Do I pare down the sharp soap edges?

[Joy Wolff]

I've seen some you-tubers pare the sides of the 95 degree angle of the bar of soap, to make it look softer. Is this purely aesthetics? or is there some official reason to do this?

 

[Misschief]

It's nothing but aesthetics. Some people don't like the feel of the sharp corners/edges on their bars of soap. I generally don't pare my bars; they'll wear down within a use or two.

And, as far as I'm concerned, the only hard and fast rule of soapmaking is lye into liquid, never the reverse. Pretty much everything else is your choice.

 

[AliOop]

My husband is one who hates the sharp edges, so I trim all of his soaps with a simple fruit peeler. If I am after aesthetics, I trim some others with my soap edger tool.

 

[dibbles]

I always bevel my edges, because that is what I prefer. Also my dad's reply to 'how do you like the soap' was that the sharp edges poked him in the *unmentionables*. Didn't want to hear that from anyone ever again

 

[justsomeguy]

I bevel to reduce soap crumbs...

 

[cmzaha]

I beveled every soap I sold and bevel my own soaps because I hate using soaps with sharp edges. Beveling also makes soaps easier to hold onto especially larger cut soaps.

 

[artemis]

I don't like such a big bevel. I just run the back of butter knife down the edges. It dulls the edges while keeping the crisp look.

 

[Tammyfarms]

No hard and fast rule. I bevel because I like the look and also don’t like sharp edges.

 

[lsg]

If you sell your soap, then you might want to even it up. I don't sell, so I don't bother.

 

[Marie_with_an_e]

I don’t bevel any of my soap (unless it’s for my sister, whom I adore). Like someone else said, those edges are gone after a couple of uses anyway and I have way better things to do with my time.

 

[DeeAnna]

I bevel all my soap, whether it's for sale or for personal use. The softer corners are more pleasant to hold, so a beveled bar of soap gives a more pleasant "first wash" experience. I don't take a huge cut off the corners, though -- just enough to soften and clean up the edges.

If the soap is for sale, beveling removes a lot of the crumbs and loose "wire" edges on the bar. I think a beveled bar looks more tidy and thus more appealing to the buyer.

But ... to each their own.

 

[MelissaG]

My husband is one who hates the sharp edges, so I trim all of his soaps with a simple fruit peeler. If I am after aesthetics, I trim some others with my soap edger tool.

Which one do you have?

I don't bevel, mostly because I feel like I'm taking a bit of the soap customers pay for. Though I'm up for experimenting.

 

[AliOop]

Which one do you have?

I don't bevel, mostly because I feel like I'm taking a bit of the soap customers pay for. Though I'm up for experimenting.

I have the Wild Plantanica one that’s made from HDPE and has a gajillion different router keys. Ok, maybe 10 or 15 keys. .

@Mobjack Bay has posted a guide somewhere in another thread that shows how each key turns out.

Like you, I hate to waste that much soap. But the routered soaps went like hotcakes at our Christmas boutique. Customers were definitely drawn to the fancy look of them. Not sure if that was a holiday thing, or if it would be true all year.

 

[dibbles]

Which one do you have?

I don't bevel, mostly because I feel like I'm taking a bit of the soap customers pay for. Though I'm up for experimenting.

I have the router from Wild Plantanica as well, and it is easy to use and makes beautiful edges. Since I bought that router, this one has been made available for sale and I likely would have tried it first. When using the router I have, I only use the key that takes more soap on the front facing side of the bar, and use the key that makes a small bevel (like a vegetable peeler in looks) for the rest.

Like you, I hate to waste that much soap. But the routered soaps went like hotcakes at our Christmas boutique. Customers were definitely drawn to the fancy look of them. Not sure if that was a holiday thing, or if it would be true all year.

I wonder about this every time someone says 'looks don't matter'. I have come to the conclusion that isn't necessarily true, and especially so for buyers who are new to handmade soap for many reasons. Putting myself back to before I was a maker and paid attention to what was in the soap I think I might have been attracted to goat milk or shea butter soaps but whether a particular soap had olive oil vs rice bran oil vs sunflower oil, etc wouldn't have meant much to me. If you think about the cost of a bar of handmade soap vs the price of a bar of Dial, it feels like a little splurge - and all else equal I would definitely choose the pretty and tidy looking bar. Fragrance would still be the top factor though. But, if I was a long time handmade soap user and found a maker whose soaps I loved, appearance would be less important.

It just seems to me that the overall impression of a pretty, well presented bar adds a lot to sway a buyer to try that soap over another.

 

[DeeAnna]

If a buyer's goal is to get the most soap for the money, then I agree that anything a soap maker does "for pretty" is a wasted effort.

But I don't think a lot of people who buy a bar of handmade soap in a gift shop or "whole foods" type grocery are buying with that mindset. For example, I sell my soap in the gift store of our local art center. People in that shop are buying soap as a souvenir of their visit, so I think the extra tidying-up I do is appropriate. Not to mention a clean, tidy appearance is what I look for when I buy a handcrafted item for myself.

I've also weighed the amount of soap removed by the light bevel cuts I normally make. It's a gram or two at most.

Since the weights of my bars can vary due to slight variations in height, the net weight on my labels accounts for that variation. Customers typically get at least 1/2 ounce (15 grams) or more soap than what they think they're buying. A gram or two loss from beveling is insignificant.

 

[Bubz]

I have mixed feelings about it. I like to bevel mine, especially for pictures since it looks better. I don't like seeing all the soap crumbs from the wire cutter. But it's extra work and left with scraps I don't want to use.

I bought the designer edge beveler from creamy obsession that really makes it easy to get consistent and uniform bevels. The main thing I don't like about it is you have to be careful to not press hard when beveling because it will scrape the sides of the soap where it sits in that groove. And it won't work well if the bar doesn't have perfectly straight edges, so if it using only a silicone mold and it bowed a little. It's a no go.

 

[cmzaha]

Which one do you have?

I don't bevel, mostly because I feel like I'm taking a bit of the soap customers pay for. Though I'm up for experimenting.

I would weigh all my soaps individually after beveling write the weight on the label then shrink wrap and stick on the label. I left a line on my labels so I could write in the soap weight. You would be surprised how fast I could do all that. I just had a little hdpe that is basically a hand beveler that I love, but do not remember who I purchased it from it is packed away so I cannot find it until I move. It came from one of the well known mold makers but it was years ago that I bought it. Little gray beveler

 

[Relle]

I have mixed feelings about it. I like to bevel mine, especially for pictures since it looks better. I don't like seeing all the soap crumbs from the wire cutter. But it's extra work and left with scraps I don't want to use.

I bought the designer edge beveler from creamy obsession that really makes it easy to get consistent and uniform bevels. The main thing I don't like about it is you have to be careful to not press hard when beveling because it will scrape the sides of the soap where it sits in that groove. And it won't work well if the bar doesn't have perfectly straight edges, so if it using only a silicone mold and it bowed a little. It's a no go.

That is the same one that @dibbles linked to, comes from the same company, looks like they are selling for them.

 

[MelissaG]

Thanks everyone. I'll go look at those.