Hello from Western Australia

[ennoh]

I live in Western Australia - its autumn and rather cool here at the moment but I'm not complaining - we surely need the rain! Anyway, in the evenings I make quilts and things for a charity stall in November and I'm getting a bit bored with sewing - I need to think of something else to make money for my charity (and before you ask - its not me!). I love home made soaps and I thought perhaps I could do this. I'm hoping to get some ideas and recipes for soaps that I could make and that sell really well. I hope that I can find some good recipes and tips on what to do - and what not to do!

 

[robynsoaphouse]

Hi Ennoh, There are two new books out by Marina Tadiello and Patrizia Garzena. The first book is called: "The Natural Soapmaking Handbook" and the other is called: "The Natural Soapmaking Cookbook". They are written for the Australian market and have measurements in grams, kg, litres etc.
They would certainly get you up and running with your soapmaking.

 

[lsg]

Here are two links with really good information and some recipes. Make sure you run any recipe through a lye calcualtor such as SoapCalc before you make it, especially if you are planning on selling. You might consider working with a melt & pour base before trying to sell lye soap.

http://www.millersoap.com/

http://www.mullerslanefarm.com/soapmaking.html


[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yR6ttCSrLJI[/ame]

 

[MaitriBB]

Welcome, happy to have you!

I doubt you'd be ready to sell in November - usually the recommended wait time before selling is 1 yr so that you can be sure that your recipes and formulas don't go rancid. But every soaper is different! There's definitely a learning curve.

 

[Hazel]

Welcome to the forum! :wave:

As Maitri already stated, there is a learning curve with cold process soap. If you really want to do it, I'd suggest picking one recipe which has oils with a longer shelf life so you know the soap should hold up. There are a lot of recipes posted in the CP section. (You could even just get coconut oil and make spa bars. IrishLass posted a recipe for one which you might want give a try. http://www.soapmakingforum.com/f11/salt-bar-recipe-16535/. I haven't tried it so I can't personally recommend it but other people have made it and said they loved it.) Then make lots of batches, hand the soap out and get feedback from friends and family. Research what FOs hold up over time and limit yourself to just a few. Besides checking out the info on this forum, you'll find recommendations or warnings about FOs on the Soap Scent Review Board but you have to have a paid email address to access it. This is to discourage spammers on this forum. You also may find some helpful info on this Fragrance Oils Chart

However, there's nothing wrong with a plain, unscented soap. Many people prefer Plain Janes. I've talked to a soapmaker in a larger city and her best seller is an unscented and uncolored goat milk soap.

One thing you might want to take into account is if there is a market for handmade soap. You might want to look around and see if there are other soapmakers selling. If there isn't soapmakers near you, you still might want to research to see if there is a potential market. Melt and pour bases would be an easy way to get started and you can make some fancy soap.

You could also make other bath products like bath bombs, bath salts and bath melts. I know last Christmas small gift baskets with a few body products were selling very well. For example, a small basket with a soap bar, bath salts and whipped butter in the same scent.

Besides body products, you could research making scented wax melts (aroma melts). They're not hard to make although there is some research and experimentation needed to determine what wax you prefer and what FOs would have the best throw.

I'll have to think some more about what else I can suggest.

 

[ennoh]

Newbie

thanks for all your encouragement and wishes. I will buy the recommended books and start wandering around this site and perhaps next year I will start selling.

 

[savonierre]

Hi, welcome to the forum.