Hotel Soaps

[slys]

Hi,

I'm sure this question has been asked many times before so if someone can point me to the correct place that would be great.

I have a guest lodge and am currently buying little hotels soaps from the local supplier. The problem with this is that there is a huge amount of wastage as very rarely are the whole soaps used... So I thought about making my own soaps....

Two questions.. Where and how do I begin? What equipment do I need etc etc..... It would be great to have our logo on the soap as well???

Secondly would it be possible to re-use all the old soaps in one way or another and to make new soaps?

Thanks in advance

 

[Pug Mom]

Secondly would it be possible to re-use all the old soaps in one way or another and to make new soaps?

I am new to this, so I am sure others will help you. But I do have to say yuck to reusing soaps that guests have not finished. I would be less than thrilled to learn that a complete stranger had used my soap and it had been recycled...

 

[dagmar88]

Hi slys
what a nice idea to make your own soaps for your quest lodge.
Pug mum is right; reusing soap is not an option. I'd imagine guests wash there 'delicate' parts with soap, leaving behind hairs and bacteria.
I wouldn't want to wash my face with a soap that in a previous life tuched someones ***...

To make CP soap (from sctratch) you'll need some materials (special pans, the perfect recipe, oils, lye, mixer, molds, scents, colors, additives) and a LOT of knowledge. :roll: Making soap from scratch is defenitly not cheap. Also, your soaps would have to cure for about 4 to 8 weeks, depending on your recipe.
Maybe you could start with a m&p. You can buy melt and pour bases on a lot of sites; like www.brambleberry.com. In bulk, the prices are ok.
You can melt this base in your microwave, add the scent, additives and color you like, pour it in a mold and your done.
You could make your own stamp with some wood and a dremel. I like Apoxie for making stamps. Maybe you could just design your own label with your logo?
Good luck with figuring everything out; read all you can on the forum, and don't hasitate to ask anything.
Dagmar

 

[Lindy]

HI slys,

Actually I am in the process of making hotel soaps for a local hotel using CP. What you're going to need is a thick plastic bowl or Pyrex Measuring Cup (large as possible). This is what you are going to use for your lye mix and you're going to want to do this is the kitchen sink - we'll get into that afterwards. Next you are going to want to get a large stainless steel pot for mixing your soap in.

Here is a list of items you are going to want to have on hand:

• - Stick Blender
  - Stainless Steel Mixing Spoon (big one)
  - Silicone Spatula
  - Flat Bottomed plastic knife holders that you can buy at Dollar Store
  - Olive Oil (I use Extra Virgin)
  - Coconut Oil
  - Lye

You will want to go to http://www,soapmaker.com to download their program so you can see what each oil combination will give you lather, moisturizing, hardness, etc. values. It will also allow you to keep notes on each batch that you do so you can keep track of what you liked and didn't like about each batch.

Once you've poured the soap into these molds, you'll then want to wait overnight before you unmold it to cut the bars. Now since you are a hotel, you will want to cut them quite small which is why I recommended the knife tray as a mold. You can buy soap stamps at a couple of different locations which since my computer crash I have to re-locate, at any rate they can do your logo as well as your name. They will work with you to design it.

Now CP does take 4 weeks to cure, so if you want to try doing it a little faster you can do Hot Process and the soaps would be ready in a week or two.

Lots of information on this forum to help you with both.

Best of luck,

Cheers
Lindy

 

[misty]

Lindy, right on, making hotel soaps that sounds so cool....that is something I hope to do eventually. If you don't mind me asking, is there a lot involved in getting something like this. Did you present them with sample soaps, colors, sizes, etc. Would you wholesale to them, set up an agreement. Just curious as to how one goes about something like this......
thanks so much for any info & help!

 

[Lindy]

Hi Misty,

I sent out samples to a lot of the B&B's and I am following up with them. The first thing I need to do is determine what they've been using and how much it's been costing them. If possible you also want a sample of whatever soap they have. Once you have this information then you can determine how much it would cost you to make soap in that size, including wrapping, your labour, etc. Once you have figured that out then you need to determine at what amount of product sold you need to be at to give them that price. There are a number of things you can offer that gives "value-added" services you can charge additional on. Things like soap molds with their logo on it (you would charge a set-up fee on that but you need to retain ownership on the mold), soap stamping, private labelling, etc.

It really is mostly a matter of finding out what they need and want. Once you have that then you can work from there. You are best to target small hotels, & B&B's IMHO.

HTH
Lindy

 

[misty]

oh my, there certainly is a lot of work required to get an account with a
B&B. I agree with you that starting small is best. Also being very organized & aware of what the customer may want is a must. I will be looking at the location (like town, country or resort,etc), theme of the building, clientelle, for ideas. I'm not there yet, but I'm sure getting my thoughts together. thanks so much for your help.....it's an inspiration!

 

[Lindy]

Misty - I have to admit that I'm really fortunate in that I have spent most of my adult career in sales & marketing so I know how to market my product. In fact it is quite a bit easier because not only am I making it which means I believe in it, but I also feel like by selling my product to people I'm bringing something good into their life.....

I know pretty silly, but after spending a lifetime (or so it feels) selling people stuff like cars this just feels good..... :?

 

[Cattleyabubbles]

If I''m understanding you right you're wanting to recycle the mountains of soap you have already laying around or what ever doesn't get place in guest's room. But no, no, no --like other's have mention--you can't recycle soaps that hotel guests have even partially used. Make a guest bar that the guest will want to take home with them while still keeping your costs low but not affecting the quality of the soap.