Soapmaking Simplified: A beginners Guide

Start with the fundamentals. Build your confidence. Then go further.

Learning to make cold-process soap can feel overwhelming. There are oils and butters to understand, lye calculations, SAP values, superfat, water, temperatures and trace. And before you start experimenting with colours, fragrances, swirls and your own recipes, there’s one thing you need to get right:

The fundamentals.

That’s exactly what Soapmaking Simplified is designed to teach.

Created by Naina, founder of Sat.Suma and an artisanal soapmaker from India, this is a focused beginner’s course designed to help you understand and confidently make cold-process soap from scratch.

We deliberately keep things simple.

Rather than overwhelming you with advanced techniques and endless variations, we focus on helping you understand the foundations of soapmaking properly, so you can build on them as your skills grow.

What will you learn?

You’ll learn the essential science and practical skills behind cold-process soapmaking, including:

• The role of oils, butters, lye and water

• Understanding SAP values and superfat

• How to formulate a basic soap recipe

• How to safely prepare and work with lye

• How to bring your soap to trace

• How to pour, unmould, cut and cure your soap

• The essential principles you need to make soap confidently and safely

And most importantly, you won’t just follow a recipe blindly.

You’ll understand why you’re doing what you’re doing.

Why start with the basics?

Because great soapmaking is built on strong foundations.

Once you understand the fundamentals, you’ll be in a much better position to explore more complex formulations, ingredients, designs and techniques later.

Soapmaking Simplified is your starting point, not the finish line.

It’s for the curious beginner who wants to properly learn the craft before getting lost in all the possibilities.

Start simple. Understand the science. Make your first soap.

Then see where your creativity takes you.