Unlock the Secrets of Soapmaking Chemistry: A Guide to Cold Process Soapmaking

Julie Beaudin: A great comprehensive read for the serious soaper.

United States on Aug 14, 2023

Martha: This was awesome to understand formulation.

United States on May 29, 2023

Amazon Customer: arrived in good condition and in a timely manner. I
am still reading it, it is a book I have been interested in reading for a long time

Canada on Jun 09, 2022

Martina Masserano: Dopo una lunga ricerca volta all'acquisto di un libro che mi aiutasse nell'autoproduzione casalinga di saponi, mi sono imbattuta in questo. Non è disponibile in italiano, perciò è adatto solo a chi sa abbastanza bene l'inglese.
"Scientific Soapmaking" è un libro completo che guida il lettore-studente passo dopo passo, cominciando prima con la produzione di piccoli batch di sapone a scopo sperimentale e poi spiegando la chimica che c'è dietro, partendo dalle nozioni di base di chimica generale e organica per finire a come applicarle nella produzione di batch di sapone più grandi e nel controllo qualità.
Potrebbe essere un po' macchinoso seguire alla lettera tutti gli esperimenti che propone, soprattutto quelli della seconda parte, pensati più per degli studenti di chimica che per dei produttori di sapone; tuttavia, trovo molto utili gli esperimenti della prima parte, quella legata alla produzione di piccoli batch di sapone. Avendo già buone basi di chimica, l'ho trovato utilissimo e validissimo sia per portare avanti la mia passione sia per un rinfresco di nozioni; data la semplicità e la chiarezza con cui queste vengono esposte, a mio parere questo libro può...

Italy on Apr 29, 2021

Eloiza M.: I just started reading it, chapter 2. With that said, here is what I think
The begining is very explanatory, and detailed. As a person that has a Chemistry degree, this is a little too detailed, but it is good if you are starting from zero. I have high expectations for this book, and from this start I feel like it will deliver it!
So I like it very much!

Canada on Jan 07, 2021

J. C. N.: First a bit of relevant information about me - I originally graduated with a BS Chemistry; about 15 years ago I made a career switch to culinary arts and have since made it to a level where I get to craft my own food for the public. So I decided to pick up soapmaking as a quarantine hobby since it's literally a kissing cousin of Modernist ("molecular") cooking.

Of course with a relatively in-depth background, most soapmaking books and resources are of limited use - invaluable for learning the techniques , but literally after my first three batches I had some fairly technical chemistry-based questions that were quite hard to find satisfactory answers to. Really heavy soaping tomes are focused on industrial processes; the information they provide is both limited in use for an artisan home operation, and require more detailed chemical/industrial process soaping knowledge than I currently have. So I grabbed Scientific Soapmaking; there were a few reviews that specifically said it was a bit light for us trained chemists but it certainly looked far better than anything else non-industrial so I grabbed it.

And...it's good, it's very good, but it's not what I was initially...

United States on Oct 12, 2020

Jaspreet Chhabra: It is a great book. Very carefully and analytically written. I treat it as a treasure. One must read who is in love with its application. It is a knowledge which can be tested practically and gives many insights and knowledge. I wish, if could have got this much earlier in my life; i would have chosen a very different career.

India on Jun 15, 2020

Cerebus: This is a very good book. As a trained chemist who practices soap making as a hobby, I was at first puzzled by the way Kevin M. Dunn works, weighing the lye solution instead of using a burette and measuring a volume for a tritration for instance, until I realized he developped this method for people with no background in laboratory techniques and adequate equipment, so this book is for everyone, even if the calcuations might be a little bit tricky . I have definitively learnt a lot from this book. A must have.

France on Mar 03, 2019

Emily: Highly reccomended book,but not for the beginner looking to learn for the first time,and this is not a recipe book but more of a laid back chemistry class type text book (wish i had this guy as my science teacher in high school-I wouldnt have failed,lol!).First learn with other books that have recipes,get comfortable and confident in the process,get a few batches under your belt then get this book.It helps you understand the science behind the reactions and helps you understand how to do it better there is a lot of math and calculations.I am a "scientific"thinking person, but had I bought this book first to learn all the "beyond the basics"of soap making.....I would run the other way and never given soap making a second thought,lol!You can and should learn with basic books first,decide you love soap making,then get this book.Because if you don't love soap making, you probably won't get past page 10 of this book.Soap making is a science/art and this book is all science full of experiments like in high school.ALL IN ALL, THIS IS A ROCK STAR OF A BOOK AND WELL WORTH THE PRICE.YOU GET AN ENOURMOUSE AMOUNT OF CHEMISTRY KNOWLEDGE YOU WON'T FIND IN ANY OTHER SOAP BOOK,BUT YOU HAVE TO...

United States on Oct 26, 2014

K. Ammon: Scientific Soapmaking is a book that takes soap very, very seriously. It's dense with information, but that information may not be exactly what you expect. While a lot of the book does indeed cover the underlying chemistry of soap and tackles some of the important issues soap makers face, a huge portion of the book is all about doing your own experiments. The entire first third of the book is teaching you how to make small (1-bar), highly accurate (measuring ingredients in grams to two decimals out), quick-turnaround (you're buying a roasting oven to speed things up) test runs.

This degrees of accuracy and reproducibility is such that I can only imagine a full-time professional being interested in jumping through these hoops to get there. The problem is that he doesn't gear the book just towards professionals, or even experienced soapmakers; he tries to bring beginners - who have never made a bar of soap, let alone used a lye calculator - up to speed. Beginners who have never made soap before should not be relying on this book to get them started: he asks you to make a substantial investment in equipment, chemicals, and time (leaning how to do things in very specific ways)...

United States on Apr 17, 2010