04.17.07
Posted in Everyday Journal at 9:28 am by admin
In my opinion, having drying racks full of curing new soap batches is one of the most satisfying things I can think of. The studio smells like uplifting essential oils such as rosemary, lavender and lemongrass. All those young bars of soap are perfectly lined up on the racks, full of hope and promise. It’s as though they are anxious to get out there and make their mark on the world.
Surely, surely I sound like a crazy soap lady. Of course, another soaper will understand that feeling of accomplishment when a batch of soap comes out of the molds, gets cut and trimmed, and you examine what you’ve created. There is always the excitement of seeing the interesting swirls of color (I am a color minimalist but love the effects of a subtle swirl), or the way the herbs and additives such as oatmeal or honey have blended with other ingredients and hardened into just the right consistency.
This is a soap made with organic seaweed and some citrus oils. I only make it occasionally, but it’s always interesting to see the effects.
I often think of the ways my soap has developed and changed over the years. I’ve learned a lot and hope to continue to hone my craft. Because I was lucky with initial recipes, my soap has always been good. But it’s nice to know that those bars on the racks are even better than the ones before, benefitting from all the tiny subtleties that experience brings.
This is the time that keeps me coming back … that and the support of those who use and appreciate the final product. So, I tip my imaginary hat to the sun coming in the window today, the (finally) warming temperatures, and those drying racks with about 100 pounds of soap created in the last week, all lined up and making me happy.
Sharon
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04.16.07
Posted in Everyday Journal at 11:59 am by admin
I was at the “New Books” section of our public library last week when a book caught my eye — “Dead Men Don’t Lye,” a Soapmaking Mystery by Tim somethingorother. I tucked it under my arm with some curiosity and took a couple days to force myself to read it. I have to say, and I’m sorry to insult the author, this book ranks right up there on the list of the worst books I’ve read as an adult.
In my opinion, it is so trite you are embarrassed for the author — until you just get mad, that is. At the end the “hero” tells all the suspects that he is close to solving the murder and then waits to see who comes after him. Hard to believe somebody could be that obvious and still get published.
But, the worst, most grievous sin is that when he talks about actual soapmaking, he gets it all wrong! He talks about their essential oil shelves, and then rattles off a bunch of oils that are carrier oils! Not an essential among them. Plus he keeps talking about shutting down and reworking the “line” with all kinds of nuts, bolts and tools, from which you have the idea of a production line in a factory. The title even promises soapmaking tips, and what I found was a bunch of melt-and-pour nonsense. I was so outraged by the time I finished I wished I could throw something at him.
I feel like our industry has been used and abused. Did someone get the idea soapmaking is a phenomenon and decided to cash in, using stuff he picked up from who-knows-where, maybe another book? Did he think no soapmakers would actually read the stuff? You can say that at least soapmaking is being recognized enough for an inexperienced author to think the topic might help sell his books. Even still, I for one was not amused.
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Posted in Everyday Journal at 11:32 am by admin
It’s spring, 2007, and time to get back into production. I usually do a huge push in early spring and again in early summer to get ready for farmers’ markets and festivals. When they get going good I find I have very little time to do a good job with soapmaking. When you’re making soap, it really helps to shut off distractions and concentrate on this one thing, and that’s not so easy in my world.
After many years of work, my reputation for good body products has grown enough so that “the soap lady” is pretty much recognized here and in surrounding towns. I don’t have to work so hard to convince people to lay down $5 for that bar of soap that will bring love and comfort to their chemically-ravaged skin. In a small town where there is very little extra income, I count it as a great compliment that people feel that little bit of added expense is worth the investment.
Last week I put together a batch of Cinnamon Clove soap, popular with both men and women. I’m getting low on three or four other best-sellers but have to place an oils order before I can get to them. I wanted to wait until as late in the spring as I could to order oils, partly hoping the huge price jump in olive oil might come down a bit with a new crop, and partly because I want the oils as fresh as possible when I get going again. Unfortunately, olive oil did not come down even a whit (no surprise I guess) and here goes another $350 and more scowls from the UPS guy who trucks the oils up to my second floor studio.
Here’s a look at one corner of my studio…all spruced up for spring!
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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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