Somebody who claimed to be the first soapmaker in Malaysia (which I think is quite a ridiculous claim!) actually proposed a MYR10k fee to teach my bro-in-law’s students soapmaking and it’s not even on making cold-process soap but melt-n-pour!
I do noticed that there has been an increasing interest in MYO soaps lately here in Malaysia. I was even approached by some customers who want to learn about the process of soapmaking. I’m a big fan of natural soaps and really love the luxurious feel of a good bar of ol’ -fashioned lye soap. Making your own soap is fun and satisfying and the soaps you made from scratch without the addition of SLS or other synthetics are the best luxury you can make for your own self. It’s an affordable hobby and the soaps you make can be given out as gifts to friends and family.
Next year, I’m planning to come up with my own handcrafted range of cold-processed goatsmilk and vanilla-themed soap for GreenVanillaStore.com made with olive oil, shea butter, cocoa butter and fresh goats milk scented primarily with real vanilla. Hopefully I’ll be able to offer these soaps by middle of 2010.
Anyway, for would-be soapmaking enthusiasts, don’t be tricked by anyone who’d charged you an exhorbitant sum of money for teaching kitchen-science. Soapmaking is not exactly rocket-science you know…if you can cook a decent meal, you can make a decent bar of soap 
. So, if you want to get started with soapmaking, you need to learn/know the basics first. Hope the list below that I’ve compiled for you helps:
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SOAPMAKING RESOURCE,TUTORIALS & SUPPLIES - A great site to get started, plenty of STEP-BY-STEP instructions and guide with pictures, tutorials on soapmaking basics, ingredients explanation, plenty of tips and guidance. You can even contact Steve, the site owner if you need any clarification and assistance on soapmaking. Steve is very helpful and won’t charge you $10k for answering your questions
To get started check out the site’s links:
How Soap is Made:Saponification Explained
Soapmaking Ingredients Explained
Making Cold-Process Soaps: Step by Step With Pictures
Making Melt-n-Pour Soaps: Step By Step With Pictures
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HOW TO MAKE COLD-PROCESS SOAP FROM SCRAP – a great soapmaking picture tutorial by David Fisher at About.com
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SOAPMAKING TUTORIALS & RECIPES – www.teachsoap.com another fabulous site…a must visit for newbie and veteran soapmakers
For video tutorials on soapmaking, there are plenty of them on youtube.com, here are some of my faves:
-from ourharps
from howtomakeart
-from wholesalesupplies
Look at these fabulous melt-n-pour glycerine soaps from MishMash Soap:
kazi said,
UTC09000000Mon, 15 Mar 2010 09:19:23 +00002315am10, @ 9:19 am
Salam helwa,
Hope everything is good with your new motherhood life. I came across your site bila i tengah sibuk mencari little quantity of shea butter to make my own lotion. I can’t believe that malaysia adalah salah satu pengeluar koko and yet susahnya nak mencari unrefined shea butter sold in small quantity. Anyway, tahun lepas since balik dari NZ, i developed ‘eczema’ kat tangan. I’m sure it’s alahan to the chemicals in beauty and cleaning products. So I’m trying to go green this year. So…i need shea butter. Help!
helwa said,
UTC01000000Thu, 18 Mar 2010 13:09:14 +00001418pm10, @ 1:09 pm
Hi,
…yep, susah nak beli premium Grade-A cocoa butter in small amount here….yang kat bakery supply store tak up to standard, I contacted one cocoa butter processor in Klang and their minimum order is like 20kg…I ended up buying Grade-A cocoa butter (from Malaysia tuh) in the USA…funny huh? But will be offering organic cocoa butter and dark cocoa butter from Ghana soon. i have samples of dark cocoa butter if you’re interested…it’s softer and more aromatic than the usual one. Use it in my whipped belly butter, delicious! I think i did wrote about it here in this blog.
Thanks kazidah…sheabutter’s back online. Please check out my store ok