The Complete Soapmaker: Tips, Techniques & Recipes for Luxurious Handmade Soaps

by Norma Coney

“Provides detailed instructions and recipes for basic lye soaps made with animal or vegetable fats, and for hand-milled and specialty soaps using almond meal, chamomile, glycerin, and milk....Shampoo and liquid are covered as well.”— Library Journal . “You’ll also learn a little something about the history and origins of soap and soap making, fragrance, herbs and natural dyes.”— Woman’s Day Crafts & Needlework.

Genres: Crafts, Nonfiction, Reference, How To

128 pages, Paperback

First published June 30, 1997

Reviews

[Sarah Viscuso · Rating 3 out of 5]

Oh, this book has pretty, pretty pictures and fantastic soapmaking ideas, such as lettuce soap! Who woulda thought!? That being said, this book is NOT an introductory book for the curious who want to learn how to make soap. No, this book is more about re-batching/hand-milling cold-process soap, which requires a bit more experience: Sodium Hydroxide (lye) will destroy (not all, but many) flowers, which is why rebatching/handmilling your own soap can be helpful and allow for even more creativity.
It is a good book, though, and Norma's soaps are gorgeous, it's just not for beginners and is only bound to confuse and intimidate those wanting to learn Tyler Durden's craft. However, for the experienced who want to save a "meh" batch of Cold Processed soap and turn it into something cool -- like lettuce soap! -- this book is great!

[Brian Wood · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have made soap before using lard but this is the first time I have read a book about soapmaking. Maybe I put the cart before the horse. I think this book is very clear, easy to read and makes sense but does not provide as much information as I think is avalaible. I'm sure one can use these steps to make some great soaps but I was looking for more detail about what is going on with the chemistry while the soap making is happening.
I am a why person so I want to know why its better to something a particular way not just that it is. I'm sure I'll come back to this book and maybe buy a copy at some point but I want to keep reading in this department.

[Alistair Young · Rating 4 out of 5]

So, seeing as we're now getting into the soap business, I'm doing some reading on my own account to become as familiar with our new division's operational side as Amy is. (And, yes, I am familiar with the principles of saponification, thankyousoverymuch, but there is, as always, a hefty gap between theory and practice.) Thus, among my non-fiction book-logging for the next while, you can comfortably expect to find quite a few soapmaking books.

And this is the first. Well, I quite liked it (although it is a little on the basic side, but then, it is intended for beginners). I also note that, per the Amazon reviews, quite a few people seem to take issue with the lye/fat ratio of some of her recipes; well, others don't, and I haven't calculated them myself, so I can't really comment as to that. Maybe I'll ask Amy to weigh in on that point. The lye/water thing they mention is corrected in this edition, though!

That being said, the text is a good, basic introduction to one, and probably the simplest, soap process for the beginner, and it's very nicely illustrated all the way through. My only other criticism might be that I'd like a little more on the chemistry side myself, but that's not so much a reflection of the book so much as that (a) I'm a geek, and (b) even if it wouldn't be of practical use, I always like acquiring knowledge and tend to think not doing so is most dubious, indeed. So.

[Diana · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found this to be slightly more advanced than some of the other books I read on the topic, but the list of benefits to each recipe was a wonderful addition. The science is accurate and the recipes are really quite nice, in a simple, farmhouse way. It even explains how to render your own tallow, a gross but very useful skill. The handmilling recipes were lovely and varied, although that isn't something I'm interested in at this time.

[Melynna · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really loved this book. It was clear, concise, and had lots of beautiful pictures. The one biggest drawback is that it only offers one base recipe that doesn't include tallow, but that's not a really big deal to me, since I can get recipes from all over the place or make some up with a good online calculator. This has been my favorite soap book so far.

[Heather · Rating 5 out of 5]

this is the other of the two most useful soap-making books i've ever used.

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

The only soapmaking how-to book you'll ever need.

[C · Rating 4 out of 5]

Seems like a great book, but I didn't try any of the techniques. I'm thinking that making soap is too much work.

[Bookish Enchantment (Katherine Quirke) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Give making soap a go. This is a nice easy book to follow.

[Woodall · Rating 4 out of 5]

Awesome techniques and recipes. Very thorough instructions and photos to show. Can't wait to try it with some of my garden herbs!

[Lindsay · Rating 2 out of 5]

Two words: beef tallow. No thank you.

I got some good ideas, but reading this book mostly made me want to try other books or experiment with internet recipes. So far, so good.

[Joy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very nice soap book - good illustrations. Good picture instructions.