Basic melt and pour soap Making soap at home is a practical and satisfying skill to learn. Whether you'd like a natural alternative to store-bought soap, or you're a crafty person looking for a new creative venture, making soap is fun and not too difficult. Melt and pour soap is basically melting a pre-made soap base and then pouring it into a soap mold, hence the name! Although some soapers consider using this method as ‘cheating’, I find that there are some techniques where melt and pour is the more suitable soap than cold process soap. 1. Cut up the soap base in small cubes and add them to the heat proof glass jug. In the past few years, many kinds of melt and pour soap bases have become available, such as goats milk, olive oil, shea butter, honey, and even a wobbly jelly-like soap base! Cut up the required amount of melt and pour soap base into small cubes and place them in a heat proof glass jug . 2. In short 20-30 second bursts, melt the soap base in your microwave on your highest setting. The technique of melting and pouring the pre-made soap is very simple. Be careful your soap does not boil! If you don’t have a microwave, you can melt the soap on the stove using the double boiler method (placing one smaller pot inside a bigger pot of water). 3. Once the soap is completely melted, add your fragrance and colour and mix well. You can use essential oils or skin-friendly fragrances. To colour your soap, you can use special soap dyes or powders, micas, or liquid food colouring. Note that colours added to a white soap base will become pastel coloured. To achieve bright vivid colours, you will need to use a clear soap base. And if you find your soap has hardened in the meantime, just pop it back into the microwave again for another 20 seconds. 4, Carefully pour the soap into your soap mold and let it harden before removing the soaps from the molds. If there are any bubbles on the surface, you can disperse them by spritzing some isopropyl alcohol (available from pharmacies) on it. Leave the soap to harden fully before removing from the mold. Because melt and pour soap contains glycerin, a humectant, which attracts moisture, it is important to wrap your soaps in glad wrap as soon as they have cooled down and hardened. Finished soap