Soap Makers Help!

[ametauss]

I ordered the samplers from several places and use those to make 1.5# batches. Now I'm having to order much larger bottles to do 5# batches.

Enjoy playing with the scents.

 

[19Dawn76]

I was reading one of the Foxfire books containing a chapter on soap making and wondered if any of you get your own lye from ash. If so how long did it take?

 

[BirdBrain]

Lurky's husband does not want to sell these...

Perhaps he should reconsider.

 

[chickenvirgin]

Well I made my first batch of soap yesterday and I just unmolded it and it looks awesome. I use a no scent or colour recipe with lots of good butters and oils and superfatted it 5%. Today I am going to try a batch with just olive oil and canola and I have a oatmeal, honey so and I am going to add some ground oatmeal to it too. Guess what everyone is getting for Christmas.......

thank you everyone for the good advice!

 

[cheeptrick]

Quote:
Perhaps he should reconsider.

I'm working ON HIM!!

BYC Soapers alone would keep him busy!!

Here is the pic of the Fuzzy Hippie soap and my Cucumber Mint Sea Salt bar...both rough cut...I'll ripple cut the Fuzzy Hippie because it got soap ash...not sure why....same recipe???? Maybe it was the Titanium dioxide??

YAY....chickenvirgin....welcome to the soaping addiction!!

I had my 3rd fair this season....today....did the best EVER!

3 more fairs to go!!

 

[chiknwhisperer]

I had my second school show this week today and it sucked more then the one I did on Thursday. I barely made anything after I made my vendor fee back. I did much better at the markets and the harvest fest then I have at the schools. I shouldn't get discouraged I guess since this is my first couple of times doing the school thing. Both spots that I got were not in a good spot. Today the hallway that I was in people were going by so fast you would have thought there was a fire down there. The poor lady and her daughter next to me only had one sale today. It was from me. They were selling VERY nice jewelry that they made. Alot of people packed up early. I held out to the end and didn't make another sale.
I haven't soaped in a couple weeks and I have decided to go ahead and send in my check for the master gardners expo. It is in a very big expo center out here and last year they had a TON of people go through there and a ton of vendors. And it was a personal invite so I really shouldn't turn down the great offer.

 

[lurky]

Quote:
Perhaps he should reconsider.

I'll let you know if he is ever able to produce more

 

[ametauss]

Lurky -- I did offer a bribe....

CP -- That Fuzzy Hippie is great cut!!

 

[chiknwhisperer]

Amber I can't remember if you said where you get your labels from for your difrent containers. And I think you were right about the roll on bottles. I think if I had the spray bottles people would react better to them. The roll ons just aren't getting the kind of reaction I was going for and I think its because they have no clue as to what it is. A lot of people see them and they ask if I am selling EO's and get dissapointed when I say no. You think maybe I should start doing that. I really didn't want to because I want to use them for my soaps and my perfumes but they really want them and there is the whole make the customer happy thing.

 

[Morgaine]

Hey Corrie, I just get my labels from the office store and print them out, though I would love to get some made. I just don't have a real consistant line yet and it wouldn't be worth it. But if you are interested, I do have a couple of placed saved that make labels.

As for the roll ons, have you tried demonstrating them? I usually have one of each scent open, tell people that they are roll on perfumes and then roll a bit on my wrist. I tell them why I like roll ons, (it goes just where you want, you don't have to worry about bothering other people by spraying perfume in a workplace like setting and you don't loose perfume into the air). I think sometimes you gotta show customers what the stuff is because they just don't know. I get a lot of people asking if it is lip gloss.

I get asked if I sell eo's too. So far I have not yet, but I have thought about it. I just don't know about selling them in the roller balls, I would not want some one to put undiluted eo on their skin and I don't know how I feel about selling diluted eo's either. So I'm in the same prediictament as you, lol. And if you don't want to sell eo's, then don't.

So far for me, 90% of my sales come from soap. And soap is what I enjoy making so I'm going to concentrate on that. I'll still dabble in other things, like the scrubs I'll make for Christmas or the perfumes that I also enjoy. But I am not ready to make a bunch I stuff I don't feel like making. That why I own the biz.