Melt and Pour Soap Fun

 

Melt and Pour Soapmaking Kit

My daughter received a melt and pour soapmaking kit, several years ago, which sat and waited until she felt like making it.  Sunday was the day when we decided to try it.

There were two blocks of glycerin soap included in the kit, which had to be cut up into small pieces for melting in the microwave:

Glycerin Soap

There were two pieces of loofa, which had to be dampened with water, then the excess water squeezed out, and wrapped in two thicknesses of plastic wrap all around and the bottom before being inserted into straight sided glasses:

Plastic Wrapped Loofa

Inserted in Glasses

We used my Christmas themed glasses as they were straight sided.  

Then, it was time to melt the soap and that's when the fun started!  My microwave is old and has a lower wattage than newer microwaves.  The directions said to heat the soap on high for 15 seconds and, if not melted yet, continue to heat in 5 second increments.  Well, 30 seconds didn't do anything and another 30 seconds barely softened it.  It took several additional 15 second sessions to melt the soap to a pourable consistency.  Maybe the soap dried out during the time it sat waiting to be used.  Maybe we should have added a tiny bit of water when we were melting it, although the instructions didn't say so.

We were supposed to leave the melted soap to cool until a film formed on the top, but, the soap began to solidify almost as soon as it was taken out of the microwave!

Then, when daughter poured the already solidifying soap, we found that it didn't quite reach the top off the loofa!  Anyway, it was left in the glasses until the soap solidified and then, removed from the glasses:

Out of the Glasses

Then sliced into rounds:

Slicing the Blue Tinted Soap

Looks Pretty, Doesn't It?

Slicing the Pink Tinted Soap

Slices of Pink Soap

The soap is scented, but, I can't tell what the fragrance is; lavender, maybe?  The kit is supposed to make up to 16 individual pieces, but, daughter managed to make 10.  

Ten Pretty Slices of Soap Filled Loofa

There were still some loofa leftover and a little soap that had solidified on the insides of the jars we used in which to melt them.  That's when I decided to experiment a little!  I mixed the leftover soap residue with some water and poured the much diluted soap solution into the leftover loofa pieces and made quite a mess, actually, because the solution didn't seep into the loofa, nicely, and went all over the place, instead!  All this was done with accompanying cries of, "Oh, no, Ammi!  What are you doing?  Where are you pouring it?  You are making a mess!" etc., and much laughter from both of us!  However, it hardened into a soft set which was good enough for me!  I set those pieces out to dry overnight, and I will use them.  The prettier pieces that my daughter made have been set aside for gifting.  

It was a fun project to do together.  We laughed, we agreed the kit made some pretty pieces of soap, there is one less craft kit gathering dust on the shelf, and we might have created some holiday gifts for giving.  What is more, we created some memories and those are more precious than anything else, aren't they?  It was a blessing to do a fun craft project with my daughter and a joyful activity, too.  I am grateful that we were able to do this craft project together.