Soap making equipment for hot process

To make soap, you'll need some equipment that's easy to find. In fact, you may already have a lot of this right in your own kitchen.

• Stick blender - get a good, solid one. You're going to use it a lot!
• Crock pot - this is for smaller batches of hot process soap.
• Thermometer - a candy thermometer works just fine.
• Digital scales - you need scales that will weigh in both ounces and pounds. If you do eBay shipping, you probably already have them. Mine will weigh items up to 35 pounds.
• Soap molds - these can be simple. I use sections of a downspout for a gutter system. They are cut into 12 inch lengths for easy handling. I'll give you details about using this later. You can also use anything that you can pour the soap into and pop it out of relatively easily.
• Lye - no lye, no soap.
• Water - not from a water softener system. There are trace chemicals in it that can ruin your soap. Use distilled water, well water, or rain water. Even the condensation from your air conditioner will work.
• Fat - this can be shortening, lard, olive oil, canola oil, tallow, coconut oil, or any number of other oils or fats.
• Vinegar - this is for a weak solution to rinse your skin if you happen to splash lye water on it.
• Goggles - you must use protective equipment.
• Rubber gloves - see previous.
• Full apron - also see previous.
• Utensils - spoons, measuring cups, ladles, etc. that you can dedicate to soap making. These can be plastic utensils from the Dollar Store.
• A tub or tote - for storing your soap making supplies.

That is the short list. You'll be adding more to the list later as you learn about fragrances and colorings for soaps.