Artisanal Soap Making

Soap is one of the best things to get out of wax and surplus honey: it turns raw material that sells cheap in bulk into a product with a name.

Temperature rules, again

Beeswax melts between 61 and 65 ºC and above 140 ºC it loses the volatiles that give it its smell. Honey and fragrances go in at the end and cool, once the mix has come down: put them in hot and the aroma evaporates and the sugar in the honey caramelises and darkens the soap. Always melt in a water bath — there is a specific container from €9.90 — and never over direct heat.

What is here and what is not

What is here is the equipment: silicone moulds with comb and bee motifs, honey fragrance (€4.50), liquid colourants for glycerine base (€2.95) and the melting container. Wax and propolis are in their own categories, and the general moulds and wicks are in candle-making supplies.

The silicone moulds are the same ones used for candles: if you already make candles, you have much of the kit.

About what you can put on the label

Soap is a cosmetic product and is subject to its own rules — Regulation (EC) 1223/2009 and Regulation (EU) 655/2013. You can say what it is made of, how it was made and what it contains. You cannot attribute effects on the skin that you cannot substantiate, and selling it requires meeting labelling, responsible-person and safety-assessment requirements that go beyond making it well.

For your own use and as gifts, none of that applies. If you are going to sell, find out before producing the first batch: it is cheaper than redoing the labels.