When creating homemade soap, you’ll need a variety of soap making supplies, including your preferred base. The base serves as the foundation of your product and can be personalized with fragrances, colors, and natural additives. Some options are pre-scented, while others are pre-cured for quick packaging and selling. Here are several different types of soap bases for your craft:
Melt-And-Pour Bases
Using melt-and-pour soap bases is one way to avoid handling lye and other chemicals when making your products. These bases simplify the soap making process while allowing you to achieve more customization through scents, colors, and other additives. They come in solid forms that require melting before incorporating your chosen additives and soap making supplies.
You can find melt-and-pour bases in clear or low-sweat varieties. Low-sweat bases are specially formulated to reduce moisture loss and oil separation. This may help your finished soap maintain its appearance and consistency over time. Some bases also feature specific ingredients or blends, such as butter and oils. Options you can find at apothecary shops include shea butter, cocoa butter, glycerin, goat milk, honey, and aloe vera. These bases allow you to add unique scents and colors. You may use dry herbs to add texture to exfoliating soaps or essential oils for enhanced aromatherapy. Each base has specific benefits, such as:
- Glycerin: Cleanses and moisturizes different skin types.
- Shea Butter: Soothes and moisturizes sensitive skin.
- Goat Milk: Hydrates dry and sensitive skin.
- Honey: Provides antibacterial properties for acne-prone skin.
- Aloe Vera: Provides a natural aftercare for sunburns and irritation.
- Cocoa Butter: Offers deep moisturization with an enhanced lather.
Ready-To-Package Bars
If you prefer not to melt soap bases yourself, opt for ready-to-package bars and loaves. These soap bases are fully cured and finished, and they can be pre-cut into bars ready for use. They’re ideal for saving time when making and selling high volumes of custom soaps. Your work is reduced to cutting, labeling, and packaging, making the bases suitable for boutiques, resellers, and busy entrepreneurs. Ready-to-package bases allow you to focus on branding and selling rather than production. They come in standard bar sizes and may be wrapped or unwrapped. Choose uncut loaves for custom cutting and portion control or personal stamping and branding.
Ready-to-package bars and loaves can be made by the supplier using oils, butter, and lye. Cold process bases produce rich, long-lasting soaps, while hot process options have a rustic texture and dense structure. Other available bases include glycerin and organic or natural bars. The bases have many customization options but come pre-cured with their scents and colors. Scent options include essential oils and fragrance blends, while color choices range from natural clays to mica powders and botanicals. Common additives include charcoal, oatmeal, lavender, and lemongrass.
Liquid Soap Bases
Unscented liquid bases are ideal for making shampoos, conditioners, shower gels, castile soaps, and hand detergents. The bases are pre-saponified, meaning they’ve undergone saponification, which turns oils and lye into soap. They’re supplied unscented, allowing you to incorporate your preferred fragrances. Some suppliers offer natural bases formulated using certified organic ingredients. Such bases may not contain sulfates, parabens, or GMOs, helping them cater to specific customers. Liquid bases are suitable for DIY crafts and product lines because they eliminate the need for handling lye and other chemical processes. You can order pre-thickened liquids, or you may dilute or thicken the bases yourself to achieve your desired consistency.
Castile liquid soap bases are made from vegetable oil blended with coconut or other oils, resulting in a mild, gentle, and silky texture. Glycerin bases use blended plant oils, such as coconut and soybean, and have a clear, bubbly consistency. Organic bases may incorporate certified organic oils like sunflower and jojoba. Customization options include colorants, herbal extracts, oatmeal, honey, fragrances, essential oils, and vitamins. Liquid soap bases are time-saving, customizable, and scalable, making them ideal for both home crafters and small businesses.
Find Quality Soap Making Supplies
Soap bases offer options for everyone, from beginners to experienced makers. Whether you want to craft every aspect of your soap or add quick customizations to readymade bars, suppliers have various options. Contact an apothecary shop today to learn more about their bases and other soap making supplies.
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