Soap Makers Help!

[cheeptrick]

IT IS PERFECT

I LOVE it....

The bars I put in muslin bags I shave off the tops....with a kitchen mandolin...because it just doesn't fit well and the cigar band wrapper does not fold nice over it. I'd leave these BARE so folks can smell it and also put a cigar band style wrapper around the length...not the width so you do not have any problems!!

YOUR soap is FABULOUS!!

 

[Backyard Buddies]

Thanks! And thanks for being there for me while I was in panic mode.

I thought for certain that the stirring had wrecked it and I'm so glad that it turned out OK.

Thanks for the wrapping ideas. I'm not in charge of wrapping, but I'll pass those hints along to those who are. Perhaps I'll post more pics later once that's done.

Kitchen mandolin . . . another thing to add to my *want* list.

 

[cheeptrick]

Quote:
I was scared the first time I whisked too...but it does make a difference with the milk based soaps. I wish you the best of luck...I think you are off to a great start. Those bars will be sold so quickly...your sure to be hooked!! And who knows? There may be a new soap company starting out there in Cally in a little church basement! Humble beginnings!!

Better get busy making more...I'm still shocked after dropping off a crate of soap one week and getting a call the next week they are sold OUT and need more! My soaping schedule used to be monthly....now it is weekly. 4 batches at LEAST....right now I've got 6 batches curing and I've got 2 pots melting right now on the stove. I'm hoping that I will not have to soap for a few weeks in January!!

October, November, December are my BIG months.

 

[Backyard Buddies]

Wow! A whole crate in a week?!! You must be doing something right cheeptrick! How do you display your soaps? I'm glad to hear it's going well for you!

I think I am addicted. I think about soap during the day. I dream about soap at night.

I keep thinking about what I can do next. Before too long, I'm going to have to place another order for lye as well as more FOs. Any recommendations?

What is a reasonable price to ask? We're not trying to match online prices (especially since we're new soapers) and are not trying to match Whole Foods (who charges $1.50 an ounce). Nor are we trying to make a ton of money. This is more about the garden and finding ways to help pay for the expenses so that we can keep the homeless shelter in fresh veggies. All proceeds go back to the garden.

 

[cheeptrick]

Quote:
You are in So CAL right? I'd ask $4.50 a bar!! Here in New England some soapers ask $4 and $5 a 4-5oz bar!! I personally think that is INSANE...a bar of soap should never cost more than $4!! I sell mine online for $3.50 and I sell them at the educational farm for $2.50 in wooden crates of approximately 15-20 bars. They get a lot of traffic...and it gets my business name out there. Plus it is wicked fun to go see their dairy barn and cows everytime I drop off eggs and soap! The farm then sells my bars for $4 each and they GO FAST! They run educational programs for the local schools and get a ton of traffic...so this is not surprising. I sell wholesale to stores for $3.00 and if someone orders a custom order for a wedding or a shower I charge $2.50 a bar for bulk orders. I do and can make smaller bars if the bride/mother to be requests....and will charge them less. I'm kind of a sucker for a sob story...but its been good for business. I do craft shows and usually come away with a pocketful and sell out very quickly. I've got 3 more craft shows before the holidays and plus I've recently been working on an online site because my customers BEGGED me for shipping etc. I also....custom design my labels for showers, weddings etc. I've done 1 large wedding (she chose lavender) and 1 family reunion. My cousin in AZ ordered 30 bars of BABY powder soap for a friends baby shower. That was fun!!
I am also going to donate a whole batch of soap to the Community Kitchen for the Holidays!! I will use up all my end pieces and shavings and make a large batch of soap and donate half of the soap to them. It's free advertisement and it gets your name out there. Plus I like to know that the homeless are getting a little bit of luxury by receiving my donation!

WHOA....I wrote too much. I tend to ramble!!

 

[cheeptrick]

Fragrance Oils Recommendations...
The Chemistry Store Fresh Lavender (I cannot keep it in stock)
Sweet Cakes Apple Jack Peel, Oatmeal Milk and HONEY (the best), CLEAN COTTON (yankee candle variety), Cucumber and Cantalope,

Essential Oils are BETTER....but very expensive. You can anchor your eo with fo and save a little $$ by blending the two. Make sure you label your ingredients on the label appropriately if you plan on selling to the public. Here is a sample of one of my labels:
Ingredients:
Saponified Olive, Coconut, and Palm Oils, Jojoba Oil, Stearic Acid, Fragrance Oil, Colloidal Oatmeal, Organic Goatsmilk and Sodium Hydroxide.

Microsoft word works well for labels...I have a template if you want it PM me and I'll email it to you!

You'd have to change the picture and business name of course...I'll change it to JOE SoapMaker for you with a silly photo and you can change it if you want.

 

[Backyard Buddies]

Thank you SOOOO much, Cheeptrick, for all your long-winded (long-typed???

) answer! I very much appreciate it!

The initial thought by the gang is to go toward the $3.00 - $3.50 range for a 4 - 5 ounce bar. I'm leaning more toward the $3.50 range since the only known source of local soap is Whole Foods at $1.50 an ounce (and I don't know how local that really is). The comparison for a 4 ounce bar would be $6.00.

I thought of the idea of offering a custom ordering option, with a 10 bar minimum order. Assuming it was something other people would want, at 10 bars it'd pay the costs of the 30+ bar batch. So, if we needed to sell the other 20+ bars, it'd be pure profit. None of us involved in the garden are taking free soap. We're not only donating our time, but we're paying for the soap as well . . . except for those dang end pieces, of course.

After all, the church is allowing us a 1/4 acre to garden, free of charge, with the understanding that we donate beyond our personal use to the homeless shelter and pay for our water usage. The proceeds from the soap help to pay for the water and new plants. In the next couple of weeks, we're putting in an entire border of herbs that we can also use in the soap - lavender, lemon verbena, rosemary, calendula, chamomile, etc.

That's a great idea about the community kitchen! I'll put that one on our to-do list as well.

So, you list it as "Saponified Olive" rather than "Olive, Sodium Hydroxide," etc?

Thanks for the fragrance recommendations!

I'll PM you about the template! Thanks! We have a logo already, so it'll be easy enough to add.

 

[jackiedon]

Quote:
I use paprika in my hibiscus fragrance soaps...it never came out like I wanted. Did you mix the paprika into the lye or at trace? I have used tomato juice in place of distilled water...it came out nice.

I think I'm going to try a coffee ground soap...call it HANG OVER soap! LOL Maybe I'll layer it...with oatmeal milk and honey on the bottom??

Thanks Cheeptrick, I watched it close and when it gelled I put it outside in the van to cool off. It's going to be a deep red when dried all the way through.

jackie

 

[jackiedon]

I use http://www.soapcalc.com/calc/soapcalcWP.asp for my soap cal. What is your normal INS number?

jackie

 

[chiknwhisperer]

My TSC book is due to be here on the 17th

It's in Indianapolis right now and thats only two hours away from me! I wish they could just get it here today. I thought UPs delivered on Saturdays as well don't they? I can't wait to get it here. The local library had nothing at all on soap. It makes me wonder how many people in my area make their own soap. My son's therapist thought I was working on this to take part in the reinactments around here twice a year. I told him I do this because I want to and I want to be self sufficent. He really thought that was interesting. I kinda feel like an oddity around here but I was never accused of doing things everyone else's way lol. Anyway,, TSC on the way