I have been using natural hand made soap for around five years now and have been interesting in learning how to make my own for ages. However, all the books and online information make it sound quite complicated. When I went to the Avalon Fair last November there was a stall I was instantly attracted to as it sold, not only hand made soap but Palm Oil Free soap (hurrah for the orangutans) into the bargain! I had an interesting chat with the two ladies who made the soap and jumped at the chance to sign up for their soap making course.
After a long wait I finally went on the course at the end of February. It was an all day event at their house where all the ingredients and tools were provided as well as a delicious lunch and refreshments. There were only four participants which meant it was nice and intimate and we got to ask loads of questions. We worked in pairs and made four different recipes with a total of twenty four soaps to take home each.
The method we learnt – cold-press soap making – was nowhere near as complicated as it had previously sounded and I shall definitely be trying it again at home soon. The soaps will take three to four weeks to cure and then the big test – will they be as good to use as they look and smell?
Here are my curing soaps. From left to right they are:
- Honey, almond meal and cinnamon soap
- Goats milk, lavender and patchouli soap
- Healing bentonite clay and lemon myrtle soap
- Orange, ginger and wattle seed soap
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Sounds like fun and they look good
Thank you. I think they should be nearly ready to try out now. I will send you one over with Dad when he goes back
Hi Alex, I am looking to do a soap making workshop, I like the making method you descrbed and also the look of the soaps you made. How often do they run the workshop? Can I please have their contact details? Thanks
Hi Maggie, I think they run the workshops as and when they have enough interested people. They are called Remington & Emmett and are based in Bayview on Northern Beaches of Sydney if that is local to you.
They don’t have their website up and running yet, otherwise I would point you there, so if you would like me to I can pass on your email address for them to contact you? Let me know
Hi Alex, I would love the contact details of Remington & Emmett – I bought one of their hand creams in Canowindra (Central West NSW) and would love some more. Also would love to see their soaps too!
Hi Shannon. I will pass your email address onto them so they can get in touch. I don’t want to post phone numbers here without asking and email addresses would be a target for spam. Hope this is ok.
Thaks Alex, much appreciated.
Hi again!! They contacted me and I managed to accidentally delete the email! Could you please ask them to email me again or pass on their email address to me?
Thanks so much,
Shannon
They look amazing – well done you! Like you, I thought soap making was terribly complicated; I love that you ran with it anyway and learned to the contrary. The lemon and clay one sounds heavenly. Can’t wait to see how they turn out!
I’ve made another batch of each flavour since so I know I can do it without help now. I just have to save up some money to buy more ingredients and experiment with different essential oils etc, oh and find some spare time of course! I’d definitely recommend trying it yourself if you can. It’s so hard finding a good soap without palm oil and so satisfying making your own