Bamboo skewers: soap's unlikely hero

One of my favorite crafts is making melt and pour soap. Melt and pour is a soap making method in which you buy a ready made soap base and then melt it on the stove top or in the microwave and add fragrances, colorants and/or exfoliants of your choice then pour into a mold to cure.

There are many how-to books available in craft stores with step by step instructions and recipes for melt and pour soap-making. However, there is one tool that I have found indispensable in the soap making process that you will not find mentioned in any of those books.


It is the humble and unlikely, bamboo skewer. If yours is like many households you have a bag of these in your kitchen somewhere and you don't remember why you bought them. Now is the time to get them out.

The skewer is the perfect stirring stick for small batches of soap. Hot melted soap has a mind of it's own, it goes where it pleases and you are powerless to stop it, that is where the skewer comes in. Also, there is always a rough edge on the back of the soap when you unmold it. The rounded and slightly rough side of the skewer is perfect for smoothing that edge down by simply rubbing it along the edge gently. If you make a soap with a rubber stamp image in it, the sharp pointy end of the skewer can be used to cut away any excess soap that is hanging over your image. The sharp end can also be used to carefully cut away extra soap on a two tone soap where one color oversteps its boundaries.

Another reason I like the skewer so much is that it is so inexpensive. You don't have to feel guilty about throwing it away after you are done with your soap making. Now that you know that those books leave out this important tool you can go buy one and a bag of skewers (or pull out that bag you have stashed somewhere) and have some good clean soap making fun.