# When do you package your soaps?



## kaseencook (Mar 2, 2009)

I was just thinking today in the car to ask when do you package your soaps?  

I have always waited until sending, to package because I am worried about the soap loosing water and having it get trapped in the wrapper if it is left in there for a long time. I currently wrap my soaps in clear cello with a ingredients label to hold it together. 

What do you guys do? Has anyone had issues packaging soap too early?


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## topcat (Mar 2, 2009)

I am with you - I label my soap when I am ready to sell.  Currently I leave them naked with a cigar band style label.  If they are for a gift I pop them into an organza bag.  If I have sold one I pop it into a coloured flat snack bag.

Tanya


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## Lindy (Mar 2, 2009)

I had a couple of really bad experiences with cello and CP - let me just say that in my experience they don't go together.  I had my marshmallow meadows soaps in them and they had a dried rose on the top - think moldy rose now after a few weeks.  Just bloody awful....

As for wrapping I leave mine unwrapped as long as possible - when I go do a show I wrap them then - however I don't unwrap them once the show is done.  Now that I'm going to be in malls every weekend I will wrap them once they are fully cured since I will be taking them with me to the next booth after cure.....I am using boxes, organza and burlap.  I have use Coffee Filters in the past and that worked fine too.  Just remember that CP really needs to breath.

Just my 2 cents... :?


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## Etelka (Mar 2, 2009)

I don't package but sell them naked
Etelka


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## kaseencook (Mar 2, 2009)

Indeed I worry about water moisture and mold too. I do HP with discounted water which helps a LOT. I like the idea of no packaging or minimal packaging. How does the soap hold up in transport as far as scratches and dings go, and what do your customers think about naked soap? 
I have a bit of concern about what happens to the soap after it leaves my hands, as well as if people are conditioned to expect soap with a wrapper and may feel uncomfortable with naked soap. Packaging is a big cost though, to us and the environment, so less packaging is definitely a good thing  8)


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## kaseencook (Mar 2, 2009)

And thanks for your replies!!   (forgot to say that in the other one, he he)


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## Gobbler's Run (Mar 2, 2009)

I wrap mine as late as possible.  I use recycled kraft paper cigar bands, I had wrapped a bit early a couple of times and the bands sort of slid off!  I don't mind a bit of a ding occasionally as I try to create rustic style soaps as my main range.  Fancy moulds, when I do do them, are in organza bags.


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## Etelka (Mar 2, 2009)

kaseencook said:
			
		

> Indeed I worry about water moisture and mold too. I do HP with discounted water which helps a LOT. I like the idea of no packaging or minimal packaging. How does the soap hold up in transport as far as scratches and dings go, and what do your customers think about naked soap?
> I have a bit of concern about what happens to the soap after it leaves my hands, as well as if people are conditioned to expect soap with a wrapper and may feel uncomfortable with naked soap. Packaging is a big cost though, to us and the environment, so less packaging is definitely a good thing  8)



Outside of my home I only sell wholesale, so my soap goes to them and they put their own packaging on.  I don't do markets but sell from home  so people come to me and I have them in these wooden trays which are labelled with the soap discription.


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## andreabadgley (Mar 2, 2009)

Gobbler's Run said:
			
		

> I wrap mine as late as possible.  I use recycled kraft paper cigar bands, I had wrapped a bit early a couple of times and the bands sort of slid off!



Same here!  I used to wrap mine in cigar labels as soon as they finished curing, but over time the soap continues to lose water and shrink, so the labels would become loose and look not-so-fresh.  I'm in a quandry myself about my labeling because while I love the cigar labels, and the freedom they give me for using different colors for different soaps, I don't like that they leave the soap so exposed.  Not because I'm afraid of the soaps getting scratched or dented so much as that little bits of soap inevitably end up on the labels, making them look messy.  

Anyway, to answer your original question, I now leave mine naked until ready to sell.  Then I wrap in cigar labels.


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## cdwinsby (Mar 2, 2009)

Definately naked until ready to sell.


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## jcandleattic (Mar 2, 2009)

Yep, I'm with the others, I wait until I'm ready to sell them...


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## AshleyR (Mar 2, 2009)

Right now I keep all of my cured soap in a large dresser, and the curing ones on a stacked shoe rack.

When I start selling them, I'll be packaging them in boxes with a cut out on them, so they'll be able to breathe. I'll probably box them as soon as they're cured and put 'em back in the drawer until they're ready to sell.


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## carebear (Mar 2, 2009)

kaseencook said:
			
		

> I was just thinking today in the car to ask when do you package your soaps?
> 
> I have always waited until sending, to package because I am worried about the soap loosing water and having it get trapped in the wrapper if it is left in there for a long time. I currently wrap my soaps in clear cello with a ingredients label to hold it together.
> 
> What do you guys do? Has anyone had issues packaging soap too early?


what kind of soaps do you make?  a water-tight package like cello (I assume that is saran wrap type stuff) is great for MP (which should be wrapped as soon as it's hard and cool) but not marvelous for CP soap.  

I wrap my CP when I need it.  And while I do use shrink wrap sometimes it's best to have some sort of wrapper that won't hold in the water and contribute to DOS.


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## jcandleattic (Mar 2, 2009)

carebear said:
			
		

> what kind of soaps do you make?  a water-tight package like cello (I assume that is saran wrap type stuff) is great for MP (which should be wrapped as soon as it's hard and cool) but not marvelous for CP soap.
> 
> I wrap my CP when I need it.  And while I do use shrink wrap sometimes it's best to have some sort of wrapper that won't hold in the water and contribute to DOS.



I always forget about MP, because even though yes I make it on occasion, it's rare now and I don't sell M&P anymore for the simple reason I haven't worked with it a whole bunch in the last couple of years. When I did, yes I would wrap it almost immediately after taking them out of the mold.  

Did any of this make sense? it IS monday after all. LOL


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## xyxoxy (Mar 2, 2009)

I went to a craft show over the weekend to see what others do as far as presentation, packaging etc and saw a variety of styles.

I was most impressed with the lady who wrapped each bar in cello and then placed a cigar band around that. Each type of soap had a different graphic appropriate to the soap but all had a professional and unified look to them.

There was another that was well packaged in a plain paper cigar band but all of the soap was a plain ugly green. I think he only sold one type though he also had a variety of lip balms, moisturizers and other products related to his one basic recipe.

The least impressive was the (very nice) lady who had all of her whole soap logs displayed with only one or two bars of each cut. The soap was spongy and a little sticky. I didn't ask too many questions for fear of offending but I suspect she had used a M&P base and simply added shea butter and whole oatmeal etc to that. I didn't buy any from her but I assume she would cut and wrap as it sold.


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## pinkduchon (Mar 2, 2009)

I wrap my CP when I sell it. It continues to cure and shrink, so if I put a cigar band on too soon, it falls off!


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## kaseencook (Mar 3, 2009)

Hehe, I know what you mean about the cigar band thing. A while back I made up a ton of little samples with little cigar bands, and when I came back for them and picked them up all the little bands fell off.   and even more annoying than that was that all the labels were printed at home, and the ink was water based and bleed into the soap! dough!  I don't do that anymore! 

Thanks for your experiences guys!


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## TheGardener (Mar 3, 2009)

I used to use shrink wrap which was costly and time-consuming.  Also, if the soaps were not completely cured, it caused some discolouration and even rancidity.

Now I package in kraft boxes with a hole cut so they can breathe.  I box them once they have finished curing.  I love the look of the boxes and I put a different little picture or clip art on each type of soap.


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## Soapmomma (Mar 3, 2009)

I was going the naked bar method until recently. My soaps seemed to be losing their scent too fast and people were handling them all and denting them up so I bought "Dan's Bands" from MMS. They leave the ends open for my bars to breathe and for customers to smell them. I just slip a printed label under the shrinkwrap with ingred and scent and they look alot better IMO and more professional. 
I HP so I wrapped some at two weeks, after 6 weeks there has been no more shrinkage and the bands are still tight


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## Guest (Mar 3, 2009)

*wrap*

Does anyone use boxes for their CP soaps?

I have a show upcoming and planned to lightly wrap the bars in tissue and then place them into kraft boxes. But I plan on waiting until the very last minute to do it.


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## TheGardener (Mar 3, 2009)

I use kraft soap boxes with a cut out.  I don't wrap them, I just drop them directly into the box.  The cut out allows them to breathe and enables customers to smell them.  I box when the soap is cured.  They keep very well in the boxes, don't shrink much, aren't damaged and retain their scent.  I doubt that I'll ever package any other way again.  Some of my regular customers who buy several bars at a time keep their original boxes and buy the bars naked then put them in their boxes.  I deduct a small amount from the price of the bar for those customers.


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