Soap Making 101

[freemotion]

I use a plastic storage tote as a mold. To insulate, I just wrap it with a fleece blanket, and put a pillow on top if it is cold in the house. But now I am using goat's milk, with requires no insulation. I wonder if the pvc pipe would work for goat's milk soap? I will be trying that one.

My favorite mold is a Hershey's baking cocoa container, which makes one bar. And to think of all the containers I've thrown out over the years! It is one of the very few containers with a nice smooth bottom. Most have a big dent and a ridge in them. The Hershey's container makes a very professional-looking bar. I make one per batch since I just have one container right now, and gift that bar. Nice, big, bath bar.

I was looking at some silicone bakeware at a salvage store, but didn't think they would hold their shape while the soap was runny. Now I wish I'd bought some. Didn't think of the cupcake ones. Must be easy to unmold!

 

[Farmfresh]

See there is always something new to learn!

 

[me&thegals]

<<<<<<That's me, from shock of actually contributing one tiny tidbit to this thread for once.

Yes, the silicone is working awesomely. I already test popped one out of the cupcake one, and it came out perfectly. The loaf bread pan should work great, too. Plus, they're obviously built to withstand the heat.

Well, duh, I missed my books talking about insulating. My first 1-bar trial batches I didn't cover or insulate at all. Last night, I covered a bit more. I will work much harder at insulating this soap much, much better. I've set up a table next to the woodstove for extra heat to help the process along.

You guys are awesomely helpful! I will be trying that PVC idea, as I really like the round soaps.

 

[punkin]

As I posted in my journal, I may have an opportunity to expand my soapmaking.

I need ya'lls opinions: What are your top 5 favorite scents for soap? What scents do you make or what scents would you buy?

 

[freemotion]

I only buy/use unscented or naturally scented soaps made with pure essential oils.....but I am NOT the typical consumer, and avoid stores, aisle, booths with artificial scents, which give me migraines. Like attracts like, and many of my clients have issues with environmental chemicals. So they are begging me to make more soap, since good, pure stuff is very hard to come by.

Depends on YOUR market, though.

 

[punkin]

I can really understand that Free.

Sometimes just walking through the candle isle or even outside some of the mall shops (Bath & Body and Abercrombie & Fitch) can give me a headache.

I don't scent my soaps heavily. I just want it to smell nice when it is used. I don't want them to be an air freshener for the whole house.

I wouldn't buy soaps that I don't think should be a soap scent, like pumpkin pie or sugar cookie. I really don't want to smell like a sugar cookie.

 

[me&thegals]

Having never sold soap, I can only give you my opinion as a user of soap. I really like plain, plain soap! It has its own wonderful smell. As for EO soap, I love:

almond
lemon grass
orange blossom
peppermint
rosemary

Good luck!



I unmolded my soaps from last week. I also trimmed them up. I think some I poured a little too far into the trace. Anyway, the trimmings equaled about 2 cups, so I soaked them in hot water and then stick blended. I added more water a few more times and ended up with about 5 cups of pretty nice liquid soap, especially considering it is basically a freebie.

I think next time I will try either forming into soapballs or rebatching just for the experience of it.

 

[FarmerChick]

top seller fragrances are floral for me, lavender, lilac, jasmine, honeysuckle, gardenia etc.

I sell very little unscented. most women buying want scent.

man scents are musk, forest type scents and clean scents.

I use essential oils and I do use some cosmetic grade fragrance oils.

Since so little fragrance is actually used in the soaps, even using fragrance oils keeps the soaps in the "natural" category...up to 1% of fragrance oils and other non natural can be used...and you can still say you are natural.

You must hit your market. The fragrances I like are not my biggest sellers...LOL....you have to hit what the people want.

Trial and error for my location told me that orange is NO GOOD here...LOL...no one wanted it.....yes, I used alot of orange in my shower..HA HA

 

[okiegirl1]

I sold alot of natural cucumber. puree a whole cuke in the food processor and add it to your water to make for the liquid in your recipe.
I got lots of repeat buys of blackberry sage. it's got a natural scent without being too fruity or too .... earthy.

 

[Bettacreek]

When I bought my FO's, I used the site's list of top sellers, then chose what I thought would smell good from there. That way, I have a better chance of trading what I make, without killing myself with scents that I despise. I also plan to make unscented soaps as well.