10.10.09
Posted in Blogroll, Everyday Journal, Tips for Beginners at 2:33 pm by admin
Note how thoroughly the darker brown swirl continues through the Green Tea soaps. Contrast that with the more typical swirl of Lavender Mint at the bottom.
Since I’m very cautious about color in soap, I lean toward lots of swirls using natural spices or minerals. Making a good, artistic swirl is a problem, however, when you’re trying to do them with a 27-lb. batch poured on its side. With a little practice, anyone can do it with tiny batches poured on their backs in the mold. I’ve had to content myself with spots and blurs of color, and the occasional happy accident of course, since moving to my larger, more professional molds.
Basically, there are two ways to get a good swirl … either in the mold or in the pot, and they each have a different look. What I developed with my most recent batch of Green Tea Mint soap was unique to me, and I haven’t read about it being used by other soapmakers using molds of this size. Now maybe it was a fluke … we have to leave room for that possibility. But I loved the results and was totally surprised at the quality of the swirl throughout the entire 96-bar batch.
A New Technique
In this case, I had used green tea in the lye water to lightly color the basic batch in the soap pot. I poured about 2/3 or 3/4 of the batch into the mold. Then I added some vanilla to the remaining soap still in the pot. As all soapers know, vanilla will darken your soap quicker than anything, but in this case, it was OK … the effect I was going for was a light tan base with a darker swirl.
I poured the final 1/3 or 1/4 with the added vanilla into the mold, moving it around as I poured. I took my spatula and did a quick north/south and east/west pull through it all, which creates the swirl-look, and walked away. The next day when I cut the slab I was surprised to see how well the swirl continued throughout the slab, and was not just on the top. Something worked just right! This is my best guess at the technique, but I’m anxious to try something similar again. I’ll report back on it when I can.
Sharon
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04.16.07
Posted in Tips for Beginners at 11:03 am by admin
I’m assuming you want to sell your soaps, although maybe you don’t. But if you do, don’t be discouraged. There are lots and lots of ways to do just that, and you will be delighted at the response you get (assuming you’ve agreed with my philosophy and are making a superior product!)
The first thing to decide is how you feel about meeting people and selling. I, myself, am a hermit at heart. I’d much rather make the soap than sell it. However, even I find that once I’m out there, I get so many “strokes” from repeat buyers, it makes it all worth it.
My first effort at selling involved a festival or two … with very low setup fees. After that I got up the nerve to walk across the square to a little consignment shop with some samples and ask if they wouldn’t maybe consider possibly putting my soap in their shop. They were thrilled, and one of the women running that shop is still one of my biggest soap fans, long after the shop itself closed.
Try a farmers’ market
The next thing I did was get invited to a farmers’ market by another friend. I stumbled into it then, but there are many more markets now, even in large cities, and many of them welcome soapmakers. My first few attempts were painful. I just could not believe anyone would buy my soaps, knowing they were priced higher than a commercial supermarket bar. At that time even I did not know how good they were. None of the regular market customers knew me, and it took a while before someone thought it was a good idea to plunk down $4.50 for a bar of soap (this was a few years ago). My first farmers’ market brought in a whole $15 for me, and the second one brought in $70. Do you think I was thrilled?
Each week I’d go through the same agony. I’d get up at the crack of dawn to drive to the nearest market, about 45 minutes away and try to be there by 7 a.m. because that was when people showed up to get the freshest vegetables. I’d stand there shuffling my feet for an hour or maybe two, and finally someone would come around and buy one bar of soap. That first sale was always a huge relief, and as the day wore on, sales got better. It took me months of doing these markets before I decided that my soap customers just didn’t get out of bed as early as those veggie buyers did, and then, although I still tried to get there as early as the other vendors (for pride’s sake if nothing else), I stopped worrying if I didn’t get a sale until 10:30 a.m.
Now maybe you’re not as much a hermit as me, and maybe you’ll love talking to potential customers and selling your soap. But even if you are don’t, I’d still encourage you to get out there. You’ll find that what you are offering is a product that is very helpful to many people. They will appreciate your efforts. And you’ll get to know some really fine people who will be supportive.
Festivals too
Festivals are another way to distribute your product. Look for ones without a huge entry fee. If your product sells for $5, you have to sell a lot of it just to make up a $150 fee. And also you may be spending money for motel, food and gas. It all adds up. But there are good ones, especially in the fall, and you’ll find people will remember you from year to year and come looking for you.
State help
Some states have developed programs to help their artists and crafters. Kentucky has a wonderful program called Kentucky Crafted, staffed by a great group of people who really work to help crafters develop and market their products. They produce a trade show and supplement entry fees to make it at least a break-even proposition to be a part of that endeavor. And a trade show is a wonderful way to break into a new level of wholesale distribution.
But before you get to this point, be sure you can support a wholesale sale. You must be able to deliver your product in a reasonable amount of time, and you must be able to make a small profit doing so. Think through your costs carefully.
Other good places…let your imagination guide you
Finding ways of distributing your soap beyond your own efforts looks better after you’ve done a few years’ worth of markets. There are many shops willing to take on your products. My downfall has been where I’m required to get back to them and check on reorders. Many of my best customers reorder without my having to do that, and I make it easy for them with reorder sheets listing all of my products.
My naturopath/chiropractor has been a wonderful supporter through these years and has a soap shelf set up in his office. My daughter’s workplace has also been a good source. People at work are always looking for a little luxury, and the aroma of fresh, essential oil soap is welcomed.
Use your imagination, and try to do less consignment and more outright sales.
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04.11.07
Posted in Tips for Beginners at 8:02 am by admin
Please, please, please do not decide that you can sell your soap by adding up the cost of your materials and tacking on a tiny bit for you. It’s not fair to any of the conscientious people who are doing their best to sell a good product at a reasonable enough price that most people can afford it.
The truth is, you will eventually, if not now, have to figure in the cost of office space rent, electricity, insurance, part-time helpers, printing and design, booth entry fees, telephone, internet, Web site and a whole host of others. Do not forget to calculate the worth of your own time. It’s critical. What you decide at the beginning determines what you do in the future. And even if you don’t have all those costs now, use the extra income to help you get established. You will have lots of special start-up costs in the beginning.
Certainly, do a spread sheet that shows you the cost of materials. And then make a rough estimate of other costs, even if you don’t know them today. If you build them in from the beginning, you will have a much easier time of it as they come upon you…and they will come upon you if you stay in this business.
It’s important to start pricing by calculating a wholesale price for your product rather than a retail price. The truth is that every retailer will expect a 50% discount from your price. You cannot sell your soap at a low retail price at farmers’ markets and then cut it in half when you sell wholesale. Figure out your wholesale price first, and then double it (or come close). That’s your true retail price.
You will find that once you get out there and have established your price, it is very hard to raise it. Sometimes you are selling to friends or long-time customers. But your material costs WILL rise. Last year cost of olive oil skyrocketed. I resisted raising my prices and instead “ate” the increase, hoping a better harvest would help prices come down this year. Unfortunately, this year the cost of transportation has also skyrocketed. My point is that it is very difficult to raise prices after they have been established. Better to come to a reasonable price structure from the beginning and plan for the future.
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04.10.07
Posted in Tips for Beginners at 12:20 pm by admin
Another issue for beginning soapmakers is that it is difficult to stop doing something once you’ve started doing it. This issue has been especially relevant for me in two areas: the use of fragrance oils and the number of soaps I make.
Regarding the use of fragrance oils, you will find it is a tempting, tempting thing to do. You want that wonderful lilac fragrance or you think a berry scent would be marvelous. And, you will find that most other soapmakers are offering these products.
I’m not going to suggest you not use fragrance oils in spite of the fact that they are artificial and made from petrochemicals in a laboratory. In fact, I have a small number of fragrance oil soaps.
But what I will suggest is that this is something you think about up front. You need to decide what niche you want to fill. Over the years I have been very tempted, and have often just “had” to try this fragrance oil or that one. But there was always something nagging at me, telling me that for my clients, this is not the best of what I want for them. So very many people are sensitive to fragrance oils. I always make an effort to explain this to people at my soap tables, and I now distribute only a few soaps with fragrance oils in them. I’ve discontinued all but these over the years, especially as I’ve learned how to blend essential oils which are made from plant materials. I value the aromatherapeutic qualities they bring to my soap. They not only smell better, there is absolutely no doubt that everyone’s bodies react to them much differently than they do to the nice “smell” associated with a fragrance oil.
So — if you’re beginning and you suspect you want to make a natural product, learn to work with essential oils. The fragrance oil soaps you make will always be somebody’s favorite, and it’s a lot harder to stop making them than never to start.
The other issue is the number of soaps you make. There are so many wonderful possibilities, and I’m now up between 35 and 40. Since I have a Web site (www.annas-soaps.com) and sell to both individuals and retail establishments, that means that within reason, it is my responsibility to keep up my stock in all of the soaps I offer. It takes a month to make a good bar of soap.
Looking back, I suspect it would be much more efficient to settle on a dozen or two really good soaps and keep up with them. But of course, that’s hindsight. Could it be done? Most soapmakers have a wide offering. Still, I think the concept is worth considering. It would make life much easier for the soapmaker to have a smaller number of really good soaps and be able to keep them in stock.
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Posted in Tips for Beginners at 11:49 am by admin
I know I said this was not going to be a site for beginning soapmakers, but I can’t help myself. I’m not going to tell you how to make soap here, but instead, provide some information I wish I had known when I got started.
If you’re a beginning soapmaker, I’m going to use this space to pass on a few things I didn’t learn from books. And, by the way, good books are a great way to research soapmaking. They cover all aspects and help you determine where you want to fit in. But you’ll have to read them carefully because you will find contradictions, even some serious ones.
Watch What You Read
For example, one thing you will quickly learn from research is that when mixing lye with water, you always pour the lye crystals into the water and not the other way around. And yet, I found one book that claimed just the opposite. Was this a typo? Was it someone writing a book who didn’t really know the process? I don’t know. But it did make me aware of the importance of searching out the best quality research material I could and then rechecking what I was learning. Not a bad life lesson either!
Regarding equipment, one thing you’ll need is a long-handled stirring object. My favorite is a long-handled, heat-resistant scraper that came from a fancy kitchen-stuff store. The heat-resistance is important since the highly alkaline parts of the soap process will shorten the life of anything else pretty significantly.
Space is another important consideration. Most of us make our first batches of soap in our kitchens. And if you’re like me, you’ll be completely shocked to find that your efforts really do produce soap! Of course I never claimed to be a cook, so anything that my kitchen successfully spawns is a wonder to me. In fact, some of my grown childrens’ favorite stories are of my less-than-stellar kitchen adventures. (I think those legends are highly exaggerated, however.) Nevertheless, I’ve often wondered just why I took to soapmaking. It reminds me of cooking — but thank goodness it’s more than that.
It did not take me long to figure out I needed to get out of my kitchen to space dedicated to my rapidly growing soapmaking addiction. First of all, you need space that is your own to experiment in — space that you don’t have to share with food preparation. There will be lots of equipment and “stuff” to store. You’ll need shelves to dry and cure your treasures, and more shelves to store the soaps that are ready to be distributed. You’ll need places for your essential oils, herbs and other additives. Then there are the oils. You will quickly move away from grocery-store bottles to purchasing oils in bulk. So even if you’re just beginning, consider that if you plan to do this professionally, a goal will be to find inexpensive studio space to work out of. As long as you have water to clean up with, electricity for a hot plate and some consistent, comfortable room temperatures, you’re all set.
Your Very Own Soapmaking Space (and stuff)!
Although it may not be completely necessary, I always separated my soapmaking utensils from personal kitchen utensils. I have a big soapmaking pot, pitchers, scrapers, lots of supplies, etc., and I use them only for soapmaking.
Another thing to consider is your schedule. Making soap requires concentration. Ideally, it requires you being in a good, relaxed mood and focusing on the creativity of what you’re doing, without a lot of interruptions. I don’t want to get all mystical on you, but I have a helper who brings with her this wonderful sense of calm. She loves making soap. She seems to enjoy every bit of the stirring and preparation, and her soap is always marvelous.
Ellie adds a touch of “calm” to her soap.
I love it all too, and my soap is only usually marvelous. That’s because I’ve been known to bring some chaos to the process, with my mind racing over tons of problems — packaging ideas, upcoming festivals, paying for that latest extravagant essential oil order — and worrying about finishing this batch so I can get on to the next task. I’ve learned to not let that happen, at least not often. And the soap seems to appreciate it.
Decide Who You Want to Be
Finally, I would recommend that every beginning soapmaker think about the niche they want to fill before they begin. Even if you’re only trying it as an experiment to give to family members, try to start on the highest level you can. You will tend to duplicate the habits you begin with, and if you really want to produce a quality product, start there.
The main issue, to my mind, is not how the soap looks or that it’s vivid orange with one of Grandma’s rose buds in the center, it’s that the soap brings soothing, moisturizing results when your family uses it. And with that in mind, consider that if the process is done right, the quality of the oils going into the soap determines the quality of what comes out. So before you latch onto a recipe using tallow or lard because they’re cheap, think about what you want on your skin. Find a good recipe using good oils up front, and you will be glad you did later on down the line.
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