Holy freaking soap!!!

[Bettacreek]

A friend and I talked today and decided to split the cost of a craft show booth. I went and got a bunch of supplies and after calculating everything, I rounded it down to 80lbs of soap after it's all made into soap (not counting whatever is left over of the raw oils). Can you say holy freaking soap?! I'm so excited. I have a batch ready to be mixed with lye now, but I didn't have time tonight to sit around and mix it for hours, so I just kept them seperate until tomorrow. We have a bunch of other stuff planned for the craft shows too, but soap is the big thing for me.

 

[Rebbetzin]

I hope the craft shows aren't in the next couple of weeks... it takes a while for the soap to cure. From what I am reading on the web it can take from three to eight weeks to cure.

I made a few batches last week. It is still pretty caustic. I was shaving off the powdery residue off the bottoms of the soaps (which used to be tops of the soap molds.)

Hopefully my soap will be ready to give as gifts for the holidays.

 

[Bettacreek]

Yup. They're in December. That's why I had to hurry up and get everything around. I need to have enough to fill a booth and a half by December. Definately give your soap awhile, the longer the better. Sometimes if I'm in a hurry, I'll cut the bars into smaller bars. They'll cure faster this way, then you can use it. I know because I was running low on soap and patience, lol.

 

[Rebbetzin]

A few years ago my daughter made some soap. Sent me a bar, and I used it. Well, it was not cured, and in my more delicate areas, it burned like mad!!

That is my fear with making soap, that it will burn people's skin off!

Now that I am better understanding the curing process, it is a bit less scary!

I have enough milk in the freezer to make about 10 or 12 batches at the moment. That should do me for years of gift soap giving! (Though I was contacted by a person about selling my soap!) That I hadn't thought of doing... But.... If I get good at it... that could be a fun way to make some "pin money"

BTW, what are you planning on asking for a price on your soaps?
Are you using individual bar molds? Or the bigger, slice off of piece molds?

 

[Bettacreek]

Yup, so long as you cure it and make sure that you don't goof the recipe, you'll be fine. I also always do a batch test on mine. Each batch that I make, I use a bar before selling any of it. If you feel any tightness in your skin, it's not ready. People use a zap method too, where they lick it basically and if it's not done or whatever, it "zaps" their tongue. That method never worked for me, it all tastes like soap to me!
I have some small individual molds, but the ex-boyfriend and I made a large loaf mold that holds approximately 8lbs. The going rate is usually right around $1/oz, locally and most online sellers, so I charge it at the same price. Since I use a loaf mold and get uneven bars (I hand cut it) I always round down. If I get a 6.9oz bar, I charge $6 for it. For the craft fair, I'm hoping to keep them pretty even, so I might have to make a cutter. We'll see when the time comes though, lol.

 

[Rebbetzin]

So far I am using individual bar molds. Plus I used some candy molds for the small amounts that wouldn't fill a whole bar mold.

I went to a soap store on Breckenridge Colorada a couple years ago they had such neat soaps!! Fun shapes in glycerine type soaps. One had a steaming cup of coffee in the center of each slice. I don't know how they made that one. I would love to use my imagination to make some fun sliced soaps.

 

[Bettacreek]

I like to take the "scraps" and use them to make liquid soap. Candy molds work though. Just don't ever use a cheap metal muffin type pan, it'll eat a hole right through it, lol.

 

[lorihadams]

There's a lady around here that makes the clear glycerin type soaps and she makes smaller kid shaped bars with a little toy in the center so when they use up the soap the toy comes out. Little plastic stuff (probably made in china ) like different colored fish, frogs, flowers, that kind of stuff.

Got any pics?

 

[Bettacreek]

I don't have pics. I just make plain soaps, they don't look appealing like some make their's, but it gets rave reviews anyways. I pulled batch number one out of the mold today, lilac scented. Batch number two is in the works right now, just waiting on trace. It'll be unscented.

 

[valmom]

We have an employee craft fair at work every December- as soon as the weather cooperates so the soap isn't melting instead of curing I am going to start making batches! I use individual molds- I got silicone ones that make really nice oval and square 4 ounce bars, and they come out of the molds so much easier!

I want to start making soap again!!