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What Are the Different Types of Soap Making Kits?
Craft kits for making soap can be purchased in natural and holiday varieties as well as those made for children. In addition, some kits are geared toward adults who have never made soap before. The manufacturer of a soap craft kit generally aims to include everything a person needs to complete that craft. Soap base, fragrances, and molds are usually all included within a soap making kit regardless of which particular type it is. While ingredients such as soap bases and fragrances remain relatively similar from kit to kit, molds, fragrances, and decorations can vary significantly.
Soap making kits for kids usually contain glycerin, dyes, and molds. Depending on the kit, the manufacturer might also include glitter, bath salts, and other materials to decorate a soap bar during or after its formation. The glycerin can be melted in the microwave and poured into the mold of choice. While these kits are often easy and safe for children more than five years old, the instructions generally recommend parental supervision. Most kits come with enough ingredients to make several decorative bars of soap, and new materials must be ordered via postal mail or obtained by purchasing a new kit.
Unlike soap making kits for kids, natural soap kits are generally very involved and require a lot more effort than melting, pouring, and decorating. These kits come with vegetable and essential oils, herbs, and clays to form the soap bars. Molds, gloves, and other items required to safely formulate and mix a soap are also provided.
Holiday soap making kits are typically geared toward a specific holiday, such as Christmas or Valentine’s Day. The kit is usually designed to produce soaps that smell like something associated with the holiday. For example, a Christmas soap making kit might make soap that smells like gingerbread or peppermint. Holiday soap making kits often contain garnishments such as bows, ribbons, and stamps of a holiday scene. Some holiday soap making kits include themed molds; for example, an Easter holiday kit might have a rabbit or egg soap mold.
Some soap making kits are designed for beginners but are less simple than a children’s kit. These kits typically have relatively simple ingredients and fewer specialized options than other kits. The mold shapes included with beginner kits are often more generic and general purpose than the molds included with specialized kits. In some cases, the same company selling beginner kits offers advanced kits that include more options.
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![A bar of soap.]()
By: NataliiaA bar of soap. -
![Various fragrances can be incorporated into the making of soaps.]()
By: samantha grandyVarious fragrances can be incorporated into the making of soaps. -
![Soap making kits may include additives such as ground rosemary.]()
By: Hayati KayhanSoap making kits may include additives such as ground rosemary.
Discussion Comments
The very first time I made soap was with a soap making kit from Michaels. Not only did this kit have everything I needed to make some soap, but also came with a little booklet of instructions and tips.
I still have this little book as I have used many of the tips since then. One of the most useful things I learned from this was what to do if your soap gets air bubbles in it. All you have to do is spray it with some rubbing alcohol.
Most kits only come with one or two fragrance options. If you buy a soap making kit, the fragrances will usually be fragrance oils.
I like to use essential oils when I scent my soap, and there is a difference between the two. Now that I have made soap for a few years, I have everything I need, so I use the essential oils I have on hand.
The only time I would buy a soap making kit now would be to give it as a gift.
I think soap making kits make nice gifts and are great if this is your first time making something like this.
If you are going to be making a lot of soap though, you can save money by purchasing products from an online supplier.
I have made a few melt and pour soaps, but I took a soap making class at a community college to learn how to use the cold processing method.
This is much more complicated than melting and pouring, but I really love it. It gives you the chance to be so much more creative with the ingredients you are using.
If you do purchase a soap making kit, one thing to think about is if they have labels for your finished product. Some of the kits will include this and with other kits, you will have to come up with your own packaging ideas.
My guest bathroom is decorated in a tropical sea theme, but I had a hard time finding soaps to match it that weren't super expensive, so in the end I just got a soap making kit that had six different sea theme molds.
This was the first time I had made something like this. What I liked about the kit was it contained everything I needed to make the soap. Once my soap runs out, I already have the molds, so can buy more ingredients to make more soap.
These molds included a starfish, shell, dolphin and other types of fish. It also included three different colors of dye which were green, blue and yellow. These were the colors that matched perfectly with the other decorations in my bathroom.
The fragrances were also included in the kit, and reminded me of certain candle scents I have used before.
These glycerin soaps really look great in my guest bathroom and I think it adds a special touch for my visitors.
I was looking for a fun and easy craft to make with my kids for Valentines Day presents. I ended up buying a soap kit that had everything we needed to make several bars of soap.
This was an easy kit that used a melt and pour type of soap. Because the soap base was already scented, we didn't even have to worry about purchasing any fragrance oils.
I had some silicone heart molds on hand that we were able to use, so we had more types of soap than just the one mold that came with the kit.
Making soap with a melt and pour base is a great way to get kids interested in soap making. Since the soap base is already made, you don't even have to worry about finding any soap making recipes.
They also loved creating and decorating the packaging for the soaps they made.
@simrin-- You know, some online stores allow you to put your own soap making kit together. So you can make a kit with the ingredients you don't have at home which will make it much more affordable and you won't have to go to different places to gather all the ingredients. This is what I do all the time.
There is an online store which sells cold process soap making kits and ingredients that I shop with regularly. I don't purchase the oils from there because I get them in big batches and always have some left over at home like you said. What I do is I put together a soap making kit with the ingredients I want.
I did this for the holidays where I made holiday themed soaps to gift friends and family members. I put together a kit with different Christmas themed molds, soap base, several fragrances, essential oils and Christmas colors. If I tried to buy all of these ingredients individually from different places, I'm sure it would have cost more with shipping costs.
You can do the same. It doesn't cost that much this way. And as you gather more ingredients at home, you'll need less and less ingredients in your kit which will make it much cheaper.
@burcinc-- I agree that soap making kits are good for the first time, but I will personally not continue to buy them because they're so expensive. My soap making kit also had the same ingredients like yours and all of these ingredients are not that expensive. Most of us already have a lot of this stuff at home.
I personally have olive oil, castor oil, essential oils and things like oatmeal at home and they don't cost that much! I feel that soap making kits are sold at much higher prices than they need to be. It's okay to use it a couple of times until you get the hang of soap making. But it's hard to afford them all the time. It's much more affordable to buy the soap ingredients yourself.
My mom got me an organic soap making kit as a Christmas present this year. I've been wanting to try soap making for the longest time and she purchased a kit to make tea tree oil soap, which is one of my favorite soaps ever.
The kit included everything I needed -- the mold, variety of oils, shea butter, essential oils and other ingredients like oats, almonds and silk. All I did was follow the directions included in the kit and it came out perfect! I had a lot of fun doing it, it was much easier than I expected and I got a whole batch of soap out of it. The soaps are one of the best I've used and it's very gentle. I wash my face with it every morning!
I think these organic soap making kits are a great way to start soap making. I actually might continue to buy these kits. Even though I've learned the directions, it's nice to have everything measured for you and ready to go.
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