Getting Started Without Spending a Ton of Money

[Zany_in_CO]

From Lovin' Soap Studio ~ Getting Started Without Spending a Ton of Money

http://www.lovinsoap.com/2012/10/getting-started-in-soapmaking-without-spending-a-ton-of-money/

 

[DianaMoon]

You don't need to spend a lot of money on molds. You can make them out of cardboard & line them with freezer paper, stretch-tite, etc.

But face facts: eventually you will fall into the pit and buy things you don't need with money you don't have!

Soaping is cheap for those who can render 50 pounds of tallow, lard, etc. For the rest of us, not so much.

But it's fun.

 

[Serene]

Soaping is not cheap if you render your own. I rend my own, and I can tell you that the time it takes to prep it plus the cost to obtain the raw materials pretty much evens the whole thing out. It gets even more expensive if you are particular about the fat you are rendering. Keep in mind that most soapers out there are not using 100% lard/tallow. The costs for the other various ingredients needed still remains.

 

[soapmaker]

I heartily agree with Serene.

 

[shunt2011]

I agree with the others. Even those who render it themselves are purchasing their fat not obtaining it from butchering their own pigs. There's still the cost of the fat and then you have to figure in the time it takes to render it. I purchase it 50 lbs at a time and it's pretty reasonable. And I don't have to do it myself. Soaping can be reasonable until you start using fragrance, colorants, additives. However, the lye in the link is way under priced. I've never seen 32 oz for 4.00.

 

[dixiedragon]

It's cheaper than crack.



That's what I tell myself everytime there's a good FO sale.

For a mold, I would recommend a piece of disposable Tupperware that you've lost the lid to. We've all got some floating around! When I do a kitchen purge, all of the topless Glad ware goes to the soap area.

 

[DianaMoon]

I stand corrected - there are costs to everything, true.

However, I was referring to the people here who slaughter their own beef or pigs, so they can either throw out the tallow or use it. Even with the time involved it's more of a loss to throw it out. Turning it into a usable and maybe sellable product turns a loss into a potential gain.

 

[earlene]

I agree with the others. Even those who render it themselves are purchasing their fat not obtaining it from butchering their own pigs. There's still the cost of the fat and then you have to figure in the time it takes to render it. I purchase it 50 lbs at a time and it's pretty reasonable. And I don't have to do it myself. Soaping can be reasonable until you start using fragrance, colorants, additives. However, the lye in the link is way under priced. I've never seen 32 oz for 4.00.

And the cost of either gas or electrcity, neither of which is free. Every holiday season, our gas and/or electric bills went up quite a lot when I was making the family holiday meals. Depends on if you use gas or electricity for cooking/rendering.

 

[scard]

Too late...

 

[Lin19687]

Well, there goes my $1000 I've spent already

 

[Zany_in_CO]

As I tell my dear hubby, soaping is cheaper than therapy!

If you're smart about it, it's one of the few hobbies that pays for itself. When I first started out, I "borrowed" a stake from our joint account, opened a dedicated checking account at a different bank, and paid the stake back at the end of the first year ... and had enough to fund the following year. I gave some away, sold some to friends & relatives, and I had an annual garage sale that I used to make $350-$500 -- thus creating a vicious cycle. LOL

I don't have a website ('puter challenged) and I don't do markets (can't take the heat). After about 4 years, I picked up a wholesale account that I've made a variety of products for. Then another two accounts that I made products other than soap for, but those two lasted only a year each.

The real payoff, for me, is almost everything I make is better for me and my skin than store bought. Not only bath & hand soap, but "green" cleaning products for the whole house, hair & body shampoo, shaving soap, lip balm, herbal balms, lotions & potions, arthritis cream & lotion, the list goes on. And it's all FREE -- what I don't use, I sell. What I sell, covers the cost +++.

It's a good thing.

 

[old78]

From Lovin' Soap Studio ~ Getting Started Without Spending a Ton of Money

http://www.lovinsoap.com/2012/10/getting-started-in-soapmaking-without-spending-a-ton-of-money/

you can make soap very cheap if you don't get carried away with all the coloring, fancy smelling scents, molds, exotic oils.. the soap we made cost pennies as used bacon grease save from the bacon, we had the castor oil and lye for yrs, we did buy the coconut oil, but it really wasn't necessary, I'm sure that none of our grand mothers used it.
the first soap we made does a great job weather it's cleaning automotive grease or cow manure from out hands

 

[DianaMoon]

you can make soap very cheap if you don't get carried away with all the coloring, fancy smelling scents, molds, exotic oils.. the soap we made cost pennies as used bacon grease save from the bacon, we had the castor oil and lye for yrs, we did buy the coconut oil, but it really wasn't necessary, I'm sure that none of our grand mothers used it.
the first soap we made does a great job weather it's cleaning automotive grease or cow manure from out hands

Exactly. And anyway - we all deserve a little fun. I don't begrudge the bucks I spent on my experiments, even when they came out weird.

It's all usable, if not beautiful. My first experience re-batching, which blew up in my oven, forced me to clean it for the first time in a year.

 

[dixiedragon]

I don't sell but I think soaping can "pay for itself" in the ability to give really nice gifts people enjoy without spending a lot of money. If you don't get sucked into FO sales (like me, lol), you can give gifts of very nice lotion, lip balm and soap for just the cost of a few dollars. I give out gift bags at Christmas that would probably cost $30 or more - 4-5 bars hand made soap, 3-4 lip balms, 1-2 jars/bottles of lotion.

 

[The Efficacious Gentleman]

And there are many hobbies which cost a lot more money. The trick is to soap within your means. Can't afford to make a batch per day? Then don't!

Too many people want to soap a lot and then say "this is so expensive, I'll sell some soap" and yet wouldn't think of monetising another expensive hobby.

"I like eating in restaurants, but I can afford it each day. I know, I'll become a food critic!" is not something people would think is a sensible idea

I am lucky in that I enjoy making soap and other b&b products, but I do so when I need to rather than just for the sake of soaping.

With the house and two small children (plus the good lady wife!) it's not like I can soap all the time anyway. If anything, I tend to soap mostly when my wife tells me she needs things to give as presents [emoji23]

 

[NsMar42111]

Ok I'm guilty of monetizing my hobbies LOL. Music? Go play in a band. Photography? (try) to sell online. bwahahahaha
But its so true, I no longer feel guilty for spending $200 on soap when a friend yammers about the "bargain" motorcycle they bought...and we make the same paycheck....

 

[The Efficacious Gentleman]

Exactly - and one can always make money free for what you want to do. My sister spends a fortune on the TV package, blu rays, not to mention replacing a perfectly good TV with a new one just because it's better. We don't even have a TV here, but then we spent €5,000 on a cello for fun (I can't monetize that, believe me! [emoji19] )

 

[Kamahido]

I agree with the others. Even those who render it themselves are purchasing their fat not obtaining it from butchering their own pigs. There's still the cost of the fat and then you have to figure in the time it takes to render it. I purchase it 50 lbs at a time and it's pretty reasonable. And I don't have to do it myself. Soaping can be reasonable until you start using fragrance, colorants, additives. However, the lye in the link is way under priced. I've never seen 32 oz for 4.00.

What link?

 

[earlene]

What link?

The OP's link. This is what it says on that site:

So how much is it gonna cost to get started?

Scale – $16.00
Mixing utensils (2) – $2.00
Lye containers (2) – $2.40
Soap containers (2) – $3.96
Gloves & Goggles – $4.00
Lye (32 oz) – $4.00
Coconut oil (Lou Ana) (31.5 oz) – $5.98
Bertoli Regular Olive oil (51 oz) – $13.98
Lard (64 oz) – $5.88

So you are looking at about $58.20 to get started. $75.00 if you add a stick blender to that.

 

[Kamahido]

The OP's link. This is what it says on that site:

Ah, silly me. Now I see it!