire process — from buying supplies to cutting and trimming the final bars.

* Recipes for old favorites like oatmeal/honey and avocado soaps to Susan's unique recipes for goat milk, borage, and even a tropical shampoo bar.

* Creative wrapping and gift packaging ideas.

* Formulas for exotic specialty scents like Holiday Spice, Sweet Earth, and Southern Summers.

* Profiles and tips from professional soapmakers.

An inspiring exploration of the goodness of chemical- and additive-free soap. The definitive resource for making vegetable-based soaps from scratch, with 162,000 copies in print.

The definitive resource for making vegetable-based soaps from scratch, from buying supplies to cutting the final bars.

 

An inspiring exploration of the goodness of chemical- and additive-free soap. 102,000 copies in print.

Author Susan Miller Cavitch is the founder and president of Soap Essentials, Inc., a Memphis-based retail mail-order company producing homemade herbal products. She is the author of The Natural Soap Book and The Soapmaker's Companion. Susan lives in Eads, Tennessee.

Acknowledgments

Preface

Part One: Understanding the Basics

Introduction

Chapter 1: The Kinds of Soap

Part Two: The Ingredients

Chapter 2: Characteristics of Oils, Fats, and their Soaps

Chapter 3: Lye and Water

Chapter 4: Scents

Chapter 5: Colorants

Chapter 6: Nutrients

Chapter 7: Preservatives

Part Three: Making Soaps

Chapter 8: Getting Started: Equipment and Supplies

Chapter 9: Recipes

Chapter 10: Diagnosing Signs of Trouble

Chapter 11: Cutting and Trimming

Part Four: Beyond the Basics

Chapter 12: Creative Ideas for Wrapping Soap

Chapter 13: The Chemistry of Soapmaking

Appendix A. Suppliers

Appendix B. Soapmaking Businesses

Glossary: The Language of Soap

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