Now, I'm not trying to be nitpicky or just criticize someone's business for fun. That being said, I feel like this is not a good tutorial to follow to learn to make soap. It appears to be aimed at beginner soapmakers, but encourages one to sell their soap from the beginning of the article. I'm not sharing the tutorial in its entirety, only parts that I feel are of interest. Here's the opening lines of the article:
"
The instructions below will teach you how to make cold process soap using our innovative process. Our process is different for three main reasons:
- Using our formula, your soap is safe to use in 2 days! You will know exactly what the final product weight will be. You can make and sell your soaps faster, knowing what the correct label weight should be, without waiting for the water to evaporate.
- We use a 50/50 lye solution. This lye is already dissolved in water. It is safer to use, eliminates toxic fumes and quicker to produce soap using it. Because of using the 50/50 solution, we produce everything at room temperature. No thermometers needed."
I have no problem with the 50/50 lye solution, I know many masterbatch their lye solution. What bugs me is although soap is usually mostly saponified by 2 days after making it, it seems irresponsible to claim that it is safe for use that soon. If I handle my soaps bare-handed 2 days after the pour, I can feel that the soap is harsher than it is after even a solid week of cure time.
The tutorial then goes on to list a recipe to make 4.5 pounds of soap for your first batch.
It says glass is ok to use for soaping, as well.
One of the directions is to combine Himalayan salt in water (for a harder bar, I know salt does help with that), then add the salt solution to the oils and blend with a stick blender for about 1 minute. Doesn't salt usually go in the lye solution? Why would one blend salt water into the oils for one minute before adding the lye solution?
"
- Next, pour in your 50/50 lye solution and mix using an immersion blender until mixed completely (approximately 30-60 seconds). Your mixture will start to thicken (this is trace beginning to happen).
- When you reach a light trace, you can write your name into the batter or see the drip indentations in your batter. This is when you are ready to add your kaolin clay, fragrance or essential oil, and other additives to the mixture.
- Blend using an immersion blender until thoroughly combined or soap begins to thicken to a pudding-like consistency. This is when you are ready to pour into your mold. Do not wait too long or your soap will be too thick to pour.
- Pour into mold and add any swirls or designs to the surface of your soaps.
- Leave undisturbed for at least 24 hours then unmold and cut your bars using gloves. Soaps will be safe to use after 48 hours. "
Most of this doesn't seem unreasonable, although the amount of blending is a lot. With my slow moving recipes, if I continue to blend after I reach trace the soap would be far too thick to do much with.
"Curing your cold process soap
Although your soaps are safe to use after 48 hours, they still contain additional water that will evaporate over time to create a denser, harder bar of soap.
Depending on the weather, you will reach your final product weight in 2 to 6 weeks.
This is what we refer to as “curing” your soaps, although most people get this evaporation stage confused with saponification and believe that your bars are not safe to use during this entire process.
Huge myth!
Your soaps are safe to use after 48 hours and saponification is complete, they just haven’t reached their lowest weight yet."
Is saponification ALWAYS complete within 48 hours?
The next section under "Selling Your Cold Process Soap" discusses labeling weights, and how you should use the same recipe each time and learn your finished soap weights to be able to label the soaps right away. That in and of itself makes sense, if we use the same recipes and cut the same size soaps, the weights should be about the same after cure each time. However, saying that waiting 6 weeks to sell your soaps is not "scalable for most soap makers" seems a little off to me.
"This is a game changer as it will help your cash flow, inventory needs, product availability, and ability to say yes to sales opportunities as a small to large soap making business.
Waiting up to 6 weeks to sell after your product has been made is not scalable for most soap makers. Using this labeling tip, you can break through ceilings (or burst the bubble might be more applicable here!) and grow your business."
Does anyone else think this article is a little off, or am I out of line here? It bothers me because I found the products mentioned in the article in a craft store yesterday, and the only instructions with the products is this article. If someone finds the products in the store and decides to use them to learn, (good for them for one thing, soaping is great!) and then has to use the recipe and tutorial here, it feels like it is setting them up for potential problems down the road.
I'm not sure if I should send the company a kind email asking that some things be corrected, or if I should just stay in my own lane and let them be. That's why I wanted to get the opinions of you, SMF friends.
-rant over, for now!
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and they will be three weeks old (I will see most of my family members on the 29th). I will warn them to refrain from using it for at least 2 weeks after they will get them and I already find it a bit akward. I can't imagine if I was to gift 48 hours old soaps.
. I feel guilty about gifting 3 weeks old soap and so I don't understand how one's can feel good about selling 2 days old soap.
