When I decided to make soap as a donation to the church I gave it (size of bar) some thought. A few days ago I just did what I wanted and went with the mold, my mood, and the position of the planets :roll:. I made soap to control the products I put on body and really didn't care if it was the "norm".
When I gave it some thought I wanted to use the standard weight and size that a consumer wants. I looked at what major mfg co's do -- not that I'm a corporate America fan, it's just that they already spent tons of money on market research -- everything from appeal to the largest target audience, size, weight, color, smell, packaging, maximum profit, repeat purchases, etc. etc. The average bar is 3.5" X 2.5" X .75" and 4oz. "Luxury" bars are thicker and heavier, but typically conform to the standard length and width. I suspect a lot of research went into making sure people got what they needed, and didn't say something like "I won't buy that soap again because it's small, or too big for the soap dish, or the kids can't hold it, etc.". And you know the most important decision corporate America made had to do with the almighty dollar -- smallest bar and largest profit; smallest to keep people coming back often, smallest but not too small that people will feel ripped off. Corporate America is greedy but they have to give us what we want or they won't be around long. The corporate bean counters know how to count beans or they will spend a lot of time in the unemployment line. I'm not reinventing the wheel, Firestone has already done that :wink: I'm making a better product for my skin, and now for the skin of people who buy it, and God willing we will make a nice profit while satisfying a need.
