Soap Makers Help!

[MissPrissy]

No. Do not add water to the fat peices in the crockpot. If you just add the fat and heat from the crockpot with the lid on the oils will render from the tissues. Water makes soup stock

LOL

 

[Morgaine]

Morgaine: Love that green soap from your infusion. Your berry bars for the B&B are great looking too.

Thanks NanaKat. The berry one did turn out better than I first thought it would. I'm kinda glad it didn't go all the way to the bottom like I first wanted. Looks more like fruit and cream this way.

I have an idea that I want to try with the grapefruit, but I've got to pick something up before I do it. I will definately be posting pictures when I do it. I'm going to do Irish Tweed today before I go. Cooling off my lye right now.

I have to say, 32 lbs of lye sounds like a lot, but it's not nearly as much visually as I thought it would be.

Has anyone used turmeric infused oil for a orange color?​

 

[chiknwhisperer]

Quote:
I haven't rendered it before so this will be a first for me.

 

[MullersLaneFarm]

I'm going to try some lard soaps I think and see how they at the farmer's market with a different group of buyers. MLF does very well with her soaps and most contain lard (or the special ingredient in the soap swap).

What I did when I switched from palm to lard/tallow for folks that were a bit skeptical about using AO was to give out small sample soaps. The vast majority that accepted the free sample came back and were regular customers stating they liked the lard/tallow sample better. That was in 2001 & really boosted my confidence in using AO in soaps. you not only have to have it out there for folks to buy, but BELIEVE in it also!

Morgaine, those sample bags are wonderful!!!!

Has anyone used turmeric infused oil for a orange color?

yep, although I got a yellow and not an orange.

[URL]http://www.mullerslanefarm.com[/URL]/
[INDENT]I'm going to try some lard soaps I think and see how they at the farmer's market with a different group of buyers. MLF does very well with her soaps and most contain lard (or the special ingredient in the soap swap).

What I did when I switched from palm to lard/tallow for folks that were a bit skeptical about using AO was to give out small sample soaps. The vast majority that accepted the free sample came back and were regular customers stating they liked the lard/tallow sample better. That was in 2001 & really boosted my confidence in using AO in soaps. you not only have to have it out there for folks to buy, but BELIEVE in it also!

Morgaine, those sample bags are wonderful!!!!

[INDENT]Has anyone used turmeric infused oil for a orange color?

yep, although I got a yellow and not an orange.

[IMG]http://www.mullerslanefarm.com/citrusbasil.jpg

Also used tumeric to dye some wool roving a nice golden yellow!​

[/INDENT][/INDENT]

 

[Morgaine]

What I did when I switched from palm to lard/tallow for folks that were a bit skeptical about using AO was to give out small sample soaps. The vast majority that accepted the free sample came back and were regular customers stating they liked the lard/tallow sample better. That was in 2001 & really boosted my confidence in using AO in soaps. you not only have to have it out there for folks to buy, but BELIEVE in it also!

Great idea! If you can get them to use it so they can see that it's not 'gross', but just soap like your other ones, and because it's a free sample I think they would be more willing to try it than buy it and try.

Morgaine, those sample bags are wonderful!!!!

Yeah I was really happy to find them too. My MIL suggested plastic bags for samples and I started looking around on line and found those to be the best priced with a lot of size options.

I love the color of your soap! How much turmeric ppo? I was going to use it for the grapefruit scent so think that would work. I'm also going to color with some pink clay.​

 

[chiknwhisperer]

I almost forgot. She puts her own labels on the soaps and not mine. But I have to double check that. I would still be using my labels for Etsy and the FM. What do you think?

 

[Backyard Buddies]

Quote:
That's my standard size batch - 125 ounces of oils. I usually get 30 - 35 bars out of that, depending on if I remember to cut the loaves the correct direction.

The batch is still curing at this point. I turned them out of the mold yesterday but it was still a bit damp on the bottom so I let it sit over night and cut them into loaves this morning. While I could cut them into bars at this point, I'm going to let them harden up some more before doing so. I probably used a bit more liquid than I should have, so it's going to take a while to firm up, I think. The bars are nice and smooth, though, so if this works then I will have pulled off a save. I'm just trying to be patient because I can tell that if I get impatient, I risk having to remelt it and that's something that I'd love to avoid doing if at all possible. If I have to do it again, I think that I'll do it your way - a few at a time - and then put them into smaller molds rather than the big mold.

 

[Morgaine]

Quote:
Check out the laws and see if it is required that your contact info be on there. I *think* you have to have somethink like

Packaged for Her Store By
Your Store
Where you live
Your Phone

I told the BB that I would use their label but my contact info had to be on there somewhere. Look up private label rules.

BB-Congrats on the rebatch! Glad you were able to save it.

 

[Morgaine]

I have an appointment with one of the B&B owners Tuesday at 11:30! Yeah! I'm so nervous now. What all should I bring?

 

[Backyard Buddies]

Quote:
Wooo hoooo! Congrats!

Definitely bring some samples of your little bath bars in case she wants to use them as guest soaps. Bring along some of your full sized bars so that she can have the option of selling more to the guests who will no doubt fall in love with your soap.

You should have some business cards or some other way for people to place a reorder.

Does this B&B have theme rooms? If any of the rooms are based on florals or botanicals, consider bringing along some scents that would match well with those themes. Showing her that you're interested in making your soaps a good match for her business will give you a leg up on the competition.

Also, be thinking about some creative way to display them.