Learn how to make your own handmade and natural soap with this Beginner Soapmaking course. Find out how easy it is to make your very own soap based on natural ingredients. In this hands-on soapmaking workshop, you will learn about the different methods of creating handmade soaps. You will make 4 different soaps using a variety of natural oils, butter, milk, clays and botanicals, scented with a variety of essential oils or fragrance oils.

Course Outcome:

• History and development of soapmaking
• Differences between commercial and handmade soaps
• Safe techniques
• Soap making oils – what they bring to your recipe and the benefits for your skin
• Essential or fragrance oil use – and working with the dermal limits for soap
• Natural additives and their benefits – clays, minerals and botanicals
• Benefits and differences of the various soapmaking methods
• Saponification, curing, labels and packaging of soap
• Lye calculators – how and why to use these for formulating your recipes

Learning Outcomes:

• A basic knowledge of the different types of soapmaking methods
• Knowledge about the ingredients used and their benefits
• Make and take home approx. 1kg of handmade soap, made using your choice of scent, colour and decoration
• Knowledge on how to formulate and make your handmade soaps at home in the future
• Information on where to easily buy the ingredients

What You Will Get:

• All tools and equipment to use in class
• Safety equipment to use in class and take home with you
• All ingredients and moulds for 4 different handmade soaps
• A workbook with information on the different ingredients you can use, all instructions and lots of recipes
• A handout with additional recipes

What to bring:

• Please bring a pen with you to take notes

Allergy Disclaimer: The tutor provides all products supplied for use in this course. Ingredients mild to one person can cause a reaction in another. If you have any sensitivities to an ingredient provided you should not use that product. As with any bath and body product, if a rash or any irritation should occur, please discontinue use and check with your Doctor.

About the Tutor:

'Shirlee has been involved with handmade skincare products from a very early age. For example, she has been helping her grandmother make her handmade face and body moisturiser. Since then she’s continued crafting handmade items of all different kinds – including soaps, lotions, scrubs, and other body care items. In the beginning, these have been for gifts or personal/family use, until she created a few years ago business entity for retail and wholesale distribution of her items. Shirlee is a NICNAS registered soap maker and has taught soapmaking and other crafts to small groups and individuals, commencing with SGSCC in 2017 as a soapmaking and body care products tutor.'

Other Information:

• To ensure resources are ready for you at the start of your course, we ask you ideally enrol at least one week before the course commences.
• All courses need a minimum number of students to run ("we try our hardest to get those") . If your course does not have enough students it will be cancelled before the commencement and you will be informed.