The first thing that you need to know is that soap making is not something that children should handle since the melt and pour method requires fire and the lye (in case soap is being made from the basic ingredients) can be dangerous to handle. It is advised to use only pure lye granules and make sure that you do not experiment with this process by trying to use drain cleaners since they contain other ingredients as well. The one way of ensuring that you buy pure and original material is to buy from a reputable soap making store.

When you are making soap you should work in an area that is ventilated properly. The vapors that emanate during the process can be hazardous to health. Take are to avoid the lye falling on your skin while you are preparing the mixture to add into the fat. Keep vinegar handy so that you can neutralize the effect in case some falls on your skin. Lye is very strong and it can also remove the paint from your walls and therefore you may want to cover the area with some newspaper or ensure that your working area is away from any of the walls that you do not want spoilt. It also reacts with aluminum or zinc since it reacts with them and converts to salt.

The melt and pour method of soap making is far easier and safer and it allows you to experiment with as much creativity as you want.