# Need help please! Soap making classes?



## Ark (Oct 5, 2004)

I have committed to doing something that I now regret! Mostly, I am just scared I will not do a good job....
I am teaching a class on soap making. 
I must come up with a 9 week lesson plan. The class will be one hour long. 

Does anyone have any ideas for me?
Anyone ever taken a soap making class?
Anyone ever TAUGHT a soap making class?

I'd like to just make 9 different kinds of soap, ranging from glycerin to goat milk to ???? what?

HELP PLEASE! I am not good at coming up with creative ideas.

PS. I am confident that I can make good soap. I've been making goat milk soap for many years. It's just that I need ideas for 9 lessons!!


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## linn (Jul 19, 2005)

I have never taught a soap making class, but I did teach in middle school for years. You need to sit down and outline what you want to teach.
Probably a lot of time in the first class will be taken up with getting aquainted, going over the outline or syllabus. I am sure you will probably have a list of the materials and equipment needed for melt and pour, cold process and hot process soaps. You will probably want to go over the safety precautions also.
If you have time left, you can demonstrate a simple melt & pour soap.
If you have each lesson outlined and planned before you even start your classes, things will go along much more smoothly. You need to decide if you want to do melt & pour first, then proceed to cold process and from there hot process soaps. I imagine you will want to discuss f.o.s and e.os. and maybe swirling etc. 
Once you get an outline of what you want to teach, you can change it, enlarge it or eliminate a demonstration.


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## cathleenc (Aug 16, 2007)

I'd include vegie-based soaps vs animal-based soaps, too (lard/tallow). grocery store soaps (average ability to find supplies easily) vs mail order special soaps. fo vs eo for scents. packaging. preserving. mold making. how to make mold liners. texture addititives. how to make your own recipe for the last class, using soap calc or other spreadsheets.

sounds fun1


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## halfpint (Jan 24, 2005)

Cathleenc has some great ideas. To those I would add hot and cold processed soaps, swirling, additives for coloring and liquid soaps.

What age group are you teaching? I've been asked to teach a group of 12-15 yo girls, but besides glycerin soaps, I think that is too young to teach a group. 

I would do the first soap with just lard, so that they can see trace with an inexpensive soap. 

Will each of them have supplies, or will you be making this as a group effort each time? How long will you teach will also affect what you can cover.

Dawn


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## MullersLaneFarm (Jul 23, 2004)

What to use for molds and how to make them. You can use Chestnut Farms mold plan for a simple, easy to make log mold. Or looking around the stores for various molds ... pringles cans, trays, silicone, cat boxes.

Please stress Safety First!

I teach a 2 hour 'seminar' of CP soap making each semester. If I stay on track, the lesson fits nicely in that time. I cover dangers of lye, what is soap, safety equipment, fatty acids, lye safety, liquids to use and how to use them, eye protection, EO & FO & other additives. I make a milk soap with swirls. Students can view me making each step, but by this time they are very, very cautious. That's okay by me. I'd hate for anyone to get hurt in class, leaving me liable.


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## Ark (Oct 5, 2004)

All 4 of you had wonderful helpful ideas!!
Thank you so much!
I am teaching 13 to 15 yr olds. I do not think that is too young as I taught my daughter to make soap at 10 yrs old, and she did great. I will keep the class size very small, and each child will have an adult to assist. Just in case. 
I have more I want to respond to from your replies, but I have a first freshener who just kidded, and wants nothing to do with those little aliens that popped out of her! I do not want bottle babies, so I need to go back out and work with her some more. Both babies are napping after their first nursing. Mama is huddling in a corner as far away from them as she can get. LOL. Lots of work ahead of me today.


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## Ark (Oct 5, 2004)

linn said:


> You need to sit down and outline what you want to teach.
> Probably a lot of time in the first class will be taken up with getting aquainted, going over the outline or syllabus. I am sure you will probably have a list of the materials and equipment needed for melt and pour, cold process and hot process soaps. You will probably want to go over the safety precautions also.
> If you have time left, you can demonstrate a simple melt & pour soap.
> If you have each lesson outlined and planned before you even start your classes, things will go along much more smoothly. You need to decide if you want to do melt & pour first, then proceed to cold process and from there hot process soaps. I imagine you will want to discuss f.o.s and e.os. and maybe swirling etc.
> Once you get an outline of what you want to teach, you can change it, enlarge it or eliminate a demonstration.


GREAT advice - thank you!! PLAN PLAN PLAN! 



cathleenc said:


> I'd include vegie-based soaps vs animal-based soaps, too (lard/tallow). grocery store soaps (average ability to find supplies easily) vs mail order special soaps. fo vs eo for scents. packaging. preserving. mold making. how to make mold liners. texture addititives. how to make your own recipe for the last class, using soap calc or other spreadsheets.
> 
> sounds fun1


I hadnt thought of mold making, and mold liners - thank you! I will go see what kind of info I can dig up on that subject.



halfpint said:


> Cathleenc has some great ideas. To those I would add hot and cold processed soaps, swirling, additives for coloring and liquid soaps.
> 
> What age group are you teaching? I've been asked to teach a group of 12-15 yo girls, but besides glycerin soaps, I think that is too young to teach a group.
> 
> ...


I will have them bring their own safety glasses, gloves, protective long sleeve shirt/apron, etc. But, I will be buying the supplies, and each child/parent will pay a small fee to cover supplies. This is a homeschool co-op class, and I will not be making any money to teach this class. If I accidentally overcharge for supplies, I will give a refund at the end of the 9 week session. There was a HUGE interest from the moms for this class - I have NO idea how many kids will actually want to sign up. The more moms that volunteer to teach various classes, the more classes our kids will have to choose from. 
I have to quickly figure out what to make each week, and research ingredient prices, so I can come up with a dollar amount per student. The class will be an hour and a half... I am worried that I will not be able to fill that amount of time! 



MullersLaneFarm said:


> What to use for molds and how to make them. You can use Chestnut Farms mold plan for a simple, easy to make log mold. Or looking around the stores for various molds ... pringles cans, trays, silicone, cat boxes.
> 
> Please stress Safety First!
> 
> I teach a 2 hour 'seminar' of CP soap making each semester. If I stay on track, the lesson fits nicely in that time. I cover dangers of lye, what is soap, safety equipment, fatty acids, lye safety, liquids to use and how to use them, eye protection, EO & FO & other additives. I make a milk soap with swirls. Students can view me making each step, but by this time they are very, very cautious. That's okay by me. I'd hate for anyone to get hurt in class, leaving me liable.


I have quite a few of the milky way type molds, and also some of the plastic silverware holder types... but I may need to make some log molds as well. 
I appreciate your Safety First advice - I have been going over some material to use in regards to that. 
So, in your seminar the students dont actually make soap themselves??


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## Ark (Oct 5, 2004)

So... how am I going to deal with the need for the students to remove soap from individual molds themselves? And cut the soap after it's been in the mold for 24 hours? The class is WEEKLY.
Do I have to pretend it's one of those cooking shows on TV? Make a batch the day before, then let them make the same recipe in class... then I will magicly whip out yesterday's batch so they can remove it from the mold and cut it themselves?? 
Argh... this is getting to be too much!! LOL


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## MullersLaneFarm (Jul 23, 2004)

Ark said:


> So, in your seminar the students dont actually make soap themselves??


No they don't. The seminar is offered by the local community college. There is only me as an instructor. If one of the students gets hurt with the lye solution, I'm sure I'd be sued and so would the college. They do get to view the soap making procedure and see various stages of trace and how to make a pretty swirl in a slab mold.

By the time we get to the actual soapmaking, I'm afraid the students are pretty intimidated by the use of lye. Even though I stress that even though lye can be dangerous when used improperly, so can many other things ... like a car.



Ark said:


> So... how am I going to deal with the need for the students to remove soap from individual molds themselves?


Use a high end water amount. Go for 38%-40% of the oil amount. Keep the soap covered to reduce the amount of evaporation. They should still be able to cut log molds quite easily after a week.


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