Cost Per Bar --- Labor

[BARJRD]

I've been looking at the forum threads on cost per bar. My material costs are currently around 1.80/bar. I will need to buy in bulk to reduce this cost. The essential oil prices are especially really killing me.

The question I have is with labor costs --- when I consider the following (when I make a 2 pound batch of hot process soap):
1) assembling equipment & oils /measuring oils, lye, etc.
2) lining mold, stirring, mixing in EO and dry ingredients, pouring into mold
3) cleaning equipment
4) cutting bars, smoothing bar edges
5) printing labels, wrapping labels on soap, bagging in cellophane bags, tying raffia bow

My labor time is appr 10 minutes per bar. If I consider my time worth a minimum of $12/hour --- the labor cost for each bar is $2.00.

How do you calculate your labor costs when pricing your soap?

Thanks,
Barb

 

[lsg]

For my little hobby/business, I don't figure in my labor. If I did, it would probably be $7.25 per hour. It doesn't take me but about 20 minutes to make a 2 lb batch of soap and clean up.

 

[TeriDk]

For my little hobby/business, I don't figure in my labor. If I did, it would probably be $7.25 per hour. It doesn't take me but about 20 minutes to make a 2 lb batch of soap and clean up.

20 minutes, can you share your method? It takes me about an hour to complete a batch of soap. Do you master batch lye water and your oils? I've been thinking maybe I should but my batches are pretty small so haven't gone that route.

 

[lsg]

I am talking about just a plain batch, not swirling or fancy tops. No, I do not master batch anything. I use disposable cups to measure the lye. I have my supplies and mold close at hand. I keep my designated mixing containers and tools together so that I can just grab them. Weigh out distilled water, weigh out lye. Mix the lye solution and set to cool. Weight out oils and butters. Melt the solid oils and butters, then mix with the liquid oils. This cools the oils down. Add lye solution to oils and stick blend, pour into mold. I usually fill the mixing container halfway with water and run the stick blender in that to clean. I also use this water to clean off any soap from my utensils etc. I usuall dump this water on our gravel driveway. I then stick the mixing container and machine washable items in the dishwasher after they are rinsed well. I think that the longer you soap, the more confidence you have and things usually just go more smoothly. Keeping all you soaping tools, safety gear, and supplies together and close at hand cuts down time.

 

[rodeogal]

Wow, 20 minutes! Good for you! It takes me about 1.5 hours to make two, six pound logs. I thought I was really doing something. Of course, this is down from over 2 hours for a single batch.

 

[rodeogal]

Quick question - why dump the water on your driveway? Any benefits? I just dump mine down the sink. Is it bad for a septic system? Yikes!

 

[lsg]

Well, I usually make about 2 lb batches and as I say, this time would be for just plain soap, nothing fancy. It used to take me a lot longer, but I think you figure out how to cut corners with time. I always mix my lye solution in the sink near an open window. If I need to cool the lye water, I can just set it in an ice bath for a bit. I use the microwave to melt the solid oils/butters. Heating only the solid oils/butters and then adding them to the liquid oils cuts down cooling time there. Keeping all the supplies and equipment together saves time, I am not runing around from one place to the other gathering up items. If I am trying to swirl or attempting something fancy, then it takes longer. Trying a new soaping technique always takes a lot longer also. I use silicone lined molds and silicone molds, so I don't have to spend time lining a mold. I have always been worried that the unsaponified soap would clog my drains. There is no benefit to the gravel, I just don't like to dump the mixture on the grass.

 

[BARJRD]

I am also including the time that it takes to cut the bars, print/cut labels and wrap the bars as well as bag in cellophane bags and tie off with a bow.

It takes me 20 minutes just to measure all the oils an mix the lye!

 

[lsg]

Well, I didn't include cutting or packaging. Weighing out does take up more time than anything for me, but if you weigh out your solid oils first and start them melting, you can weigh out the liquid oils in the mixing container while the solid oils are melting.
I use PrintMaster to design my own labels and cigar bands, so that does take a lot of time. I use soap boxes to package my soaps and then put a cigar band label over that. Designing my own labels is a labor of love for me, because I really enjoy creating. Once you have you design completed though, it doesn't take much time to print out the cigar bands or labels and boxing doesn't take up much time for me.

 

[Birdie Wife]

It's currently taking me about 1 hour to make a batch of soap, but if I were to scale up, I reckon I could probably do 4 batches for near enough the same time, and less if I batch up the lye in advance. That's just for standard bars, no swirls. I'm going to package with simple bands or muslin bags tied with a little ribbon and a hang tag - keeping it simple and elegant is the key for me.

 

[Badger]

Yes, it takes me about an hour to make a batch of soap also, but I am a newbie still I am also just making small batches right now (1 lb) and the time would likely be similar if I made larger batches.. maybe a little longer. So, it is also a matter of not just using bulk products which helps cut down costs, but also making batches that cut down some on labor time. Also, there may be places in cutting and labeling where you can cut down time some. Even so, if you consider labor costs at $2 a bar and cost of the materials at $1.80, selling a bar of soap for $4.50 is not unusual, so it seems that is a reasonable range.

 

[judymoody]

I have a basic recipe that I like and I generally make 2 pound batches. I generally weigh my ingredients for four batches at a time in separate lidded containers. It doesn't take much more time than weighing them out once if I do it on an assembly line type system. Then the next time I want to soap, the time consuming part is done.

I do labeling while watching TV or listening to an audiobook so it doesn't feel so much like "work."

 

[RocknRoll]

This had been a timely subject for me. My costs are about $2.17 per bar not including my labor. I figure it's a labor of love and I just keep positive thoughts that later down the road when I figure out more shortcuts and learn from past business decisions, that I will eventually be able to figure in a labor cost. I would have to charge way too much per bar at this point to even consider tacking on the added expense. That's just my 2 cents worth lol!

PS~ just a thought... I shipped out some packages from my Etsy store today and figured that $2.50 was a reasonable shipping cost for a bar of soap. (which is what it actually ends up costing) Well to my surprise, the post office bubble envelopes that fit only 2 bars of soap cost $1.49 each! wow, i wasnt figuring that. So Im going to staples or looking on Ebay for a better deal because the last thing I want to do is lose profit being ate up by shipping and I dont want to raise my shipping prices either.

 

[wildbelles]

Just my two cents here, but I think it's really important to build in labor costs from the get go if you are serious about selling. It's much better to be able to lower your prices later, than have to raise them...you already have ingredient cost increases to deal with every year...much better from a customer point of view. You will get faster as time goes by, so set an hourly or daily salary and work on getting your time spent down.

I mixed lye and oils, batch by batch when I first started. Now I spend one day a week and mix up masters of everything ...a 50% lye solution for however many batches I plan to soap that week, or even for two weeks. (I then adjust the water/milk/liquid to whatever discount that particular fragrance/recipe needs). Measure and pour my oils into separate buckets too so they are always ready to go. I always soap room temp everything...oils and lye.

 

[melstan775]

I'm probably the slowbie here. It was taking me about 3 hours to make a batch of soap. But I"m down to about two hours now. I figured out a few things to make it easier on me. One is that it doesn't take much more time to measure out ingredients for two batches then it does one batch. Just measure it all out and half it. Also, I make sure now to bring everything I need to the kitchen. The few batches I had forgotten one thing or another and I had to keep running back and forth. I also switched out measuring cups for disposable cups for pouring soap and colorants. Super easy to clean up. I figure at some point I will get to a place where I can masterbatch my oils and that's one less thing.

 

[deg195]

It takes me hours. I think I might have been a turtle in a past life!!!

 

[melstan775]

It takes me hours. I think I might have been a turtle in a past life!!!

How many hours deg? You must love it though cuz you keep doing it.

 

[deg195]

I've never figured it out. I usually plan on a minimum of 2-3 lol... My biggest batches are 4lbs but a lot of time I make a batch right after another so I need to clean all the dishes in between. It usually takes 15 - 20 minutes just for the lye to cool. And it takes me about 15 - 20 minutes to line the molds. I use a "tupperware" type"of log mold. I get 2lbs in each mold so I usually line 4 or 5 of them. They were only 5$ or so...I have been thinking about making some 4lb molds out of wood...Would love to get a silicone log mold but I prefer to send the cash on supplies (at this time)
I enjoy the process...

 

[goatlady]

I am also very new - only made 3 batches so far. The first batch took me probably 2 hours with just being nervous and getting everything figured out. My next 2 batches took me maybe 45 min. Im not doing anything fancy yet besides adding essential oils.
When I started figuring my costs this is what I came up with
My base recipe includes - olive oil, coconut oil, palm oil and castor oil
Lye, distilled water and goats milk.
Just the base bars making 2 lbs at a time come out to .71 each My biggest expense comes in when I start adding the EOs. I get 7 bars out of a 2 lb mold so if I charge $5 per bar that's a total of $35 minus my costs makes a profit of about 30.00 for a 2 lb batch WITHOUT any EOs. When I add in EOs it adds about $1.20 more per bar. I am using shrink wrap bags with makes them .06 per bar and I still need to add in my label and raffia or something. I would love to find a cheaper source for my EOs. I already buy from Hoegers and Wholesale supply plus for the different ones. I found my tea tree oil cheaper right at walmart.

My lye I found cheapest on ebay - 15 lbs for $53 shipped. That will last me a long time!

 

[Badger]

You might shop around some for your EOs, I am sure that there are people here with better suggestions than I have, but I know there is a good source for lavender oil on ebay. I have looked at a lot of different places for EOs and some also depends on how much bulk you can buy in.