If you don't sell, what are you doing with all your soap

[The Efficacious Gentleman]

.......I only heard back from the teen shelter, saying they didn't have a need for soap.........

Sounds like teen-agers alright! [emoji23][emoji23][emoji23]

 

[dixiedragon]

I've never tried to contact the shelters before just taking them to the shelters.
I figure the administrators are busy, and don't actually know what the shelters really need, (rarely do the administrators actually work at or with the actual shelters) so if it's not money, in a significant amount, I feel they won't reply.
Taking my extras directly to the shelters themselves, I have never been turned away, and they are always thankful and appreciative.

I don't want to have to label or shrink wrap them, so I'd like to know if the food bank will take them as is. A lot of them are "factory seconds" - they look weird, fragrance is great, etc. I may do a super-basic label - just ingredients, no individual scent name, and put them in sandwich baggies or something.

 

[jcandleattic]

I don't want to have to label or shrink wrap them, so I'd like to know if the food bank will take them as is. A lot of them are "factory seconds" - they look weird, fragrance is great, etc. I may do a super-basic label - just ingredients, no individual scent name, and put them in sandwich baggies or something.

Not sure about food banks, but the shelters I deliver to take them naked.
I give both labelled and unlabelled. My basic recipe rarely changes, so for the ones not labelled I do give a tiny print out (the one I used to give when I sold naked bars) to the shelter with the soaps.
They literally are grateful to get whatever they can and are not too choosy. (to an extent of course)

 

[SunRiseArts]

I don't sell. So if I don't need to make soap, I don't make soap. Seems to be a novel way to avoid having stacks and piles of soap on hand

but, but, but projects and designs! :mrgreen:

 

[Kittish]

but, but, but projects and designs! :mrgreen:

And colors and scents and trying out different recipes...

 

[SunRiseArts]

Any excess I have at the end of the year (around Thanksgiving time) that I don't think I want to try and continue selling, or give away (because everyone already has so much) I take them to the local women's and homeless shelters.
I tried giving them to Red Cross, but they refused to take them because they were not "brand new, brand name, store bought" items.
I've never had a problem with the women's shelters or the homeless shelters taking them, and they are always very thankful for them. I usually take anywhere between 30-40lbs of soaps. Unfortunately that is never near enough, but it does help.

I could be wrong, but the red cross only takes blood and money, which I find disturbing ....

Where I live there is a place call Samaritan inn. I think is a state wide thing, but again, I could be mistaken. Is were abused women go with their children until they can get back on their feet.

That is were I take mine.

 

[jcandleattic]

I could be wrong, but the red cross only takes blood and money, which I find disturbing ....

Where I live there is a place call Samaritan inn. I think is a state wide thing, but again, I could be mistaken. Is were abused women go with their children until they can get back on their feet.

That is were I take mine.

Up until about 3 years ago, I used to donate clothes, shoes, (used), soap (mine), and old (unbroken) toys, to the Red Cross and they happily took them. 3 years ago, I went to take my donations to them, and they refused it saying they only took new unopened merchandise or money. (nothing was said about blood) So I got disgusted and stormed off. LOL

Ever since then I only take my stuff to the shelters.

Here we have Samaritan House. Not sure if it's women only, but the shelter I take my soaps to is the same as you described, for women and children. Can't remember the name off the top of my head.

 

[Roselyne]

Does anybody knows if in Ireland/the UK shelters or organisation would take my homemade soaps? I'm not registered, they haven't been certified and I have no liability insurance..
Thanks

 

[jcandleattic]

Does anybody knows if in Ireland/the UK shelters or organisation would take my homemade soaps? I'm not registered, they haven't been certified and I have no liability insurance..
Thanks

You could either call or make a stop and talk to someone to find out. I find just showing up at the door produces greater results than trying to call. (But that's here in the States also)

 

[amd]

I'm a collector. My husband would call it hoarding, but he is a glass half empty kind of guy so I take him with a grain of salt... I have however, reached a limit to my collectible space. (Read: The husband says that 6 boxes of soap in the bathroom is the limit and that does NOT mean I get to have bigger boxes. He did not say anything about boxes in the closet... so nyeh.) Even I realize how ridiculous my collection has become. Most of the problem is that I have multiple bars of the same soap, so maybe only 2 or 3 different soaps in each box. I've been giving them away to friends when I can, but even they have their limits (and... ya know... if I give them too much soap they don't want to buy any from me, so I have to consider that too...) So I've been stuck on what to do. This thread was a great read for me. I belong to a declutter group on FB, and this month's challenge includes "decluttering collections"... sigh.

 

[dibbles]

I'm a collector. My husband would call it hoarding, but he is a glass half empty kind of guy so I take him with a grain of salt... I have however, reached a limit to my collectible space. (Read: The husband says that 6 boxes of soap in the bathroom is the limit and that does NOT mean I get to have bigger boxes. He did not say anything about boxes in the closet... so nyeh.) Even I realize how ridiculous my collection has become. Most of the problem is that I have multiple bars of the same soap, so maybe only 2 or 3 different soaps in each box. I've been giving them away to friends when I can, but even they have their limits (and... ya know... if I give them too much soap they don't want to buy any from me, so I have to consider that too...) So I've been stuck on what to do. This thread was a great read for me. I belong to a declutter group on FB, and this month's challenge includes "decluttering collections"... sigh.

Funny! I gave away a ton of soap over the holidays. My husband wanted to give a couple of bars to someone the other day. He asked me if I was low on soap. Silly guy. ;-)

 

[jcandleattic]

asked me if I was low on soap.

HAHAHA - My husband asked me that once, several years ago. Then I showed him my curing racks. He's never asked since. LOL

 

[shunt2011]

I gave a whole lot away for Christmas as I’m wanting to change my labels and packaging and don’t want to have to unwrap and then rewrap them. So my stock is the lowest it’s been in 7 years. If only I could get around to getting rid of and selling all the stuff I. Don’t need or use anymore.

 

[randycoxclemson]

I figure we'll use it. Even though there are piles of soap in what my wife calls "the man cave" (soap and herbal medicine room), we run through it really fast. There are often 8-10 bars of soap in the shower that is used by three of us, plus my shampoo bar, and all but the shampoo bar seem to whittle away in 10 days or so. So we need a lot. Oddly enough, our son seems to make bars of soap last for months. Hmmm.

I do give some away when we have guests or for holidays or teacher gifts, but not a substantial amount. I figure if I keep making a 3-7 pound batch each month, sometimes twice a month, I may never have to purchase soap again.

 

[CaraBou]

My batches rarely exceed 400 g of oil. If I could resist the challenges I'd probably be okay. But as is, I give away a lot of soap. Next week I head to Mexico, and will bring a bunch for tips of sorts. Just what the locals want, right?? :wtf:

 

[Roselyne]

You could either call or make a stop and talk to someone to find out. I find just showing up at the door produces greater results than trying to call. (But that's here in the States also)

Thanks, I think that's what I'll have to do..

HAHAHA - My husband asked me that once, several years ago. Then I showed him my curing racks. He's never asked since. LOL

Brilliant!!
It looks like I'm heading that way too

 

[earlene]

I leave soap as tips as well, CaraBou. I think it's a nice gift to service workers. In hotels, I include a note so they know it is for them, specifically and not just something I accidentally left behind.

 

[Zany_in_CO]

For the first four years, I made every kind of soap there was! LOL Different soaps, formulas, natural colorants, devoted a whole year to testing essential oils and formulating blends. Then every year I would have a garage sale and put soaps out, nekkid, ingredients handwritten on a card, and always made enough money to buy supplies for the following year. A vicious cycle for sure. One thing I learned early on: Fragrance sells! Altho, I always had at least a few unscented soaps (by popular demand, i.e., my picky sister.)

I remember one year, a young man bought a few bars to give to his mother and sister -- that happened on a Saturday. The next day, Sunday, we had just finished breakfast when we heard a knock at the door. When I opened it, there was the same young man, with half a dozen women in tow behind him. He politely asked, "Do you have any soap left?" The women were all smiling and looking hopeful. "Of course", I said. "Meet me in the garage."

They literally cleaned me out! And they seemed SO happy with their purchases. I'll never forget that -- the feeling that they liked my soaps... they really liked my soaps! Of all the things I've done in my "working life" that took the cake for all my hard work and dedication (you KNOW what I mean) reaping its own reward.

 

[Troy]

I don't sell.. but every once in a while someone will give me donations for them. I started making soaps to do a fun craft project and also to make Christmas gifts. But now that Christmas is over.... I have packed away my stuff and I have a box full of left over made soap all different.

 

[amd]

Well, I polled a few people at work to see if there was interest in some soap, which there was. I sorted through about half of what I have and pulled out a sizeable grocery bag and brought in. The entire bag was gone by 10. I found out that one lady came and took the whole bag. I know this woman and her husband are "repurposers" - they often scout thrift stores etc for collectibles on the cheap and resell at a much higher price in their flea market. I have also wholesaled some soaps to them in the past, but those were correctly labeled with my information and the ingredients etc. The soaps I brought today only have a "made on" date and just enough information for me to be able to find the recipe if I wanted to refer back to it... so now I am concerned that the co-worker is going to sell them (actually I'm 100% positive that she is going to). Ugh. This woman has no idea what is in these soaps (and honestly I don't either without looking at my notes), so I am almost inclined to go home and make proper labels for the soaps. Do I go get the soaps from her and do this or just let her do her thing? Or ask her to leave the soaps for people who want to use them personally and not for profitable gain? The reason they don't have proper labels to begin with is because they weren't the quality of soaps that I wanted to put in my store and/or tie my name too. If there's a "next time" that I do this, I'll at least put an ingredient label on them before I bring them to work.

BTW: she was not one of the people that I polled.