New soap making guide available on Facebook promises to teach anyone how to make homemade soap quickly and safely.

Bellevue, WA -- (SBWire) -- 10/18/2011 --Many people have discovered the joys of soap making in the last few years. It is an exciting hobby that also provides a good product that is used on a daily basis. While some have taken it even further and started selling their homemade soap in small batches, others who are interested in the craft have hesitated to get started. The perceived difficulty and risk associated with making handmade soap from scratch no doubt have something to do with it.

A new guide freely available on Facebook sets out to change that. The guide, delivered in downloadable ebook format, has the fitting title "How To Make Soap" and claims to contain all the knowledge a beginner will need for getting started with his or her soap making adventures.

History and definitions

The book starts off with a historical overview of soap making, spanning everything from 5000 year old legends and historical documents to the advent of the modern soap making industry.

It then moves on to define what soap actually is, explaining the difference between homemade and industrial soap. As it turns out the latter is oftentimes actually not soap, but a form of detergent. According to the author of How To Make Soap, this is one of the biggest reasons for more and more people turning to handmade and/or homemade soap - the strong detergents present in a lot of commercial soap causes dry skin, eczema and other skin problems.

After switching to what the book would define as "real soap", many consumers have reported that their skin feels a lot healthier.

Getting started with making soap

The main portion of the guide however, is as one would expect dedicated to the practical aspects of soap making. The reader is first introduced to the basic principles of making homemade soap, using various oils and lye as the main ingredients. As lye, or Sodium hydroxide, is a potentially dangerous chemical several important safety aspects are discussed first.

The are four methods of soap making covered in the book: melt and pour, cold process, hot process and the rebatching method. Each method is explained in detail, covering the pros and cons and different results one can expect to achieve with each one.

Several recipes for making soap with the cold and the hot process are also included. And for those who wish the expand on those with recipes of their own, detailed saponification charts (in what ratio to combine lye and fat) for a long list of oils is included as well.

As the basic ingredients for making homemade soap are cheap and easy to find, How To Make Soap should indeed allow anyone keen on learning the craft of soap making to create their very first batch of homemade soap soon after reading the guide.