Jill Hart

Making soap doesn’t have to mean working with lye, buying a pile of specialty equipment, or turning your kitchen into a chemistry lab. Melt-and-pour soap is one of the easiest ways to start making your own bars at home, and you really only need a few basic supplies to get going. This list includes the tools, soap bases, scents, colors, add-ins, and gift-making supplies that make the process easier and more fun. Start with what you’ve got, add what you actually need, and skip the rest. That title is strong, too. It’s much better than something generic like “Melt & Pour Soap Supplies” because it speaks directly to the person who wants to make soap but does not want to mess with lye.*Some recommendations may contain affiliate links, which means I may earn a commission if you purchase through them at no additional cost to you.

You do not need a kitchen full of fancy bread-baking equipment to make bread that's better than what you're bringing home from the grocery store. Flour, water, yeast or starter, salt and an oven will get you surprisingly far. But there are a handful of tools that make homemade bread easier, more consistent and frankly a whole lot prettier. These are the things I'd spend money on first, plus a few upgrades that are nice to have once you've caught the bread-baking bug. Use what you've got. Add what makes a difference. Eat really good bread.*Some recommendations may contain affiliate links, which means I may earn a commission if you purchase through them at no additional cost to you.

You don't need goats, a fancy soap-making studio, or a kitchen full of specialized equipment to make goat milk soap. These are the things I actually recommend, including what you probably already own, what's worth buying, and a few fun things you can add later. I learned some of these lessons the hard way — including stirring my first batch of soap BY HAND for five or six hours.*Some recommendations may contain affiliate links, which means I may earn a commission if you purchase through them at no additional cost to you.

You don't need goats, a fancy soap-making studio, or a kitchen full of specialized equipment to make cold process soap. These are the things I actually recommend, including what you probably already own, what's worth buying, and a few fun things you can add later. I learned some of these lessons the hard way — including stirring my first batch of soap BY HAND for five or six hours.*Some recommendations may contain affiliate links, which means I may earn a commission if you purchase through them at no additional cost to you.